Exodus 6

After Pharaoh made the slavery worse, God answers Moses’ discouragement with a fresh promise: seven great ‘I will’ statements, all grounded in His name and His covenant. But the people are too crushed to listen, and Moses doubts himself again. A family record of Moses and Aaron then shows who these men were.

Exodus 6:1

God answers Moses’ complaint by promising action. Pharaoh will not merely allow Israel to leave; God’s strong hand will force him to send them out. The rescue will depend on God’s power, not on Pharaoh’s change of heart or Moses’ skill.

BSA: hand (“strong, powerful arm”): The hand stands for God’s active power, which will do what Moses cannot.

See also: Exodus 3:19-20.

Exodus 6:2-3

God declares who He is: ‘I am the LORD.’ He reminds Moses that the patriarchs knew Him as God Almighty, a name stressing His power. Now He will make Himself known more fully by His covenant name, by showing He keeps His promises.

BSA: Almighty (“Shadday, referring to God’s great power”): The patriarchs knew God as the all-powerful One who protected and provided for them.

Hebrew: יְהוָה (Yahweh, H3068) — “the LORD, God’s personal covenant name.” It is linked to the words ‘I AM’ of Exodus 3. The patriarchs heard the name, but Israel is about to experience what it means.

See also: Exodus 3:14-15; Genesis 17:1.

Exodus 6:4

God’s promise did not begin with Moses. He had already made a covenant with the patriarchs to give them Canaan, a land where they lived only as guests. Their wandering was not the end of the story.

BSA: covenant (“promise, agreement”): God bound Himself by a solemn pledge, so the coming rescue rests on His word.

See also: Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:7-8.

Exodus 6:5

God has heard Israel’s groaning under slavery. ‘Remembered’ does not mean He had forgotten. It means He is now moving to act on His promise. Their suffering has reached Him.

BSA: remembered (“recalled, marked”): God’s remembering means He is turning His attention to act on what He promised.

See also: Exodus 2:24.

Exodus 6:6

Here come the first three ‘I will’ promises: bring out, deliver, and redeem. To redeem is to buy back or set free at a cost. God will rescue Israel by His own outstretched arm and by judgments on Egypt.

BSA: redeem (“buy back, set free”): Israel is pictured as belonging to God and being claimed back from a cruel master. yoke (“burden, forced labor”): The slavery was a heavy wooden load laid on their necks, which God promises to lift.

Hebrew: וְגָאַלְתִּי (vegaalti, H1350) — “and I will redeem.” This word is used of a family member who rescues a relative from debt or slavery. God takes on that family role for Israel.

See also: Deuteronomy 7:8.

Exodus 6:7

The goal of the rescue is relationship: ‘I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God.’ Freedom from Egypt is only the start. Israel will come to know the LORD through what He does for them.

BSA: know (“understand, recognize”): Israel will recognize God’s character by experiencing His deliverance firsthand.

See also: Leviticus 26:12.

Exodus 6:8

The final promise is the land, which God swore to the patriarchs. The Hebrew phrase behind ‘swore’ is to lift up the hand, as in taking a solemn oath. The whole speech ends as it began: ‘I am the LORD.’ Everything rests on who He is.

BSA: swore (“made a solemn oath, lifted up My hand”): God staked His own honor on giving the land.

Exodus 6:9

Moses delivers the wonderful message, but the people cannot take it in. Their spirit is crushed and their work is brutal. Sometimes suffering makes even good news hard to hear and believe.

BSA: broken (“anguished”): Their distress was deep and left them without strength to hope.

Hebrew: מִקֹּצֶר (miqqotser, H7115) — “from shortness.” The word literally speaks of being short of breath or cut short. Their spirits were gasping under the crushing labor.

Exodus 6:10-11

God does not accept their silence as the last word. He sends Moses again, this time to Pharaoh, with the same demand: let Israel go. God’s commands often come right after discouragement.

BSA: go (“send, release”): The demand is that Pharaoh release the people, as one who sets a captive free.

Exodus 6:12

Moses argues from what has just happened: if Israel will not listen, why would Pharaoh? He also points again to his poor speech. His reasoning sounds sensible, but it overlooks that God’s power, not Moses’ words, will do the work.

BSA: unskilled (“having uncircumcised lips, lacking eloquence”): Moses calls his lips ‘uncircumcised,’ meaning not fit or ready for the task.

Hebrew: עֲרַל שְׂפָתַיִם (arel sefatayim, H6189) — “uncircumcised of lips.” The Hebrew uses a vivid picture of lips that are not ready or open for speech. Moses means he feels blocked and unfit.

See also: Exodus 4:10.

Exodus 6:13

God does not argue with Moses. He gives Moses and Aaron together a charge for Israel and for Pharaoh. The mission stays the same: bring Israel out of Egypt.

BSA: charge (“command, instruction”): The task comes as an assignment from God, with His authority behind it.

Exodus 6:14-15

A list of family heads begins. It starts with the oldest sons of Jacob, Reuben and Simeon, and then moves on to Levi. The list is brief and shows that Moses and Aaron are real men from a real family among Israel’s tribes. Even Simeon’s son by a Canaanite mother is included.

BSA: heads (“chiefs, leaders”): These were the men at the top of the family lines in Israel.

See also: Genesis 46:9-10.

Exodus 6:16-19

The record reaches Levi, the tribe of Moses and Aaron. His three sons are Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, each with their own families. The ages given show how long these ancestors lived in Egypt, and that God’s promise passed through many generations.

BSA: records (“genealogical history, family line”): The names were kept as a careful account of the family line.

See also: Genesis 46:11.

Exodus 6:20

Amram and Jochebed are named as the parents of Aaron and Moses. Moses, the great deliverer, comes from an ordinary family of slaves. He did not become Israel’s leader by some distinguished background.

See also: Exodus 2:1-2; Numbers 26:59.

Exodus 6:21-22

The list includes cousins of Moses and Aaron through Kohath’s other sons. Korah is named here and will later rebel against Moses. Others, such as Mishael and Elzaphan, appear later in Israel’s story.

See also: Numbers 16:1-3; Leviticus 10:4.

Exodus 6:23

Aaron’s marriage to Elisheba is recorded, along with his four sons. Two of them, Nadab and Abihu, later die for offering unauthorized fire. Eleazar and Ithamar carry on the priesthood. Elisheba’s brother Nahshon later leads the tribe of Judah.

See also: Leviticus 10:1-2; Numbers 2:3.

Exodus 6:24-25

The record completes the line by naming the Korahite clans and Eleazar’s marriage, which gives Phinehas. These details show that the family of the priests was growing. Phinehas will later serve with zeal.

See also: Numbers 25:7-8.

Exodus 6:26-27

The record closes by pointing back to Aaron and Moses, the men God called to bring Israel out ‘by their divisions,’ like an organized army. They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh. God worked through named and ordinary people.

BSA: divisions (“according to their armies, hosts, or tribes”): Israel would leave orderly and grouped like a host, not as a mob of runaways.

Hebrew: צִבְאֹתָם (tsiv’otam, H6635) — “their hosts, armies.” It is a military word, used for ranks of an army. It shows that God sees the people as marching out in order.

See also: Exodus 12:51.

Exodus 6:28-30

The story returns to the moment of God’s speaking. God again calls Himself the LORD and tells Moses to say everything He commands. Moses repeats his worry about his speech. The chapter ends with the problem still open, and God’s answer follows in the next chapter.

BSA: everything (“all that I command, without omission”): Moses is to speak the whole message, not a trimmed or softened version.

See also: Exodus 7:1-2.