Exodus 6:2-8

2 God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD.

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,^[a] but by my name the LORD^[b] I did not make myself fully known to them.

4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.’ ”

Exodus 6:2-8 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.

Cross References

• 1. ver 6,7,8,29; Exodus 3:14,15; Exodus 7:5,17; Exodus 8:22; Exodus 10:2; Exodus 12:12; Exodus 14:4,18; Exodus 16:12; Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:7; Isaiah 25:3; Isaiah 41:20; Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 49:23; Isaiah 60:16; Ezekiel 13:9; Ezekiel 25:17; Ezekiel 36:38; Ezekiel 37:6,13; Joel 2:27
• 2. S Genesis 17:1
• 3. S Exodus 3:15; 2 Samuel 7:26; Psalms 48:10; Psalms 61:5; Psalms 68:4; Psalms 83:18; Psalms 99:3; Isaiah 52:6
• 4. Exodus 3:14; John 8:58
• 5. S Genesis 6:18; S Genesis 15:18
• 6. S Genesis 12:7; Acts 7:5; Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:16; Hebrews 11:8-10
• 7. S Genesis 17:8; Genesis 28:4,13
• 8. S Exodus 2:23; Acts 7:34
• 9. S Genesis 9:15
• 10. ver 7; Exodus 3:8; Exodus 12:17,51; Exodus 16:1,6; Exodus 18:1; Exodus 19:1; Exodus 20:2; Exodus 29:46; Leviticus 22:33; Leviticus 26:13; Deuteronomy 6:12; Psalms 81:10; Psalms 136:11; Jeremiah 2:6; Hosea 13:4; Amos 2:10; Micah 6:4
• 11. Exodus 15:13; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 9:26; 1 Chronicles 17:21; Job 19:25; Psalms 19:14; Psalms 34:22; Psalms 74:2; Psalms 77:15; Psalms 107:2; Isaiah 29:22; Isaiah 35:9; Isaiah 43:1; Isaiah 44:23; Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 15:21; Jeremiah 31:11; Jeremiah 50:34
• 12. S Exodus 3:19,20; S Jeremiah 32:21; Acts 13:17; Deuteronomy 26:8
• 13. Exodus 3:20; Psalms 9:16; Psalms 105:27
• 14. S Genesis 17:7; S Exodus 34:9; Ezekiel 11:19-20; Romans 9:4; Deuteronomy 4:20; 2 Samuel 7:24
• 15. S ver 2; 1 Kings 20:13,28; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 48:7; Ezekiel 39:6; Joel 3:17; Exodus 16:12; Isaiah 41:20
• 16. S Genesis 12:7; Exodus 3:8; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 26:3
• 17. Jeremiah 11:5; Ezekiel 20:6
• 18. S Genesis 14:22; Revelation 10:5-6
• 19. Psalms 136:21-22
• 20. Leviticus 18:21

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew "El-Shaddai"
• [b]. See note at 3:15.