Bible Commentaries
Exodus 6

Verses 1-30

The Renewal of the Promise. Genealogies of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi

1. The strong hand is the hand of Jehovah, not of Pharaoh. So RV renders, ’by a strong hand,’ i.e. under the compelling force of Jehovah’s judgments: see on Exodus 3:19.

3. The name of God Almighty] Heb. El Shaddai, which occurs first in the revelation made to Abraham (Genesis 17:1 cp. also Genesis 28:3; Genesis 48:3). It is here said that God was not known in the patriarchal times by the name Jehovah. This constitutes a difficulty, as the name has been already used in passages earlier than this, e.g. in Genesis 2:4; Genesis 3; Genesis 4; Genesis 11:1-9, etc. Two explanations have been given: (1) The use of the name Jehovah in these earlier passages may be due, not to the speakers themselves, but to the writer of those parts of the book of Genesis in which it is found, to whom it was familiar, and who used it by anticipation. (2) While the name Jehovah may have been known from earliest times, its full spiritual significance may not have been revealed or apprehended till the time of Moses. Traces of the antiquity of the name Jehovah may be found in its employment by Abraham as part of a proper name: see Genesis 22:14. The name of Moses’ mother, Jochebed (Exodus 6:20), also contains the name Jehovah as its first element.

5. See on Exodus 2:24.

6. Redeem] deliver from oppression.

7. Seeon Exodus 19:5, Exodus 19:6.

12. Uncircumcisedlips] Circumcision is the sign of consecration, so that ’uncircumcision’ is used metaphorically of what is unclean or inadequate to the service of God: see on Leviticus 19:23.

14-27. The object of this section is to indicate the genealogy of the deliverers, Moses and Aaron. The family of Levi is therefore given in detail. Those of Reuben and Simeon are prefixed merely to show the position of the family of Levi among the sons of Jacob, and are therefore summarily described.

14. Hanoch] the Hebrew form of Enoch.

20. Jochebed] ’Jehovah is glory’: see on v.

3. Observe that marriage with a father’s sister was not forbidden before the giving of the Law: see Leviticus 18:12. It is not improbable that the genealogy of Amram has been shortened here by the omission of certain names. Joshua, who was a younger contemporary of Moses, was of the tenth generation from Joseph: see 1 Chronicles 7:20-27. The designation ’daughter of Levi ’applied to Jochebed in Exodus 2:1 may, therefore, be equivalent to ’descendant of Levi.’ But see Numbers 26:59, where Miriam’s name is also inserted: see on Exodus 2:1.

26. Their armies] Israel left Egypt as an organised host: see on Exodus 3:16, and see Exodus 12:17, Exodus 12:51; Exodus 13:18.