And Moses said before the Lord, behold, I am of uncircumcised lips ,.... As he had done, Exodus 6:13 , and this is only a repetition of what is there said, in order to lead on to what is related in the following chapter: how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me ? so mean a person, and so poor a speaker, and he a mighty king, surrounded with wise counsellors and eloquent orators. read more
Shaken faith, and an unshaken purpose. In these verses we have— I. A PAINFUL RESULT OF AFFLICTIVE PROVIDENCE . The children of Israel, hard-driven by their taskmasters, and sunk in misery, were so stupefied with sorrow, as to have no longer any heart for their cheering tidings brought to them by Moses. Their despair had its ground in unbelief. They judged Moses a deceiver. They had trusted him before, and they reflected that the only outcome of it had been this... read more
The remainder of this chapter is scarcely more than a recapitulation. The author, or compiler, having interposed his genealogical section, has to take up the narrative from Exodus 6:12 , where he broke off, and does so by almost repeating the words of Exodus 6:10-12 . The only important addition is the insertion of the words—" I am the Lord" ( Exodus 6:29 ), and the only important variation, the substitution of "Speak thou unto Pharaoh all that I say unto thee ' (ibid.),... read more
All that I say unto thee . To the general command thus expressed, was probably appended the particular injunction of Exodus 6:11 , not here repeated—Speak thou unto Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land." The sacred historians continually abbreviate read more
Forecast of coming judgment (6:28-7:13)Before Moses approached Pharaoh to give him a final opportunity to release Israel, God reminded Moses that not just Pharaoh but the whole Egyptian nation was under the threat of judgment. People and king alike were stubbornly opposed to Yahweh and were devoted followers of Yahweh’s enemies, the Egyptian gods (6:28-7:7; cf. 9:27; 12:12).These were gods of nature and were therefore connected with the river Nile, on which Egypt depended entirely for its water... read more
GENEALOGY"These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi, these are the families of Reuben. And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon. And 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 a hundred thirty and seven... read more
The selective genealogy (cf. Numbers 3:27-28) of Moses and Aaron accredits these men as God’s divinely appointed messengers (prophets) to the Israelites.Moses’ Family Tree (Exodus 6:14-27)Click image for full-size version read more
The Renewal of the Promise. Genealogies of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi1. 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... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 6:14-30
I. We have here a genealogy, not an endless one, such as the apostle condemns (1 Tim. 1:4), for it ends in those two great patriots Moses and Aaron, and comes in here to show that they were Israelites, bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh whom they were sent to deliver, raised up unto them of their brethren, as Christ also should be, who was to be the prophet and priest, the Redeemer and lawgiver, of the people of Israel, and whose genealogy also, like this, was to be carefully... read more