Exodus 6:20 - Exposition

Amram . That this Amram is the "man of the house of Levi" mentioned in Exodus 2:1 , cannot be doubted; but it is scarcely possible that he should be the Amram of Exodus 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 ( Numbers 3:27 , Numbers 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 Exodus 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 ( Exodus 7:7 ). Miriam is omitted, since the object of the writer is confined to tracing descent in the male line.