Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Verse Exodus 6:25. Phinehas — Of the celebrated act of this person, and the most honourable grant made to him and his posterity, see Numbers 25:7-13.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

5:1-15:21 DELIVERANCE FROM EGYPT

Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh (5:1-6:27)

In the eyes of the Israelites, Moses’ first meeting with Pharaoh was a disaster. Pharaoh had no fear of Yahweh and no concern for Yahweh’s people. In fact, when Moses asked to take his people into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to Yahweh, Pharaoh responded by accusing the Israelites of laziness and making their work harder (5:1-14). This not only increased the suffering of the Israelites but also caused them to turn against Moses. Their great deliverer had done nothing but add to their troubles (15-21)!
Moses was bitterly disappointed at what was happening. It seemed to him that God had failed to keep his promise. In desperation he turned to God and was reassured (22-6:1).

God told Moses that the full significance of his character as Yahweh, the Saviour and Redeemer of his covenant people, would now be revealed to these oppressed slaves in a way that the great men of former times had never seen. Those men, Israel’s ancestors, knew that God was the Almighty, the one who created and controls all things and who is fully able to fulfil all his promises; but they had never experienced his character as the covenant Redeemer, the one who would save them from slavery according to the promise given to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-14).

In the days of the ancestors, the nation Israel did not exist; it was but a promise of something future. As a result the significance of Yahweh as Saviour-Redeemer had gradually been forgotten. But now the full significance of that name would be dramatically revealed. The Israelites would learn not just the name of their God, but the character indicated by that name. Yahweh was a God of redemption (2-8).
When Moses tried to explain all this to the disheartened Israelites, they were not interested enough to listen. This in turn caused Moses to become disheartened, but God strengthened and encouraged him (9-13).
A selective genealogy shows how God had been working through Israel’s history to produce Moses and Aaron at this time. They were prepared and appointed by him to carry out his work of delivering Israel from Egypt. The two men belonged to the tribe of Levi (14-27).

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible

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 years. The sons of Gershon: Libni, and Shimei, according to their families. And the sons of Kohath: Areram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred thirty and three years. And the sons of Merari: Mahli, and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. And 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 a hundred and thirty and seven years. And the sons of Izhar: Korah,, and Nepheg, and Zichri. And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri. And Aaron took him Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korahites. And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel; and she bare him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families. These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts. These are they that spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron."

First it should be noted that this is a selective and abbreviated genealogy. It is evident that, "There are not enough years in the life spans of these men to stretch over the 430 years of Egyptian bondage."[37] The Amram of Exodus 6:18, and the Amram of Exodus 6:20 (Moses' father) cannot be the same persons. "An indefinitely long list of generations has been omitted here."[38] The fact that just four generations are mentioned here, whereas there were actually ten, is perhaps due to the promise in Genesis 15:16, where the delivery of Israel from the land of their oppression was prophesied to happen in the "fourth generation." Significantly, there were people in each of four generations (embracing the whole period) with life spans of more than a hundred years each, thus giving two ways of reckoning the count. It was four generations as counted by the lives of successive patriarchs whose lives of over a hundred years touched each other, and also, in the meantime, actually ten successive generations had been born. "Joshua, who was a younger contemporary of Moses, was of the tenth generation from Joseph (1 Chronicles 7:20-27)."[39] This may very well explain why the ages of certain people are given in this passage.

As for the purpose of this genealogy, it is clear that it introduces a great many characters who appear in subsequent chapters of the Pentateuch. See below.

We are at first surprised that it begins with Reuben and Simeon, but this has two purposes:

1. it identified with Jacob all of the personnel whose lives figure in subsequent chapters, and
   
   
2. "It served to show that Moses was not disregarding the claims of primogeniture."[40]
   
   

"The sons of Levi ..." (Exodus 6:16). These are given because of the importance of their work as outlined later in the Pentateuch.

"Mahli, and Mushi ..." (Exodus 6:19). "These were among the most important of the Levitical families."[41]

"Jochebed ... bare Aaron and Moses ..." (Exodus 6:20). This is not from some prior document seeking to glorify Aaron instead of Moses. Aaron is mentioned first here because he was the older. The order of their importance is observed in Exodus 6:27, where we have, "Moses and Aaron." The Septuagint (LXX) adds an older sister, Miriam, in this verse. She is also mentioned in Numbers 26:59.

"Korah ..." (Exodus 6:21). He later figured prominently in a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16:1-3,32; Jude 1:1:11).

"Nadab, and Abihu ..." (Exodus 6:23). These were slain by Jehovah for their presumption in offering strange fire (Numbers 3:4).

"Eleazar and Ithamar" ministered in the office of the high priest; and Eleazar succeeded Aaron to that office (Numbers 3:4ff).

"According to their hosts ..." (Exodus 6:26). "The word for hosts rendered armies in the KJV. Armies had not been mentioned until here; but the word occurs in Exodus 7:4, and was used here because it was already in the mind of the sacred author,"[42] the same being another unmistakable evidence of the unity of the passage. "Israel left Egypt as an organized host (Exodus 3:16; 12:17; 13:18)."[43]

Exodus 6:27-28 are a recapitulation for the sake of emphasis.

Thus it is clear that this parenthetical genealogy serves somewhat as a list of the "dramatis personnae" for the epic drama about to be performed upon the stage of world history! There are few events in the story of mankind that approach the importance and significance of the delivery of Israel from Egypt.

Before leaving this chapter, we wish to include a quotation from Fields. After noting that the name of Jochebed, Moses' mother, has the meaning, "Jehovah is my glory," thus proving that, "The Hebrews used `Jehohah' before Exodus 6:2," he spoke of critical denials and their assignment of certain passages to "the imaginary `P'," adding: "Their knowledge of unknowable things passes all bounds!"[44]

Chuck Smith Bible Commentary

Chapter five of the book of Exodus, we left Moses in great despair. He did what he thought God was calling him to do. He went to the Pharaoh and demanded the release of the children of Israel. But the Pharaoh, rather than releasing them, only increased the burdens and the severity of their slavery.

Until the children of Israel started really getting on Moses' case saying, "Why didn't you leave us alone? We were much better off before you ever came. Now since you've come, things are really hard on us. We wish you would've left us alone." So Moses in turn went to God and said, "God what were You asking me to do? Why did You ask me to do it Lord? Because You haven't delivered them, and things are just worse."

It is interesting how that many times when we launch out into what we feel is the will of God for our lives, that things don't work out exactly like we thought they were gonna work out. Sometimes things turn into total chaos, and we're prone to challenge again our calling. "God did You really call me to do this? And if You called me to do it, how come it's turned into such a mess?"

Now Moses didn't want to go in the first place. He had said, "Oh Lord, please call somebody else." The Lord became angry with Moses. Moses did what the Lord said, and just things seemed to be going just the opposite of what he had anticipated and expected.

I do believe that any time we enter into any kind of ministry for the Lord that Satan is going to challenge our commitment of faith. That Satan is going to do his best to discourage us right at the beginning of any ministry. He's going to make you question the call of God upon your life. He's gonna challenge the work of God within your life, especially if that ministry has to do with some of the gifts of the Spirit. How Satan loves to challenge any exercise of the gifts of the Spirit. For instance, the gift of prophecy. "He that prophesieth", Paul said, "let him prophesy according to his portion of faith"( Romans 12:6 ).

Many times when you by faith step out, and speak what you feel to be the Word of God, people will challenge it, and it'll cause you to question, "Was that really God that was speaking to me?" Moses came to this place of challenge. The people challenged him, and challenged his ministry, and he in turn challenged God. "Why did You send me? Things aren't any better, they're only getting worse."

So beginning with chapter six, we have God's response to His distraught prophet.

Then 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 ( Exodus 6:1 ).

"Moses you haven't seen anything yet. Now you're going to see what I'm gonna do to Pharaoh because with a strong hand", he's not gonna just let them go, he's gonna drive them out. By the time they go, he's gonna be glad to see them gone.

And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD ( Exodus 6:2 ):

Now that is, it might look upon the service that just sort of, "Well, of course." But how many times we forget that. How many times we think we're in the driver's seat. How many times we think we ought to be controlling the situation. I'm sure that these people are falling after this "command God" bit, and are going around ordering God like He's some kind of a little puppet or robot.

That God is saying to them, "Hey, wait a minute. I am the Lord. Who's in control? Who's guiding these things? Who's governing over these things? Moses, I am the Lord." Many times we try to take that position away from Him, but He needs to remind us who He is. And we need to be reminded of who He is because there is a danger of forgetting who He is, as we are so prone to exalt ourselves or to exalt man, and forget that He is the Lord.

When we forget that He is the Lord, then we fall into that category that Paul was referring to in Romans chapter one. "Who when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God" ( Romans 1:21 ). They began to take things in their own hands. They began to live as though God was their servant, rather than they were God's servants. We need to be reminded that He is the Lord, and not only that He is the Lord, but of the greatness of His power and His wisdom and of His glory.

So many times we look at our problems and they seem so big, overwhelming. I look at that mountain in front of me and I think, "Oh, nothing can move that mountain." I get discouraged because that mountain looks so big, and I come to God with sort of timidity. You even hate to ask Him because you know it's such a huge mountain. You know it's impossible for you to move it, and you just wonder if God can really do it.

The disciples, when they came to the Lord with, they had a heavy problem, they said, "O Lord. Thou art God, Thou hast created the heavens and the earth, and every thing that is in them"( Acts 4:24 ). That's a good thing to remind yourself of before you pray. The heavens out there are the work of His fingers. He's created it all. So that mountain that is in front of you, though it may look like Everest to you, it is nothing in the eyes of God. "It is nothing for Thee to help Lord, many are with those that have no power."

Next time you think that that mountain that you have in front of you is maybe too big for God to move, get up at about four o'clock, three-thirty, and look out into the western sky and look at the constellation Orion. Take a careful look at the left shoulder of Orion, that's Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is four hundred and fifteen million miles in diameter. If you would hollow out the center of Betelgeuse, leaving out the crust a hundred million miles thick, you could put the sun in the middle of Betelgeuse and let the earth rotate around it, and have a hundred million miles to spare.

Betelgeuse is a pretty big mountain. It happens to be traveling at about nineteen miles a second. Have you ever wondered what kind of a force or thrust it took to get Betelgeuse into orbit; something that huge moving that fast? You ever wondered what thrust, what force? I can tell you, "When I consider the heavens", David said, "the work of Thy fingers"( Psalms 102:25 ). Hey, all of my problems seem really small. That mountain doesn't look nearly so big.

God said to Moses, you know he had his feathers ruffled and he was all uptight, and God said, "Hey, wait a minute. I'm the Lord." So many times we get all upset, our feathers ruffled. He said, "Hey, wait a minute. I'm the Lord; I'm in control. I've got it." You know, and we need to remember that. What a comfort to know that He is the Lord and He is in control.

And I appeared unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, [El Shadai] but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them ( Exodus 6:3 ).

Now that is in the sense that the word means "the becoming one", actually Abraham used the term Jehovah-Jireh when his son said, "Dad where is the sacrifice?" Abraham said, "Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide"( Genesis 22:8 ). But yet the Lord is saying, "By My name Jehovah was I not known." In other words, they knew Him in a less personal way than Moses was to know God. They knew Him as the Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Some of you may know Him as the Almighty God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth. Whenever I hear a person beginning his prayer, "O thou mighty God, creator of the universe," I think, "Well, they really don't have a very close relationship with Him. When I hear someone come in and say, "Hey, Dad, I'm really in trouble." I feel, "My, they've got a real neat working relationship with the Father".

I was with some Italians once in a prayer meeting, and they started saying, "Oh Papa." I was shocked for a moment, and I thought, "My that's sacrilegious." Then I found out that "papa" was "father" in Italian. I thought, "Oh, that's beautiful." I like that. "Papa, your child's in trouble. I need help." It's glorious to have a close, intimate relationship with God, to know Him by that name Jehovah where He becomes to me all that I need.

Now they had not really appropriated that fullness of God that He wants to be to His people. They were sort of-God was sort of a far off, great, powerful almighty force, creative; yet, He was known in a personal sense, but yet, always in that vast distance that exists between the infinite and the finite. Now God is coming closer to man. And He said, "They've not known me by my name Jehovah, you're gonna know me in a closer, more intimate way." Even as God wants to relate to you in a closer, more intimate way, and for that purpose He sent His only begotten Son. Why? That you might relate to God in the closest kind of intimate relationship as a Father with His child; that you might boldly come into His presence, that you might receive mercy in your time of need.

It's funny sometimes when people come into the office to see me. They're so nervous that they forget really what they want to say. I feel sort of funny, because I'm nobody, and I know I'm nobody. And yet because of what God has done through my life, people respect that work that God has done through me, though it doesn't make me anything. It just glorifies God that He's able to take something like me and make something through me, of His grace and love. It just shows how great God is. But yet people sometimes have that sort of, "Oh Chuck", like, something, though it really isn't. You don't need to be that way, don't need to feel that way at all. I'll tell you my grandkids aren't that way. Man, they come storming into the office. They don't care what kind of a counseling session I'm in or anything else, you know. They interrupt whatever's going on. "Grandpa, I need an ice-cream cone." I'll tell you, they get first priority because of relationship.

God wants you to have a neat, beautiful relationship with Him. He wants you to feel a perfect freedom of just coming in anytime even with the most trivial things. He wants to have that kind of relationship. And thus God is expressing, "Look they knew Me as God Almighty, I revealed Myself to them. They knew Me as God Almighty, but they didn't really know that relationship of intimacy that I want you and the people to experience as I take, and begin to watch over you, and I begin to care for you, and I begin to put the food on your table."

And I have also established my covenant with them, [That is with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.] to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I've also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant ( Exodus 6:4-5 ).

Now first of all God establishing Himself to Moses, "I've made My covenant with them. I know, I heard, and I have remembered My covenant."

Sometimes because of time delays, we feel that God has forgotten His promises. In the last days the Bible says, "Scoffers will come saying, Where is the promise of the coming of Jesus Christ?"( 2 Peter 3:4 ). Because of the time delay men will scoff. "God is not slack concerning His promises as some men count slackness, but is faithful"( 2 Peter 3:9 ).

"Wherefore [God said] say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you [First of all "I am", and then, "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: And 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. And 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 to you for a heritage: for I am the Lord ( Exodus 6:6-8 ).

So He started out by saying, "I am", and then He threw in all these "I wills", and He comes back to, "I am".

Now a promise is usually just as good as the person making it. There are some people who have made many promises but I don't put much stock into it. When I was just a little guy there was a knock at the front door. My parents went, and this guy introduced himself as our cousin Pringle, some relative of my dad's. They came in. "Oh this is your family, Charles. Oh wonderful, wonderful." He kissed all of us kids. He looked at me very sternly and he said, "Now, son don't smoke. If you don't smoke until you're twenty-one, I'll give you a gold watch." I thought that was sort of a funny thing for him to say because he was smoking. I didn't smoke until I was twenty-one; in fact I've never smoked yet. But I've never seen him again. So I've got a gold watch promised to me that I've never seen, because I've never seen that cousin Pringle again. So there are some promises that you just can't put much stock in.

But I'll tell you when God begins to promise, and He begins it by saying, "Hey, look I am the Lord, and I will, and I will", and there are seven "I wills" there of God; what God will do for His people. And because the history of the children of Israel is typical history, and it typifies the child of God coming out of bondage through the Red Sea, baptism, into a new relationship of faith with God in the wilderness and on in through the death of the old life, and the old self into the land of promise, a life of richness and fullness; we can take these "I wills" of God to Israel and we can apply them to our own lives as God is promising.

I will deliver you from the heavy burdens, I will rid you from the bondage, [from the flesh, and of that old life] and I will redeem you. And take you for a people, and I will be to you a God: and I will bring you into the fullness of that which I have promised. So Moses spoke to the children of Israel: [these words of the Lord] but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for the cruel bondage ( Exodus 6:6-9 ).

They, at this point, were so discouraged because of these things the Egyptians were laying upon them. Even when Moses came with these glorious promises and declarations of God, the people just couldn't believe it.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Go in, and speak unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. And Moses spake before the Lord, saying, Behold, the children of Israel haven't listened to me; how then will Pharaoh hear, who am of uncircumcised lips ( Exodus 6:10-12 )?

Moses said, "Hey, God now look. You told me to tell the children of Israel, they didn't listen to me, now You're telling me to tell Pharaoh. If they didn't listen to me, what do you think the Pharaoh's gonna do? He's not gonna listen to me." So Moses is still dragging his heels at the call of God, at the commission of God upon his life.

And the Lord spake to Moses and unto Aaron, and he gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ( Exodus 6:13 ).

Now at this point there is inserted a little genealogy of the first three sons of Jacob. With Reuben and Simeon his first two sons, it lists just the names of the sons of Reuben and Simeon as they are in Genesis. When it lists then the names of the sons of Levi, it goes on then to name the grandsons and the great grandsons in order that we might have a genealogy that will bring us down to Moses and Aaron.

So Amram [Verse twenty] took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and these are the years of the life of Amram he was a hundred and thirty seven years old ( Exodus 6:20 ).

Now verse twenty-seven. "These are they", well verse twenty-six,

Now these 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. These are they which spake to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron ( Exodus 6:26-27 ).

So you have a little genealogy to bring you to Moses and Aaron just sort of inserted here into chapter six, so you'll know where they came from.

And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt, That the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee. And Moses said before the Lord, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, how shall the Pharaoh hearken unto me ( Exodus 6:28-30 )?

So that's just sort of a little throwback to verses twelve and thirteen. He threw in the genealogy, and then he sort of recaps the story to bring you up to chapter seven. "

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable

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

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife,.... This was Aaron's eldest son. The person, whose daughter he married, Dr. Lightfoot m conjectures was an Egyptian convert, perhaps of the posterity of Potipherah, among whom Joseph had sowed the seeds of true religion, and supposes that the Egyptians used the name of Puti or Poti, either in memorial of their uncle Put,

Genesis 10:6 or in reverence of some deity of that name; but the Targum of Jonathan makes Putiel to be the same with Jethro; and so does Jarchi; but Aben Ezra seems to be most right, who takes him to be of the children of Israel, though the reason of his name is not known, and the daughter of such an one it is most likely a son of Aaron would marry:

and she bore him Phinehas; of whom see Numbers 25:11:

these are the heads of the Levites, according to their families; from whence the Levites sprung, and their several families. It may be observed, that Moses says nothing of his own offspring, only of his brother Aaron's, partly out of modesty and humility, and partly because the priesthood was successive in the family of Aaron, but not the civil government in the family of Moses; and that he proceeds no further to give the genealogy of the remaining tribes, his chief view being to show the descent of Aaron and himself, that it might be with certainty known in after times who they were that were instruments of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt, which would be matter of inquiry, and very desirable to be known.

m Works, vol. 1. p. 704, 705.

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      14 These 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.   15 And 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.   16 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 an hundred thirty and seven years.   17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.   18 And 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.   19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.   20 And 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.   21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.   22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.   23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.   24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.   25 And 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.   26 These 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.   27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.   28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,   29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.   30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

      I. We have here a genealogy, not an endless one, such as the apostle condemns (1 Timothy 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 preserved. The heads of the houses of three of the tribes are here named, agreeing with the accounts we had, Genesis 46:1-34. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, are thus dignified here by themselves for this reason, because they were left under marks of infamy by their dying father, Reuben for his incest and Simeon and Levi for their murder of the Shechemites; and therefore Moses would put this particular honour upon them, to magnify God's mercy in their repentance and remission, as a pattern to those that should afterwards believe: the two former seem rather to be mentioned only for the sake of a third, which was Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron descended, and all the priests of the Jewish church. Thus was the tribe of Levi distinguished betimes. Observe here, 1. That Kohath, from whom Moses and Aaron, and all the priests, derived their pedigree, was a younger son of Levi, Exodus 6:16; Exodus 6:16. Note, The grants of God's favours do not go by seniority of age and priority of birth, but the divine sovereignty often prefers the younger before the elder, so crossing hands. 2. That the ages of Levi, Kohath, and Amram, the father, grandfather, and great grandfather, of Moses, are here recorded; they all lived to a great age, Levi to 137, Kohath to 133, and Amram to 137. Moses himself came much short of them, and fixed seventy or eighty for the ordinary stretch of human life (Psalms 90:10); for now that God's Israel was multiplied and had become a great nation, and divine revelation was by the hand of Moses committed to writing and no longer trusted to tradition, the two great reasons for the long lives of the patriarchs had ceased, and therefore henceforward fewer years must serve men. 3. That Aaron married Elisheba (the same name with that of the wife of Zecharias, Elizabeth, as Miriam is the same with Mary), daughter of Amminadab, one of the chief of the fathers of the tribe of Judah; for the tribes of Levi and Judah often intermarried, Exodus 6:23; Exodus 6:23. 4. It must not be omitted that Moses has recorded the marriage of his father Amram with Jochebed his own aunt (Exodus 6:20; Exodus 6:20); and it appears by Numbers 26:59 that it must be taken strictly for his father's own sister, at least by the half blood. This marriage was afterwards forbidden as incestuous (Leviticus 18:12), which might be looked upon as a blot upon his family, though before that law; yet Moses does not conceal it, for he sought not his own praise, but wrote with a sincere regard to truth, whether it smiled or frowned upon him. 5. He concludes it with a particular mark of honour on the persons he is writing of, though he himself was one of them, Exodus 6:26; Exodus 6:27. These are that Moses and Aaron whom God pitched upon to be his plenipotentiaries in this treaty. These were those to whom God spoke (Exodus 6:26; Exodus 6:26), and who spoke to Pharaoh on Israel's behalf, Exodus 6:27; Exodus 6:27. Note, Communion with God and serviceableness to his church are things that, above any other, put true honour upon men. Those are great indeed with whom God converses and whom he employs on his service. Such were that Moses and Aaron; and something of this honour have all his saints, who are made to our God kings and priests.

      II. In the close of the chapter Moses returns to his narrative, from which he had broken off somewhat abruptly (Exodus 6:13; Exodus 6:13), and repeats, 1. The charge God had given him to deliver his message to Pharaoh (Exodus 6:29; Exodus 6:29): Speak all that I say unto thee, as a faithful ambassador. Note, Those that go on God's errand must not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. 2. His objection against it, Exodus 6:30; Exodus 6:30. Note, Those that have at any time spoken unadvisedly with their lips ought often to reflect upon it with regret, as Moses seems to do here.