Exodus 6

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I am going to do to Pharaoh. Because of my strong hand he will let the people go, and because of my strong hand he will drive them out of his land."

1Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase translated "with a strong hand" does not say whose hand. It can mean that God's power will force Pharaoh's decision, or that Pharaoh will use a strong hand of his own in driving Israel out. Both readings are old; the King James leaves the ambiguity standing, while most modern versions resolve it in favor of God's hand.

2God also spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD.

2And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:

NoteWhere English Bibles print "LORD" in capitals, the Hebrew has the personal name of God, written with four consonants (roughly YHWH). Ancient Jewish practice avoided pronouncing it and substituted the ordinary word for "Lord" when reading aloud; English translations mark this by the capitals. The King James "JEHOVAH" in the next verse is an attempt to sound out those four consonants using the vowels of the substitute word.

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

3And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

Note"God Almighty" renders El Shaddai, the title used of God in the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the sense of Shaddai is uncertain, perhaps "of the mountain" or "the mighty one". The claim that the name YHWH was not known to them is much debated, since the ancestors use that name in Genesis. The Hebrew can mean either that they never heard the name, or that they never knew it in its full force, what it would prove to mean.

4I also made a solemn, binding agreement with them, promising to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners.

4And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.

NoteThe Hebrew word is berit, a formal sworn agreement of the kind rulers made with rulers or with subject peoples: binding, permanent, and carrying stated obligations. "Living as foreigners" translates a term for a resident outsider, someone allowed to live in a land he did not own and where he held no ancestral rights.

5I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my agreement.

5And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

6So tell the Israelites: 'I am the LORD. I will bring you out from under the heavy loads the Egyptians put on you. I will free you from being their slaves. I will buy you back with my arm stretched out and with mighty acts of judgment.

6Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:

Note"Redeem" translates a Hebrew word taken from family law: the duty of a relative to buy back a kinsman who had been sold into slavery, or to recover land the family had lost. It is a word about paying a price to get one's own back. "Arm stretched out" is a stock idiom, used in Egyptian as well as Hebrew, for a ruler's power visibly in action.

7I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, the one who brings you out from under the heavy loads the Egyptians put on you.

7And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Note"I will take you as my people, and I will be your God" is a set legal formula. Comparable wording appears in ancient marriage contracts and adoption documents, where it declared a permanent change of standing between two parties.

8And I will bring you into the land that I swore with an oath to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own property. I am the LORD.'"

8And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

9Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him, because their spirits were crushed and their slavery was cruel.

9And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

NoteThe Hebrew behind "crushed spirits" is literally "shortness of spirit" or "shortness of breath", the ordinary idiom for having no reserve left, whether from exhaustion, grief or impatience.

10Then the LORD said to Moses,

10And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

11"Go and tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let the Israelites leave his land."

11Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

12But Moses answered the LORD, "Look, the Israelites have not listened to me. So why would Pharaoh listen to me? I am not a good speaker."

12And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

NoteThe King James "uncircumcised lips" is a Hebrew idiom. Something uncircumcised was unfit for use or blocked, and the word was applied to ears that will not hear and hearts that will not respond as well as to mouths. Whether Moses means a physical speech difficulty or simply a lack of persuasive skill is not specified.

13Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them orders about the Israelites and about Pharaoh, the king of Egypt: they were to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.

13And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Note"Gave them a charge" translates a formal term: a commission issued with authority, laying a defined task on the person who receives it.

14These were the leaders of their family groups. The sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These were the family lines of Reuben.

14These be the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the families of Reuben.

NoteA "father's house" was the smallest unit of Israelite society: an extended household of several generations living together. Several of these made up a "family" or clan, and clans made up a tribe. The list begins with Reuben, Simeon and Levi because those are Jacob's first three sons in birth order, and it stops at Levi because its purpose is to fix Moses and Aaron in the tribe of Levi. The remaining nine tribes are simply not listed.

15The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, whose mother was a Canaanite woman. These were the family lines of Simeon.

15And the sons of Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman: these are the families of Simeon.

NoteMothers are almost never named in lists like this, which trace descent through fathers only. The note that Shaul's mother was Canaanite was kept because it marked something distinctive about the origin of that particular clan.

16These were the names of the sons of Levi, listed by their family records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.

16And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.

NoteGershon, Kohath and Merari head the three great divisions of the tribe of Levi, which later had separate duties in carrying and caring for the portable sanctuary. Lifespans are recorded in this list only for Levi, Kohath and Amram, the direct line running down to Moses and Aaron.

17The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimi, along with their families.

17The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.

18The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.

18And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.

19The sons of Merari were Mahali and Mushi. These were the family lines of Levi, listed by their family records.

19And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.

20Amram married Jochebed, his father's sister, and she gave birth to Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.

20And Amram took him Jochebed his father’s sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.

NoteMarriage to a father's sister is expressly forbidden by the later law in Leviticus 18:12; the tradition kept this older account unaltered. The ancient Greek and Samaritan versions read instead that Jochebed was his father's brother's daughter, that is, his cousin.

21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.

21And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.

22The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Zithri.

22And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.

23Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Naashon, and she gave birth to Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

23And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

NoteAmminadab and Naashon belong to the tribe of Judah, where Naashon appears elsewhere as the tribe's leader in the wilderness; the note ties Aaron's household by marriage to that tribe. Of Aaron's four sons, Nadab and Abihu die in the incident recorded in Leviticus 10, and the priestly line continues through Eleazar and Ithamar.

24The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the families of the Korahites.

24And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.

Note"Korahites" is a clan name formed from Korah, in the usual way of naming a descent group after its ancestor. The same Korah leads the revolt against Moses in Numbers 16, and a guild of temple singers later bore the clan's name, which stands in the heading of several psalms.

25Eleazar, Aaron's son, married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she gave birth to Phinehas. These were the leaders of the Levite family groups, listed by their families.

25And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.

NotePhinehas is an Egyptian name in origin, meaning roughly "the dark-skinned one" or "the Nubian"; several names in the Levite line, including Moses' own, are Egyptian rather than Hebrew. Putiel is not mentioned anywhere else, and his name also looks part-Egyptian.

26This is the same Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, "Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt in their organized groups."

26These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.

Note"Organized groups" translates a Hebrew word used of troops drawn up in ranks for a march or a campaign. The picture is of a people leaving Egypt in ordered divisions rather than as a crowd.

27They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. This is the same Moses and Aaron.

27These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.

NoteThe repeated "this is that Moses and Aaron" is the writer's way of pinning the genealogy just given to the two men of the story. The names are deliberately given in both orders, Aaron first in verse 26, Moses first in verse 27.

28On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, this is what happened.

28And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,

NoteThe narrative, which broke off at verse 13 for the family list, resumes here. Verses 29 and 30 repeat verses 11 and 12 almost word for word, a normal way in Hebrew writing of picking up a thread after a long insertion.

29The LORD said to Moses, "I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, everything I say to you."

29That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.

30But Moses answered the LORD, "Look, I am not a good speaker. So why would Pharaoh listen to me?"

30And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?