Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 6:13
And the LORD spoke 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.
13. A summary statement, unconnected with v. 12, of the commission given to Moses and Aaron in vv. 2 6. The verse comes in abruptly; for Aaron has not in this connexion been mentioned before. No doubt, it is an addition of the compiler who inserted the genealogy, vv. 14 27 (the main object of which is to explain who Moses and Aaron were), and who intended this verse to introduce it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Unto Moses and unto Aaron – The final and formal charge to the two brothers is given, as might be expected, before the plagues are denounced. With this verse begins a new section of the history.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron,…. No notice is taken of the objection of Moses, having been sufficiently answered before, and Aaron is joined with him in the following charge:
and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; that is, to go to the children of Israel and comfort them, and direct them what they should do, and how they should behave under their present circumstances; assuring them of deliverance, and to go to Pharaoh, and to make a fresh demand upon him to let Israel go; and in this work they had a solemn charge from God to continue, and not to desist from it, until they had finished it:
to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; which they were to be the instruments of: and that it might be known clearly from whom they descended, who had such a charge given them, and such honour put upon them, the following genealogy is recorded.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Exo 6:13 forms a concluding summary, and prepares the way for the genealogy that follows, the heading of which is given in Exo 6:14.
(Note: The organic connection of this genealogy with the entire narrative has been so conclusively demonstrated by Ranke, in his Unterss. ub. d. Pent. i. p. 68ff. and ii. 19ff., that even Knobel has admitted it, and thrown away the fragmentary hypothesis.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
13. And the Lord spake unto Moses. I translate it, “the Lord had spoken unto Moses;” because reference is here made to the commencement of his calling, and, therefore, the sense will be more accurately rendered by the perfect past tense; for he repeats, what he had already said, that he and Aaron his brother had not acted rashly, but had been commissioned by the command of God. The drift is, that however often the work might have been in some way interrupted, the counsel of God still held firm for the liberation of the people. But it is evident that he speaks of the first command, because he says that he and his brother were sent as well to the children of Israel as to Pharaoh.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(13) The Lord . . . gave them a charge.The reluctance and opposition of Moses led to an express charge being laid upon himself and Aaron, the details of which are given in Exo. 7:1-9. Exo. 6:1 of Exodus 7 probably followed originally on Exo. 6:12 of this chapter. When the genealogy was inserted at this point, the present verse, which summarises Exo. 7:1-9, was added, as also Exo. 6:28-30 at the end of the chapter.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
13-19. Since Israel is now to be led forth as a nation, Moses and Aaron, their leaders, are fully set before us according to their genealogy . The tribe of Levi now, therefore, comes before us, with its three tribal families and their subdivisions, while the elder tribes, Reuben and Simeon, are mentioned with their general family divisions, in order to show the relative position of Levi . (Knobel here clearly shows the connexion against the documentists . ) The fathers’ houses are usually considered as divisions of the tribal families, subdivisions of the tribe, (Geseuius, Furst, Ewald,) but the phrase is considered by Kurtz to be simply another designation for the tribe, the word “fathers” meaning ancestors. But the first view is favoured by the systematic classification in passages like Jos 7:14, and Num 1:20; Num 1:22, etc . , where the phrase should be translated, as here, “houses of their fathers,” (not house; see Gesen., Gram., 108, 3; Ewald, Gram., 270, c.) The twelve tribes were regularly divided and subdivided, according to lineage, with princes or heads over each section or grade, who took their rank by primogeniture. Besides this hereditary nobility there were elders, who appear to have held their position from age and experience, probably owing their rank to popular election, and who always appear as the representatives of the people, and constitute a democratic element in the state. There were, finally, the scribes, or shoterim officers who may have arisen under Egyptian influences, as already noticed, who exercised a subordinate overseership over government labourers, and probably had charge of the genealogical tables and public writings. Thus the patriarchal and Egyptian governments furnished the groundwork for the elaborate Mosaic system perfected at Sinai.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
EXPOSITION
Exo 6:13-27
At this point the narrative is interrupted The author, or the final compilerperhaps Joshuathought it desirable to insert here a genealogical section, taking up the fatuity history of Israel from the point at which it was left in Exo 1:5, where the sons of Jacob were enumerated. The whole political system of Israel was based upon the tribal relation; and it was of the last importance, politically, to hand down the divisions and subdivisions of families. The lists here given, probably prepared by Moses in a separate document, had to be inserted somewhere. The present seemed a fitting place. The narrative had reached a turning-point. All the preliminaries were overthe action of the Exodus itself was about to begin. A dramatist would have made Act 1 end and Act 2 commence. A poet would have begun a new canto. In the imperfect bibliography of the time, it was thought best to make a division by a parenthetic insertion.
Exo 6:13
Seems to belong to what follows rather than to what precedes. There is no emphasis on the words and to Aaron, as if God, having found Moses singly to be irre-sponsive, had now given a charge to both the brothers conjointly (Rashi). Rather the verse is a concise summary of chs. 3-5; prefixed to the genealogy when it was a separate document, and preserved when the compiler placed the document in the text
Exo 6:14
These be the heads of their fathers’ houses. By “fathers’ houses” are meant families (see 1Ch 4:38; 1Ch 5:13; 1Ch 7:40; 1Ch 9:9, etc.); and “the heads of fathers’ houses” are simply the acknowledged chiefs and founders of families. The main families of the tribe of Reuben were those of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carrel, actual sons of the patriarch (See Gen 46:9; and compare 1Ch 5:3.)
Exo 6:15
The sons of Simeon. The list corresponds exactly, both in the names and in the order, with that given in Gen 46:10, but differs considerably from 1Ch 4:24, and Num 26:12. In both the latter places Jemuel appears as Nemuel, and Zohar as Zerah, while Obad is omitted. In 1Ch 4:24, Jachin appears as Jarib. It would seem that the family of Obad died out and disappeared soon after the Israelites quitted Egypt. The family of Shaul, on the other hand, increased and multiplied (1Ch 4:25-27).
Exo 6:16
The sons of Levi. The same three sons are given in Gen 46:11; Num 3:17; and 1Ch 6:2. According to their generations. This phrase is introduced because the writer does not here stop at the sons, but proceeds on to the grandsons, great-grandsons, and other descendants. (See 1Ch 6:17-25.) He is concerned especially in this place with the descent of Moses, and therefore with the genealogy of the tribe of Levi, and has only inserted any account of the families descended from Reuben and Simeon, that he might not seem to disregard the claims of primogeniture. The years of the life of Levi. These began about forty or fifty years before the descent into Egypt, which took place after the birth of all his three sons, as appears front Gen 46:8-11. The length of Levi’s life is recorded, not from any chronological considerations, but to show God’s blessing upon the family of Moses, which gave such length of days to so many of his ancestors.
Exo 6:17
The sons of Gershon. The line of Gershon, as the eldest, is taken first. Moses and Aaron are descended from the second son. Shimi is called “Shimei” in 1Ch 6:17; but there is no difference in the original.
Exo 6:18
The sons of Kohath. The same names are given in 1Ch 6:2 and 1Ch 6:15. The years of the life of Kohath. Kohath, who was probably about twenty at the time of the descent into Egypt, must have considerably outlived Joseph, who died about seventy years after the descent. His eldest son, Amram, is not likely to have been born much later than his father’s thirtieth year. (See Gen 11:12-24.) Amram would thus have been contemporary with Joseph for above fifty years.
Exo 6:19
The sons of Merari. The same names occur in 1Ch 6:19 and 1Ch 23:21, Mahali, by a difference of pointing, becoming Mahli. The Mahlites and Mushites were among the most important of the Levitical families (Num 3:33; Num 26:58).
Exo 6:20
Amram. That this Amram is the “man of the house of Levi” mentioned in Exo 2:1, cannot be doubted; but it is scarcely possible that he should be the Amram of Exo 2:18, the actual son of Kohath and contemporary of Joseph. He is probably a descendant of the sixth or seventh generation, who bore the same name, and was the head of the Amramite house. That house, at the time of the Exodus, numbered above two thousand males (Num 3:27, Num 3:28). See the excellent remarks of Keil and Delitzsch, ‘Biblical Commentary,’ vol. 1. p. 470, E. T.; and compare Kurtz, ‘History of Old Covenant,’ vol. 2. p. 144, and Cook, in ‘Speaker’s Commentary,’ vol. 1. p. 274. Jochebed his father’s sister. Marriages with aunts and nieces have been common in many countries, and are not forbidden by any natural instinct. They first became unlawful by the positive command recorded in Le Exo 18:12. The name Jochebed is the earliest known compounded with Jah, or Jehovah. It means “the glory of Jehovah.” She bare him Aaron and Moses. Aaron is placed first, as being older than Moses (Exo 7:7). Miriam is omitted, since the object of the writer is confined to tracing descent in the male line.
Exo 6:21
The sons of Izhar. Korah is mentioned as a “son (descendant) of Izhar” in Num 16:1 and 1Ch 6:38. The other “sons” are not elsewhere mentioned. Zithri in this verse should be Zichri.
Exo 6:22
The sons of Uzziel. Mishael and Elzaphan are again mentioned as “sons of Uzziel” in Le Exo 10:4. They were employed by Moses to carry the bodies of Nadab and Abihu out of the camp. Elzaphan, called Elizaphan, is mentioned as head of the Ko-hathites in Num 3:30.
Exo 6:23
Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab. Amminadah had not been previously mentioned. He was a descendant of Judah, through Pharez and Hezron, and held a place in the line of our Lord’s ancestry. (See 1Ch 2:3-10. Mat 1:5.) Naashon was at this time “prince of the tribe of Judah” (Number Exo 2:3). Nadab and Abihu. On their fate, see Le Exo 10:1, Exo 10:2. Eleazar became high-priest upon the death of Aaron (Num 20:23-28). His death is related in Jos 24:33.
Exo 6:24
The sons of Korah. All Korah’s sons were not cut off with him (Num 26:11). Three at least survived, and became the heads of “families of the Korhites.”
Exo 6:25
Eleazar took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife. Putiel is not elsewhere mentioned. The name is thought to be half Egyptian (compare Poti-phar) and to mean “dedicated to God.” She bare him Phinehas. This Phinehas became high priest on the death of Eleazar (Jdg 20:28). The heads of the fathom i.e. “the patriarchal chiefs.”
Exo 6:26, Exo 6:27
The genealogy being concluded as a separate document, its author appends a notice that the Aaron and Moses mentioned in it (Exo 6:20) are the very Aaron and Moses who received the Divine command to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, and who appeared before Pharaoh, and “spoke to him” on their behalf. As the heading of the document was kept upon its insertion into the narrative of the Exodus (see the comment on Exo 6:13), so its concluding sentences were kept, though (according to modem ideas) superfluous.
Exo 6:26
According to their armies. The term “armies” had not been previously used of the Israelitish people; but it occurs in Exo 7:4, which was probably in the mind of the writer who drew up the genealogy
HOMILETICS
Exo 6:13-27
The historical character of real revelation.
Among the religions of the world which are based on the contents of a written volume, none has such an historical character as the religion of Christians. Most nations have evolved their religion out of their internal consciousness, and have then, after a certain lapse of time, thrown into a narrative form the supposed revelations made to this or that individual secretly, and by him committed to writing. These revelationsto give them the nameare not connected with any series of events, are not, properly speaking, historical at all, but belong to the domain of thought, contemplation, philosophy. It is quite otherwise with the religion of the Bible. Both in the Old Testament and in the New our attention is directed primarily and mainly to a series of facts. Religion is not put before us in an abstract, but in a concrete form. The Bible represents to us “God in history.” We learn the nature and the will of God from his dealings with nations and individuals at definite times and in definite places. It is a necessary consequence of such a mode of inculcating religious truth, that very dry and mundane details must from time to time be obtruded upon the reader, in order that the narrative may be clear, and that he may understand the circumstances of time and place with which each writer in his turn has to deal. In this way genealogies come in. History cannot be understood without them. We want to know who the individuals are who are introduced afresh at each new stage in the narrative, and in what relation they stand to those other individuals with whom the narrative is concerned before and after. Genealogies convey this knowledge. Many think them uninteresting; but they are not so to any thoughtful person. For
(1) they raise the salutary thought of the rapid flight of time and the speedy passing away of one generation after another, .
(2) They show us how good men and bad, great men and little, are intermixed in the world, arise under the same conditions, seem produced by the same circumstances; and thus they force us to see what a vast power the human will has in shaping human character, and even in determining the course of earthly events. Hence they remind us of our responsibilities.
(3) They hold up to us warnings and exampleswarnings in the names to which there is attached the savour of evil deeds never to be forgotten so long as the world enduresNadabs, Abihus, Korahs; examples in those, familiar to us as household words, which we no sooner hear or see than there rush to our thought a crowd of glorious and heroic actions. Being dead, these men still speak to ustheirs is a death “full of immortality.”
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 6:13. And the Lord spake unto Moses, &c. From this verse to the twenty-eighth, we have a short digression, wherein Moses gives us an account of the genealogy of himself and his brother Aaron; as well to shew their descent from the stock of Abraham, as to mark the time of Israel’s deliverance; and, therefore, it would be as well to render this verse (which translation the original will bear,) now the Lord had spoken unto Mosesand had given them, &c.
REFLECTIONS.Though sinners be obstinate, we must not cease to warn them. It may be, God will yet turn their hearts. Moses is sent again to Pharaoh with the same message. Hereupon,
1. Moses objects the improbability of success: if his own people will not hear him, much less will Pharaoh. Besides, he urges his own defective utterance to plead their cause. Note; (1.) It is very discouraging, when we find those from whom we expected success, untractable. (2.) Though we have God’s commission for our work, we are too ready to be disheartened by our conscious insufficiency for it; but if it be God’s work, the power too shall be of God.
2. God charges him to go without farther excuse, and joins Aaron with him. It is not for us to dispute, but to obey.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Phi 2:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 6:13 And 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.
Ver. 13. And the Lord spake unto Moses. ] Notwithstanding his former equivocation, and the people’s peevishness. Men’s wickedness cannot interrupt the course of God’s goodness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 27:19, Num 27:23, Deu 31:14, Psa 91:11, Mat 4:6, 1Ti 1:18, 1Ti 5:21, 1Ti 6:13, 1Ti 6:17, 2Ti 2:4, 2Ti 4:1
Reciprocal: Exo 6:26 – That Aaron Exo 6:27 – to bring
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 6:13-30. An insertion by the editor, who in Exo 6:13 anticipates the mention of Aaron (Exo 7:1 f.), and in Exo 6:14-27 compresses a wider genealogy to give the pedigree of Moses and Aaron, and in Exo 6:28-30 recapitulates Exo 6:1-12. From Genesis 5 onwards genealogies, original and inserted, abound in P, reflecting the post-exilic interest in pedigrees (Ch., Ezr., Neh.). A Canaanite strain is indicated for Simeon (Exo 6:15), as well as for Judah (Genesis 38), by the mention of Shauls Canaanite mother. The post-exilic tradition found sanction for the current distribution of duties about the Temple among certain hereditary guilds in tracing back their descent to Levi (Exo 6:16-19), and their appointment to Moses (Num 3:11 to Num 4:49*), their duties being revised by David (1Ch 23:6-24*). For the writers purpose Kohaths descendants are important. To his first son, Amram, Aaron and Moses (Num 26:59; Num 26:1 MS, Sam., LXX, Syr. here add and Miriam their sister) were born (Exo 6:20), Jochebed his wife (Exo 6:22*) being his aunt. As Lev 18:12 forbids such a marriage, we may infer that an old tradition is here preserved.