Exodus 6:4-14

4 "I also established ¹My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.

5 "Furthermore I have ²heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

6 "Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, '³I am the LORD, and ⁴I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also ⁵redeem you with ⁶an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

7 'Then I will take you ⁷for My people, and ⁸I will be your God; and ⁹you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

8 'I will bring you to the land which ¹⁰I swore * to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and ¹¹I will give it to you for a possession; ¹²I am the LORD.' "

9 So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on ¹³account of their despondency * and cruel bondage.

10 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

11 "¹⁴Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the sons of Israel go out of his land."

12 But Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, "Behold, the sons of Israel have not listened to me; ¹⁵how then will Pharaoh listen to me, for I am ¹⁶unskilled in speech?"

13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Heads of Israel

14 These are the heads of their fathers' households. ¹⁷The sons of Reuben, Israel's firstborn: Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.

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Exodus 6:4-14 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 6

The Lord encourages Moses to hope for success from his name Jehovah, and the covenant he had made with the fathers of his people, Ex 6:1-5, orders him to assure the children of Israel that he would deliver them from their bondage and burdens, and bring them into the land of Canaan; but through their distress and anguish they hearkened not to him, Ex 6:6-9 but Moses is sent again to Pharaoh to demand the dismission of Israel, to which he seems unwilling, and both he and Aaron are charged both to go to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh, Ex 6:10-13, next follows a genealogy of the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, which seems to be given for the sake of Moses and Aaron, and to show their descent, Ex 6:14-15, who were the persons appointed of God to be the instruments of bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, Ex 6:26-30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 17

1. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:4, 7; Genesis 26:3, 4; Genesis 28:4, 13
2. Exodus 2:24
3. Exodus 13:3, 14; Exodus 20:2; Deuteronomy 6:12
4. Exodus 3:17; Exodus 7:4; Exodus 12:51; Exodus 16:6; Exodus 18:1; Deuteronomy 26:8; Psalms 136:11
5. Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 7:8; 1 Chronicles 17:21; Nehemiah 1:10
6. Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 26:8; Psalms 136:11
7. Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 7:6; 2 Samuel 7:24
8. Genesis 17:7; Exodus 29:45; Leviticus 11:45; Leviticus 26:12, 13, 45; Deuteronomy 29:13
9. Exodus 16:12; Isaiah 41:20; Isaiah 49:23, 26; Isaiah 60:16
10. Genesis 15:18; Genesis 26:3; Numbers 14:30; Nehemiah 9:15; Ezekiel 20:5, 6
11. Joshua 24:13; Psalms 136:21, 22
12. Exodus 6:6
13. Exodus 2:23
14. Exodus 4:22, 23
15. Exodus 4:1, 10; Exodus 6:30
16. Jeremiah 1:6
17. Genesis 46:9; Numbers 26:5-11; 1 Chronicles 5:3

Footnotes 8

[a]. Lit "land of their sojournings in which..."
[b]. Lit "to Me for a people"
[c]. Lit "to you for a God"
[d]. Lit "lifted up My hand"
[e]. Lit "shortness of spirit"
[f]. Lit "speak to"
[g]. Lit "that he let"
[h]. Lit "uncircumcised of lips"