Exodus 6

1 But the LORD said to Moses, “ Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God also told Moses, “ I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them. 4 I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. 5 Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘ I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’” 9 Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him. 10 So the LORD said to Moses, 11 “ Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.” 12 But in the LORD ’s presence Moses replied, “ If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?” 13 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge concerning both the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. Genealogies of Moses and Aaron 14 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. 16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites according to their records. 20 And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites. 25 Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans. 26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “ Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. 28 Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 He said to him, “ I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.” 30 But in the LORD ’s presence Moses replied, “ Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

✦ What the text says

## Summary Exodus 6 opens with Yahweh's declaration to Moses that the name *Yahweh* (H3068G) was not known to the patriarchs as *El Shaddai* (H0410G/H7706) was, followed by a chain of first-person promises to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. The chapter closes with a genealogical list tracing Moses and Aaron through the tribe of Levi, and repeats Moses' objection about his speech before Pharaoh. ## Key words - *Yahweh* ("Yahweh", H3068G) — the divine proper name, contrasted in v.3 with *El Shaddai* as the name "not made known" to the patriarchs. - *noda'ti* ("I made myself known", H3045) — niphal perfect, a passive/reflexive form: the subject (the divine name) is the one becoming known, not Israel doing the knowing. - *ve'im* sequential perfects like *ve'hotzeti* ("I will bring out", H3318H) and *ve'ga'alti* ("I will redeem", H1350A) — hiphil/qal forms with vav-consecutive, each continuing a chain of future divine actions announced in vv.6-8. - *'aral sefatayim* ("uncircumcised of lips", H6189/H8193G) — construct adjective + dual noun, Moses' self-description repeated in v.12 and v.30, describing a defect in speech rather than a physical circumcision. - *higmoti* ("I established", H6965I) — hiphil perfect, causative: God is the one who "caused to stand" the covenant, not merely made it. ## What the text says The chapter's core (vv.2-8) is built as a first-person divine speech introduced twice by *va-yomer* ("and he said", H0559) and *va-yedabber* ("and he spoke", H1696G), piling up verbs in the perfect and sequential-perfect (vav-consecutive perfect) forms: *sha'ma'ti* ("I have heard", H8085G), *va'ezkor* ("and I have remembered", H2142), then a run of future-oriented perfects — *ve'hotzeti*, *ve'hitzalti*, *ve'ga'alti*, *ve'lakachti*, *ve'hayiti*, *ve'heveti*, *ve'natati* — each linked by the narrative/sequential vav, presenting the deliverance as a single continuous divine action rather than isolated future events. The phrase *bi-zroa' netuyah u-vishfatim gedolim* ("by an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment", H2220/H5186/H8201/H1419A) pairs a feminine passive-participle adjective with a plural noun to describe both the manner and the acts of the deliverance. Moses' reply in v.12 and v.30 uses the identical construct phrase *'aral sefatayim*, an adjective in construct with a dual noun, applied reflexively to himself — the dual form marking the two lips as a single anatomical pair. The genealogical section (vv.14-25) is organized by repeated construct chains — *bene X* ("sons of X", H1121A) and *mishpechot X* ("clans of X", H4940) — a formulaic structure listing descent without narrative verbs until the notices of Amram's and Aaron's marriages, which use the same qal narrative verb *va-yikkach* ("and he took", H3947I) for both. ## Differences between versions In v.3, the LXX renders *El Shaddai* (H0410G/H7706) as θεὸς ὢν αὐτῶν ("being their God") rather than transliterating or naming a divine epithet, while the Vulgate gives *in Deo omnipotente* ("in God Almighty"). For *Yahweh* not "made known" (*noda'ti*, H3045), the LXX has οὐκ ἐδήλωσα ("I did not disclose/reveal"), and the Vulgate has *non indicavi* ("I did not indicate"), both rend

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.