Exodus 6
DOYLYraoh.] I have made thee, not only My ambassadour to speak in My name, but also My substitute to punish Pharaoh for disobedience to Me. Dr. Wells. I have made thee a terrible instrument, to execute My judgments upon Pharaoh, which he shall take, as wrought by Me, through thy hands. Bp. Hall. It denotes that he was God’s ambassadour to speak to him in His name, with a power ready to execute all that he desired, for humbling Pharaoh, and punishing his disobedience to the Divine message Bp. Patrick.
— Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.] Shall interpret thy mind, as prophets interpret the mind of God. Bp. Patrick.
— but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.] This shews the superior power by which Moses acted. Bp. Patrick. In relating these miracles of the Egyptian sorcerers, Moses expresses himself throughout, as if they really operated the same effects which he himself did: so that Pharaoh and his whole court were probably persuaded, that the power of their magicians was equal to that of Moses, till the magicians not being able to produce lice, as Moses had done, chap. viii. 18, they were constrained to own that “the finger of God” was concerned in it. Calmet. In order to confirm the wavering faith of the Israelites, and to exhibit to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians the strongest testimony of the Divine mission of Moses, this contest between Moses and the magicians appears to have been permitted, that the disparity of persons, acting, the one by the power of God, and the others by infernal, or merely human power, might be more conspicuous. Hereby the truth of Moses’s pretensions was established, and Pharaoh’s
Exodus 6:2
- — I am the Lord.] This is an answer to the question put by Moses, chap. v. 22, “Why is it that Thou hast sent me?” God here tells him in reply, I am Jehovah, and have sent thee to make known this great name, that is, Myself, who am constant to My word, and will faithfully perform all My promises. Bp. Patrick.
Exodus 6:3
- — I appeared unto Abraham, &c.] He tells him, that He, who had formerly represented Himself to Abraham, and their forefathers, under the name of El-Shaddai, that is, the all-sufficient God, Gen. xvii. 1; and under that of Jehovah, Gen. xii. 7, 8; xxii. 14; would now demonstrate Himself indeed to be what the latter name imported, the unchangeable and faithful God. Pyle. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as that God, who was able and powerful to effect that
God reneweth his promise by his name Jehovah. Before CHRIST 1601.
- — multiply my signs &c.] The first plagues, that were inflicted on Pharaoh, proving ineffectual, it was necessary to send more and greater, that, if it had been possible, his stubborn heart might have been softened. Bp. Patrick.
Exodus 6:4
- — the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.] So it is often called, when He speaks to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and so it might be called also with respect to their posterity. Bp. Patrick. If we look into the story of those favourites of Heaven, the ancestors of the Israelitish nation, we find them sojourning in a land that was not their’s—dwelling only in tents, soon pitched, and as soon removed again;
Exodus 6:7
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— I will take you to me for a people.] They who ask a reason, why God should prefer so perverse a people to all others, may recollect, that one reason has been given already: that it was for the sake of their forefathers, and to fulfil the promise made to the Patriarchs. Another may be, that the extraordinary providence, by which they were protected, might become the more visible and illustrious: for, had they been endowed with the shining qualities of more polished nations, the effects of that providence might have been ascribed to their own wisdom: whereas their impotence and inability, when left to themselves, are finely represented by the prophet Ezekiel, under the similitude of the vine tree. See Ezek. xv. 2, 3. Bp. Warburton.
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— who am of uncircumcised lips? An ill speaker and one who wanted eloquence. It was the manner of
Before CHRIST 1601. op my hand. ness, or strabsons. Moses encouraged to go to Pharaoh. Aaron’s rod turned into a serpent. to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
- — Moses was fourscore years old.] This seems to be noticed, to shew that Moses and Aaron were arrived at an age of settled gravity, when God made choice of them for this weighty employment. Bp. Patrick.
Exodus 6:12
- — they became serpents:] Either they became real serpents, God permitting these sorcerers to work by the assistance of evil spirits; or they became serpents only in appearance, a mist being cast over the eyes of Pharaoh and his courtiers; or the sorcerers brought thither real serpents in the place of their rods which they conveyed away. Bps. Patrick and Kidder, Dr. Wells.
The original phrase, for “they did so,” or, “in like manner,” may only indicate the attempt, and not the deed; as afterwards in the plague of lice, when “they did so with their enchantments, but could not,” chap. viii. 18. And indeed, the original term, rendered “their enchantments,” fitly expresses the secret deceptions of legerdemain, or sleight of hand, to impose on spectators. And the remark of the magicians, when unable to imitate the production of lice, which was beyond their skill and dexterity, on account of their minuteness, “this is the finger of God,” seems to strengthen the supposition; especially as the Egyptians were famous for legerdemain, and for charming serpents; and the magicians having had notice of the miracle, which they were expected to
old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.