Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Exodus 6:14-30 -- Genealogy and Recap

Exodux 6:14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations.20 Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father's sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron's son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites by their clans.
Why are only 3 tribes listed?  I have no idea.  They do focus on the Levites the most, but that is because Moses and Aaron are from the tribe of Levi.  I believe this genealogy serves the purpose of showing how Moses and Aaron are related to Israel.  They are Levites.  
Exodus 6:26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron.
The genealogy shows exactly which Moses and Aaron are doing the acts, so that no one can be confused as to who they are.  
Exodus 6:28 On the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the Lord said to Moses,“I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”
These verses seem to recap everything that has happened so far in the story.  The Lord told Moses to speak, and Moses said he could not.  At this point, we already know that Moses spoke to Pharaoh once and the people's sufferings became more.  The people of Israel stopped listening to Moses and Moses said he could not speak again because if the people did not listen, why would Pharaoh.

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