These are the heads of their fathers' houses the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel Enoch and Phallu, Hezron and Carmi these are the families of Reuben.
God has just promised to bring Israel out of Egypt. Then the rescue story stops, and a list of names begins: the sons of Reuben, then Simeon, then Levi. Why break off a rescue to file a family register? And why start with sons who are named only to be passed by?
One writer presses the reader to stop and ask what this list is doing here:
Here we are told to pause a moment and see who these people are that carry this burden. The record sets out their family line, and for the history here it means their line alone... Only Reuben and Simeon share the space. As the elder sons of Jacob, they might seem to have a claim above Levi to supply Israel's deliverer. Yet they do not, and the record looks at them only to pass them by. A family list at this point ought to catch our attention. Is it an interruption? Is it just a scrap of old record? or what?
One writer sees God here counting His own people while Pharaoh still holds them.
The rest of our section records "the heads of their fathers' houses." It shows us Jehovah coming in and numbering those who belonged to Himself, while the enemy still held them. Israel was God's people, and He here counts up those on whom He had a sovereign claim. Amazing grace! To find an object of His love in people sunk in all the degradation of Egyptian slavery! ... He came down and stood among the brick kilns of Egypt. There He saw a people groaning under the whip of the slave-drivers, and He said those memorable words, "Let my people go." Then He went on to count them up, as if to say, "These are mine. Let me see how many I have, so that not one is left behind."
Another writer draws the lesson from the naming itself.
Then follows the record of "the heads of their fathers' houses." He knows them by name. He comes down where the slaves are, and calls them by name, so identifying Himself with them. And then He knew, as He does now, every groan and every burden. He knew every place where the cruel slave-driver's whip had fallen. This is the precious lesson of this register of names. Exodus has no other genealogy.
One writer takes the four names in order and weighs what they add up to. He uses older spellings: Enoch for Hanoch, Hetzron for Hezron.
First, the sons of Reuben... Here we have the record of his sons' names only, four in number: Enoch — "dedicated," Pallu — "separated," Hetzron — "enclosed," and Carmi — "vine-dresser." These names clearly make a series that fits together... and at first sight you would call them good all through... Self-righteousness may have its dedication and its separation (Pharisee-like), its enclosure and its cultivating — yet there is no word of real fruit.
One writer sees a reason behind the quick dismissal of the first two sons.
The record dismisses Reuben and Simeon with only one verse each (vv. 14-15). Reuben speaks of the strength of the flesh (Gen. 49:3), which can have no place in the true service of God. Simeon stands for the cruelty and divisiveness of nature, and Levi shared that too (Gen. 49:5-7). But Levi's name means joined, which seems to imply that in him evil was exposed and judged. That fits all the more since he had three sons, reminding us of resurrection, the only true basis for the fulfilment of God's covenant.
The list never tries to cover the whole nation. It runs only as far as the two men God is sending.
Here the record recalls the covenant again, and the people own it in a feeble way. Alongside that it traces the family line of Moses and Aaron, the deliverers. So the whole passage ties back to the covenant promises God made to the fathers. It is very significant that the record traces the tribes only until it reaches Moses and Aaron (Ex. 6:26); so Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
The timing matters: the list arrives at the lowest moment of the story.
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. Just at this point the record brings in the family line of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in Israel's deliverance. And we see that slavery had not cost them their tribal order or the leadership of their princes. Israel was a nation. It never sank into a herd of slaves, even in its most bitter and hopeless days of bondage.
- Pause — The names are not filler. A family list dropped into a rescue story stops the reader and asks who these people are.
- Claim — Pharaoh still held them, yet God counted them as His own, so that not one would be left behind.
- Known — He comes down to slaves and calls them by name. The list itself shows He knows every burden, and that Israel is still a nation with its own princes.
- Passed by — Reuben's sons carry fine names but no fruit. He and Simeon get one verse each, then the record moves on.
- Deliverer — The list narrows to Levi and stops at Moses and Aaron. Every name points to the deliverers God chose.
-- And the sons of Simeon Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Saul the son of a Canaanitish woman these are the families of Simeon.
A list of names drops into the middle of the rescue story. Israel is in despair, Moses is overwhelmed, and the record pauses to trace families — ending Simeon's line with a son born to a Canaanite mother.
The record stops to show who carries the burden of Israel's rescue — and who does not.
Here we are told to pause a moment, to see who these are on whom this burden is laid. Their genealogy is put before us... Reuben and Simeon only have a place here. As the elder sons of Jacob, they might seem to have a claim above Levi to supply the deliverer of Israel. But they do not, and they are looked at here only to be passed by. But God does nothing without the fullest reason, so there is a reason in this case. It is not on the surface, but faith can still find it. Certainly a genealogy at this point should wake us up. Is it an interruption? Is it a mere piece of archaeology? Or what?
The list carries good news of its own. Slavery had not erased Israel's order.
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. Just at that point the record introduces the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the rescue of Israel. Israel was enslaved, yet they lost none of their tribal order and none of the leadership of their princes. Israel was a nation; it was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage. The genealogy marks a new starting point in the history God has given. Here it begins the story of the time when God fulfilled His promise of deliverance.
The line only opens out at Levi, and runs on to Moses and Aaron.
Coming in at this place is a partial genealogy of the first three sons of Jacob. Reuben and Simeon are dismissed with only one verse dealing with each (vv. 14-15). Reuben speaks of the strength of the flesh (Gen. 49:3), which can have no place in the true service of God. Simeon stands for the cruelty and divisiveness of nature, which Levi shared too (Gen. 49:5-7), but Levi's name (meaning joined) seems to imply that in him evil was exposed and judged.
The last name on the list is the one that settles Simeon's case. Older Bibles spell it Saul.
Simeon's sons are six, a still more unfavourable number, as we know. I do not try to interpret the meaning of their names. But they end with the ill-omened "Saul," the half Canaanite. So Simeon too is set aside.
Simeon was counted at the start of the wilderness journey and again at the end. The second count tells a grim story.
In looking at Simeon, we are struck by the shrinkage from fifty-nine thousand, three hundred, to twenty-two thousand, two hundred. His strength was only a little more than a third of what he had at the start. We cannot help remembering that a prince of this tribe was the leading offender at Baal-peor, and judgment fell on him at once (Num. 25:8). No doubt his brothers who shared his sin also shared his judgment, which left Simeon's ranks badly thinned. But what was this sin that caused such damage? What Balak's efforts at cursing could not do, mixture with the Midianites did, in measure. Reuben's sin was rebellion. That did not leave his tribe as weak as mixing with a foreign people left Simeon. How many of God's people have proved what Simeon proved here! Mixture with the world saps their strength and destroys their spiritual prosperity... Let us beware of the first signs of coldness or worldliness, in case we too, like Simeon, find our last days here ruined by failure that cannot be undone.
Jacob had said Simeon and Levi would both be scattered. The writer compares Simeon's line here to Jabez, a man who enlarged his borders while under a curse.
As a result of Simeon and Levi's sin, these two brothers were divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel (Gen. 49:7). But they differed in this. In grace the Lord used Levi's scattering to give him priestly duties suited to his position. It was otherwise for Simeon, who went on bearing the mark of God's judgment... Like Jabez, they bore the consequences of the curse pronounced on them. But their extreme poverty, which they could not deny, drove them to conquer what God placed within their reach.
- Named. Even in slavery Israel kept its tribal order. God kept the record of the families, Simeon's included.
- Passed over. Simeon, like Reuben, gets one verse and is set aside. The elder sons had the natural claim, but the deliverer came through Levi.
- Mixed. Simeon's list closes with Shaul, son of a Canaanite woman — the one detail that stamps the family.
- Weakened. At Baal-peor the same strain shows again. An enemy's curses could not weaken Simeon, but mixing with another people did. The tribe fell to about a third of its strength.
- Still reaching. Simeon's descendants stayed small and bore the mark of judgment. Their very poverty drove some of them to take what God had put within reach.
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 and thirty-seven years.
The book has been moving fast toward deliverance, and then it stops to list names. A family register takes over. It runs through Reuben and Simeon, settles on Levi's three sons, and even records how long Levi lived. Why does any of this belong here?
This list is not a stray piece of family history. It has a shape. It begins broad and narrows fast.
Then comes a remarkable genealogy... It starts with Reuben and Simeon, stops at Levi and his sons, and gives prominence to "Aaron and Moses" (20-26) — the natural order first. But at the end (v. 27) it puts them in the order of spiritual power: "Moses and Aaron." Is this man's folly, or God's wisdom and design?
Where the list stops matters as much as where it starts.
It is very significant that the genealogy of the tribes is given only until Moses and Aaron are reached (Ex. 6:26); so Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
Reuben and Simeon get a verse each and then drop out. The record follows Levi, the third son, whose name means "joined."
Levi is the third son, and three is a number which speaks of resurrection — the power of God shown when everything on man's side is gone. Man's ruin is admitted, and Levi illustrates it. He was "joined" to Simeon in that display of "cruel" wrath which Jacob condemns. Yet now God's sovereign grace takes him up and works through him for His glory. So this same Levi, "joined," also speaks of the mediatorship of Christ, which is only fully reached in resurrection.
What Levi was by nature makes the choice startling.
Such was Levi by nature and by practice — self-willed, fierce, and cruel. How remarkable that such a one should be singled out and brought into a place of such high and holy privilege! We may say it was grace from first to last. It is the way of grace to take up the very worst cases. It stoops to the lowest depths and gathers up its brightest trophies from there.
Gershon, Kohath and Merari are only names here. Later they become the three working divisions of the tribe that carried God's tent through the desert.
The tribe had three families: Gershon, which means "stranger"; Kohath, "assembly"; and Merari, "bitterness." Gershon cared for the curtains, Kohath for the holy vessels, and Merari for the boards, sockets and pillars of the tabernacle.
Each family had a different load to carry.
Each family had a particular work to do... They were not to covet the work of another. The man who had to carry the tent-pegs was not to envy the Kohathites, who carried the furniture of pure gold. There is a lesson for us here.
Levi's 137 years are not the only number in this register.
With Levi the genealogy expands, and the Spirit of God lingers over it. It records the years of Levi himself, of Kohath, and of Amram, and later on of Aaron and Moses at the time of Israel's deliverance. Who can doubt that there is much more here than mere history?
These numbers also feed a long debate about how long Israel stayed in Egypt. One reckoning uses Levi's 137 years to argue for a short stay:
The mother of Moses (Jochebed) was Levi's daughter. Levi lived only 137 years in all. Suppose he spent 88 of them in Egypt, which can be roughly proved. Then Jochebed was born during those years. If Moses was born when she was 47, and Moses was 80 at the Exodus, these sums (88 + 47 + 80 = 215 years) show that Israel may have been in Egypt about 215 years.
Others doubt this arithmetic, because Bible genealogies often leave generations out. "The assumption that Israel remained only two hundred and fifteen years in Egypt is a questionable one," writes J. N. Darby. He holds that Scripture records a name when there is a special reason for it, and leaves it out when there is not.
These names belong to slaves under the whip, and God writes them down.
Then follows the record of "the heads of their fathers' houses." He knows them by name. He comes down where the slaves are, and calls them by name, thus identifying Himself with them. And then He knew, as He does now, every groan, every burden, every spot upon which the whip of the cruel taskmaster had fallen. This is the precious lesson of this register of names.
- Named. God pauses the rescue to write down the names of slaves. He comes down where they are and calls each one by name.
- Narrowed. The list starts with Reuben and Simeon, stops at Levi, and runs no further than Moses and Aaron. The Deliverer is the one object in view.
- Chosen. Levi, whose anger Jacob cursed, is the branch grace takes up; it is the way of grace to take up the very worst cases.
- Divided. His three sons become three services: curtains, holy vessels, boards. No one was to envy another's load.
- Counted. Scripture counts Levi's years because this register is more than history. Commentators differ on what those numbers prove about Israel's time in Egypt.
The sons of Gershon Libni and Shimei, according to their families.
These two names sit inside a long family record. It interrupts the story at a strange moment: God has just promised to bring Israel out of Egypt, and Moses has just protested that he cannot speak. Why pause for a list of Levi's grandsons just as the rescue begins? And why does Levi's list open with Gershon's two sons?
One writer treats the list as a deliberate break in the story. It runs through Reuben and Simeon, then narrows to Levi and ends with Moses and Aaron:
But before we go on with that record, we have a break in the story. The last verse of the chapter repeats the words of Moses recorded in verse 12. Then verses 14-27 give us family details about the sons of Reuben and Simeon, and after that, in more detail, the sons of Levi, leading up to Moses and Aaron and their immediate descendants. This is how we learn who these two chief actors on God's behalf are.
Another writer refuses to treat the list as filler and puts the question to the reader directly:
Here we are told to pause a moment, to see who these men are that this burden is laid on. The passage sets their family line before us, and for the history here the meaning is plainly theirs alone… A genealogy at this point should wake us up. Is it an interruption? Is it a mere bit of archaeology? or what?
Gershon's sons are listed because Gershon's father was chosen. Two older brothers are named first and then dropped, and writers see the order itself as the message:
The sons of Reuben and Simeon are also given here, though set aside for Levi, the third son. On the surface this looks as if it has no spiritual meaning, yet the meaning is plain. Reuben is the eldest, and his four sons have beautiful names, full of promise. But it is "first that which is natural, and afterwards that which is spiritual." So he is set aside. Simeon, too, with his six sons is passed over, and Levi is chosen — the third son… and in his name, "joined," the work of Christ as mediator is surely implied, a work only fully reached in resurrection.
The choice is striking, because Levi's own record was not clean. One writer points out that Levi was "'joined' to Simeon in that display of 'cruel' wrath which Jacob condemns, yet taken up now in the sovereign grace of God, working for His glory" (Numerical Bible Notes).
One writer takes the father's name and his two sons' names and reads them as one thought:
The sons of Levi are Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, and these three are the heads of eight families. "Gershon" means "exile." His two sons are Libni, "white," and Shimei, "my report" — names that are not hard to join into one meaning. A true exile is someone who feels his exile from the home of his heart, even if it lasts only a while. Out of this spirit of being a stranger comes power for purity and freedom from defilement. And the last name may well speak of what has the fullest value for him here: the "report" of things he cannot yet see.
These two names become two working families, and their later job in Israel matched the meaning of their father's name:
Gershon and his sons had charge of the coverings and the fine linen. Gershon means exile, a stranger. The fine linen is a picture of righteousness. The coverings and hangings divided off and separated the different parts of the tabernacle, so they must carry the meaning of separation. His service points us to this: we are separated ones and strangers in the world. This separation must show itself in practical righteousness.
Another writer warns that this stranger character can be laid down:
Walking in the character of the Lord Jesus is what makes the saint "a stranger" (as the name Gershon means) in the world… The Church has laid down the rams' skins and badgers' skins, and with them the Gershonite character. In other words, the Church has stopped walking in the footsteps of her rejected Lord and Master. The result is that she is not the tired and worn stranger she should be, walking the dry and barren desert with the burden on her shoulders. Instead she has settled down in the green places of the world and made herself at home.
- Pause. The family record breaks into the rescue story on purpose, so we stop and see who the men are that God is sending.
- Passed by. Reuben and Simeon, the older sons, are named only to be set aside — the natural order gives way.
- Chosen. Levi, with a stained past, is the line God takes up, and the deliverers come from him.
- Named. Gershon means exile, Libni white, Shimei my report — a stranger, kept pure, living on news of what he cannot yet see.
- Sent. Gershon's two families carried the tabernacle's coverings and hangings, so their whole service preached separation. The church can lay that calling down by settling into the world and making itself at home.
And the sons of Kohath Amram, and Jizhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath were a hundred and thirty-three years.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And the sons of Merari Mahli and Mushi these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
The verse closes Levi's family list with Merari's two sons, Mahli and Mushi. Then it draws a line under the whole record: these are the clans of the Levites. Two questions follow. Why does a family register interrupt the story of Israel's rescue? And why keep the names of this branch?
God has just told Moses he will bring Israel out. The people have refused to listen. At that low point the record turns to family names.
Just at this point, when Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed, the record introduces the genealogy of Aaron and Moses. It shows their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. And we see that, though Israel lived in slavery, they lost nothing of their tribal order or of the headship of their princes. Israel was a nation; it was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage. The genealogy shows a new starting point in the history God gave. Here it begins the story of the era when God fulfils His promise of deliverance.
Merari, Mahli and Mushi were slaves in Egypt. The record names them anyway, household by household.
Then comes the record of "the heads of their fathers' houses." He knows them by name. He comes down where the slaves are and calls them by name, and in doing so He identifies Himself with them. And then He knew, as He does now, every groan, every burden, every spot where the whip of the cruel taskmaster had fallen. This is the precious lesson of this register of names. Exodus holds no other genealogy.
Reuben and Simeon get one verse each. Levi's line runs on. Yet Levi's own record was not clean: he joined Simeon in violence.
Levi is the third son, a number which speaks of resurrection — the power of God shown when on man's side all is gone. His ruin is owned. Levi shows it: he was "joined" to Simeon in that display of cruel anger which Jacob condemns. Yet God's sovereign grace has now taken him up, and he works for His glory. So too, as a picture, this same Levi — "joined" — speaks of Christ as mediator, something only fully reached in resurrection.
The three names in this verse are not happy ones. Their meanings sit oddly beside Levi, and beside the load this branch would carry.
Last of Levi's three sons we find Merari, "bitter," with his two sons, Mahli, "sick," and Mushi, "yielding." Strangest words of all are these in connection with Levi's sons. These families have charge of the boards of the tabernacle and its bars, its pillars and sockets, and those of the court and the pegs and cords… Merari's work is mainly what we may call church work. And who that has engaged in this has not found the bitterness which Merari's name expresses? A man would be little fitted for ministry who could not feel it.
Later, each branch of Levi received a fixed part of the tent of worship to carry.
Merari had charge with his sons of the boards, the sockets, pins and cords. These held the building together… The framework of the tabernacle, with the bars of acacia wood joining the boards, is a picture of the building we read about in Ephesians — "a building fitly framed together," in an older translation — the church. The work of Merari suggests the thought of union.
Named families meant named jobs. Named jobs invite comparison.
Each family had a particular work to do… The family of Merari carried the boards, the bars, the pillars around the court and their sockets, pins and cords. They also set up the tabernacle at each new site… Each had his own work to do. They were not to covet the work of another. The man who carried the tent-pegs was not to envy Kohath's family, who carried the furniture of pure gold. There is a lesson for us here.
- Timing. The family record arrives when Israel is in despair and Moses is overwhelmed. It marks a new start: the era when God keeps His promise of rescue.
- Names. God comes down where the slaves are and calls them by name. Exodus keeps no other genealogy. In naming them, He identifies Himself with them.
- Grace. The record passes over Reuben and Simeon, and owns Levi's ruin. Sovereign grace still takes him up and puts him to work for God's glory.
- Meaning. Merari means "bitter," Mahli "sick," Mushi "yielding." The names match the load this branch would carry, and the bitterness that work brings.
- Purpose. Merari carried the boards, bars, sockets, pins and cords that held the building together — a picture of union. Each family had its own work, and none was to covet another's.
And Amram took Jochebed his aunt as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram were a hundred and thirty-seven years.
Israel's rescue had stalled, and the people would not listen to Moses. At that moment the record turns to a family tree, and one writer sees the timing as deliberate.
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. It is just at this point that the record introduces the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. And we see that Israel was enslaved, yet had lost none of their tribal order and none of the headship of their princes. Israel was a nation; it was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage.
The list does one plain piece of work.
The last verse of the chapter repeats the words of Moses recorded in verse 12. Verses 14-27 give us genealogical details about the sons of Reuben and Simeon, and then more especially the sons of Levi, leading up to Moses and Aaron and their immediate descendants. This establishes who the two chief actors on God's behalf are.
One writer notices how the list narrows, and how the order of the two brothers' names shifts within a few verses.
This genealogy starts with Reuben and Simeon and stops at Levi and his sons. It gives prominence to "Aaron and Moses" (20-26) in natural order first, but at the end (v. 27) in spiritual power "Moses and Aaron." Is this man's folly, or God's wisdom and design?
One writer reads the stopping point as pointing past the two men themselves:
It is very significant that the genealogy of the tribes is given only until Moses and Aaron are reached (Ex. 6:26); so Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
The verse counts Amram's 137 years, as the chapter counts Levi's and Kohath's. One writer sees more here than record-keeping.
With Levi the genealogy expands, and the Spirit of God lingers over it. It records the number of years of Levi himself, of Kohath, and of Amram, and later on of Aaron and Moses at the time of Israel's deliverance. Who can doubt that there is much to be found here besides mere history? What we have seen may at least show that the principles of the covenant hold all through the history. This is one thing the genealogy is designed to bring out.
The same names feed an old question about how long Israel stayed in Egypt.
Genesis 15:13 and Acts 7:6 seem to state the period as four hundred years. A much shorter period is implied in Genesis 15:16, which says of Israel in Egypt that "they shall come back here in the fourth generation." If we turn to Exodus 6:16-20 we find exactly four generations, like this: Jacob's son Levi. Levi's son Kohath. Kohath's son Amram. Amram's son Moses. The mother of Moses, Jochebed, was Levi's daughter (Numbers 26:59), and Amram had married his own aunt (Exodus 6:20). Levi lived only 137 years in all. Suppose he lived in Egypt 88 years. Then Jochebed was born during those years. If Moses was born when she was 47, and Moses was 80 years old at the Exodus, these sums (88 + 47 + 80 = 215 years) show that Israel may have been in Egypt about 215 years. This is the period now generally supposed.
Amram married his father's sister. One writer sets that marriage beside the rules God gave later at Sinai.
Until Israel came to Sinai, we have no hint of any marriage law laid down by God. Before the flood, and certainly in the days of Cain, what the Levitical law ruled as incest was lawful. Men married their sisters. Jochebed was Amram's own aunt, his father's sister. By the law of Leviticus, such unions as Abraham and Sarah, Amram and Jochebed, and Jacob and Rachel were forbidden (Leviticus 18:11-12, 18).
The verse names a household. What happened in that home took courage.
Amram and Jochebed were the parents of Moses. What a delightful story theirs is in the second chapter of Exodus. The wife seems to have been the moving spirit here, which is perhaps no surprise, since Jochebed was Amram's aunt (Ex. 6:20). Nothing suggests that Amram was not in his rightful place in that little home in Egypt… Those of us who have lived in a land ruled by a hostile enemy can better appreciate the magnificent courage of this devoted couple. They were not afraid of the king's command. And how God honoured their faith! Each of their three children became one of His own honoured servants.
- Timing — The family tree comes at Israel's lowest point, showing a people still ordered as a nation, not a herd of slaves.
- Identity — Its plain work is to name the two chief actors on God's behalf: this Amram, this Jochebed, these sons.
- Narrowing — The list stops once it reaches Moses and Aaron, and one writer sees Christ there: God's one object, the only Deliverer of His people.
- Counting — The ages of Levi, Kohath and Amram are not filler. They carry the covenant through the history and give four generations from Levi to Moses — about 215 years in Egypt.
- Faith — The marriage Leviticus would later forbid made a home that defied the king's command, and all three children became God's servants.
And the sons of Jizhar Korah, and Nepheg, and Zicri.
Exodus 6 stops the story to list names. Israel lies crushed under Pharaoh, and Moses has come to the end of himself. This verse names the three sons of Izhar. One of them, Korah, later led a famous rebellion against Moses and Aaron.
At the moment when everything looked lost, the record turns to who these people are:
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. Just at this point the record introduces the genealogy of Aaron and Moses. It shows their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. Israel lived in slavery, yet lost nothing of its tribal order or of the headship of its princes. Israel was a nation. Even in its most bitter and hopeless bondage it never sank to a herd of slaves. The genealogy marks a new starting point in the history God gives us. Here it begins the story of the time when the promise of deliverance comes true.
The list also has a clear stopping point:
It is very significant that the genealogy of the tribes runs only as far as Moses and Aaron (Ex. 6:26). So Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
Izhar was the second son of Kohath, in the tribe of Levi. Some commentators read meaning into these family names:
Kohath's first son is Amram, "people of the Exalted One," a beautiful name. The next is Izhar, "oil" — clearly a picture of the Spirit as the Anointer. Then we have Hebron, "union," or, as some put it, "communion." Last comes Uzziel, "the power of God."
Kohath had four sons, yet this passage lists the children of only two:
The record mentions Izhar and Uzziel in Exodus 6:21-22 simply because there was some special reason for mentioning them. Kohath had another son, Hebron, who may have had, for all we know, ten times as many descendants. In a word, the genealogies notice those about whom some special motive existed, and pass over the rest.
Of the three sons named in this verse, two leave no further trace. Nepheg and Zichri appear here and nowhere else. The third name carries a terrible story.
The first name in the verse carries the most weight:
Son of Izhar, a son of Kohath. He, with Dathan and Abiram, headed the rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They said that Moses and Aaron took too much upon themselves, since all the people were holy... The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and Abiram with their families, while the fire of the Lord devoured Korah and his company. For Korah and the Levites it was a religious rebellion:
after "they strove against Jehovah" in His appointed priesthood. The whole rebellion pictured opposition to the royalty and priesthood of Christ.
What makes it worse is the pedigree this verse records. Korah was no outsider to holy things:
Korah is the leader of a grand conspiracy. He is a Levite of the family of Kohath, a son of Izhar. His line of ministry handles the most precious things of the tabernacle, yet in spirit he is dead to it all — as his name, which probably means "ice," may hint.
The story does not end with judgment. Grace picked out one household — the worst one:
The exception of grace was in the household of the very worst of them. As people would have thought, the sons of Korah deserved least of all to escape destruction. Yet they were exactly the ones for whom God reserved this special grace. Korah led and organised the rebellion, and his position as well as his conduct made him the most guilty of all. Where can you find a finer sample of grace and its power over every circumstance? Grace singled out the children of rebellious Korah and saved them from destruction.
And those spared sons became singers:
Heman is called "Heman a singer," and his genealogy runs through Korah to Levi. As a descendant of Korah, he had good cause to praise God for His rich mercy. Dathan and Abiram perished with their children, and Korah shared their fate. Yet the record says, "But the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). God spared them in His sovereign mercy, so no one was more suited to sing of His goodness and mercy.
- Timing. The family list breaks in at Israel's lowest point. It shows a nation still ordered under its princes, not a shapeless crowd of slaves.
- Privilege. Izhar belonged to Kohath's line, the branch that served the most precious things of the tabernacle.
- Peril. Out of that privilege came Korah. He struck at the priesthood God had appointed. The highest place produced the deepest fall.
- Grace. When judgment came, the household spared was the one that deserved it least: the sons of Korah did not die.
- Song. The rescued sons became Israel's singers. The family known for rebellion ended up leading praise.
And the sons of Uzziel Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Sithri.
One line in the long family list of Exodus 6 names three sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Two of them will act at one of the most solemn moments in Israel's history, so why does the list interrupt the story of the rescue from Egypt?
A family record usually marks a beginning. One writer shows what this one begins, and where it falls in the story.
Israel was in despair, and Moses was overwhelmed. It is just at this point that the record introduces the family line of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. And we see that slavery had cost Israel nothing of their tribal order or of the headship of their princes. Israel was a nation. It was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage. The family record marks a new starting point in the history God gives. Here it begins the story of the time when the promise of deliverance is fulfilled.
Kohath had four sons, but Exodus traces only some of the branches. One commentator answers a critic who built a numerical argument on the naming of Izhar and Uzziel.
Exodus 6:21-22 mentions Izhar and Uzziel simply because there was some special reason for mentioning them. Kohath had another son, Hebron, who may have had, for all we know, ten times as many descendants. In a word, the genealogies notice those about whom some special reason existed, and pass over the rest.
Scripture names two of the three again later. A dictionary lists one of them under the fuller form Elizaphan.
Son of Uzziel, and a 'chief' of the Kohathites. Numbers 3:30; 1 Chronicles 15:8. Exodus 6:22 and Leviticus 10:4 call him ELZAPHAN. With Mishael he had the painful duty of removing the dead bodies of Nadab and Abihu.
Nadab and Abihu were Aaron's sons, struck down for offering fire God had not commanded. Moses did not call the priests to clear the bodies away. He called Uzziel's sons, and their standing as Levites decided what they could do.
Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan to carry their brothers who had died "away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp" (Leviticus 10:4-5). That solemn hour still recognised family ties. But the sons of Uzziel were Levites, so they could come near the entrance of the sanctuary. This time they came not to carry the vessels of the holy place, but to carry the dead who had defiled the coats of their consecration.
One writer explains what the two priests had done, and why the rest of the family could not touch the bodies.
They had dared to kindle incense with strange fire — that is, not the fire which had come down from heaven. That God would not allow. Fire came out from the Lord and devoured them. It made all see that no one, however close he had been brought to God, could escape judgment when guilty of such a sin. All Israel must have learnt this as Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, carried the bodies of the offenders outside the camp. Their father and brothers, meanwhile, were not allowed to uncover their heads or tear their garments, on pain of death overtaking them, and wrath coming on all the people. For if the dead had defiled them on this occasion, the whole service at the altar and in the sanctuary must have stopped.
One commentator reads the four sons of Kohath in order and finds that their names fit together.
Kohath's first son is Amram, "people of the Exalted One." The next is Izhar, "oil," the undoubted picture of the Spirit as the Anointer. Then we have Hebron, "union," or "communion" — in either case, clearly the effect of the Spirit's work. Lastly, we find the father of Elizaphan, Uzziel, "the power of God." That these names run most naturally together, that they harmonise in a blessed presentation of the results of Kohathite ministry, is plain.
English Bibles have spelled the third son's name in more than one way.
Son of Uzziel, a son of Kohath. Exodus 6:22. The name is really SITHRI. In Exodus 6:21 the name Zithri should be ZICHRI, as in the A.V. of 1611.
- Timing — The family record breaks in when Israel despaired and Moses was overwhelmed. It shows a nation still ordered under God, not a herd of slaves.
- Selection — Names enter a family record for a reason. Scripture skips whole branches, such as Hebron's, so the naming of Uzziel's line points ahead.
- Calling — When Nadab and Abihu fell, Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan. They carried their relatives out of the camp.
- Protection — Their service kept Aaron and his remaining sons undefiled. Without it, all service at the altar would have stopped.
- Meaning — One commentator gives Uzziel's name as "the power of God." His son Elizaphan appears again as a chief of the Kohathites, the family that carried the vessels of the holy place.
And Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
The genealogy races toward Moses and Aaron, then stops to name Aaron's wife, her father, her brother, and her four sons. Each name has a future: Aaron heads Israel's line of high priests, two of his sons die under judgment, and his brother-in-law leads the royal tribe of Judah.
The list is not filler. It arrives at the darkest moment of the story.
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. It is exactly at this point that the record brings in the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel... The genealogy shows a new starting point in the history God has given. Here it begins the story of the age when the promise of deliverance comes true.
Aaron marries outside his own tribe. His wife comes from Judah, the tribe of the kings, while he stands at the head of the tribe of the priests.
Daughter of Amminadab, and wife of Aaron. She was of the tribe of Judah, and her marriage with Aaron united the priestly and royal tribes.
Her family carried weight of its own, both before her marriage and after it.
Amminadab was the father of Elisheba, who became the wife of Aaron, brother of Moses, and the first of the hereditary high priests of Israel. Nahshon was brother-in-law of Aaron, and prince or head of the tribe of Judah. Salmon, son of Nahshon, married Rahab and was the father of Boaz.
The four sons are not four separate stories. They belong to their father's house, and they do not all end the same way.
Aaron and his sons picture Christ and Christians. The priesthood of Aaron's sons depended upon the priesthood of their father, as ours depends upon that of the Lord Jesus. They were priests by divine call. Aaron's sons are divided into two pairs, the shadow beforehand of the great separation so soon to come. Nadab and Abihu picture all false worshippers, as Eleazar and Ithamar the true.
Nadab and Abihu head the list, and they are the first to fall, soon after the priesthood began.
How terribly sad, then, to read the very first verses of the next chapter. Nadab and Abihu dare to offer to the Lord "strange fire." And what was the result? "Fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord." Their act may have been due to drunkenness, judging from the ninth verse of the tenth chapter. Of this we cannot be sure. What a swift and awful judgment on those in the place of greatest privilege, who dare to approach God in their own way!
The order of the four names carries meaning. What human strength could not hold, the third and fourth sons carried on.
Here indeed we find terrible failure and the judgment of God. The first two sons are cut off. The third, Eleazar ("help of God"), speaks in this way of that resurrection power in which God acts when all human power is at an end. Ithamar ("where the palm tree is") follows Eleazar. His name seems to imply uprightness and fruitfulness. Scripture keeps linking these with the palm tree, and the righteous flourish like it.
Aaron's own record held grievous sin. The honour, the sons and the grandson were never a reward for it.
It was grace, pure grace, that gave to Aaron this high honour, and this joy and blessing in his sons and grandson, even in spite of his grievous sin and failure. Thanks be to God, we have the same God, and the same grace, on which we may count, in spite of all our failure!
- Timing — The family record breaks in at Israel's lowest point. It marks a new start in the story of deliverance.
- Union — Elisheba came from Judah. Her marriage tied the priestly tribe to the royal one, and her brother Nahshon led Judah.
- House — Aaron and his sons picture Christ and Christians. The four sons fall into two pairs: false worshippers and true.
- Failure — Nadab and Abihu stood first in the list and highest in privilege. They died for approaching God in their own way.
- Grace — Eleazar ("help of God") and Ithamar carried the priesthood on. The honour on Aaron's house came from grace, not merit.
And the sons of Korah Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph these are the families of the Korahites.
One short line in the family list of Levi records the three sons of Korah and the clans that came from them. The name means little here, but it will become one of the most notorious in Israel — and one of the clearest proofs that God spares whom He chooses.
Earlier in the chapter God renews His covenant promise, and the people refuse to listen. Then the account stops for a list of names. One writer explains what that list does:
Verses 14-27 give family details about the sons of Reuben and Simeon, and then in more detail about the sons of Levi. The list leads up to Moses and Aaron and their immediate descendants. This establishes the identity of these two chief actors on God's behalf.
Abiasaph is the third son listed. He appears again in later records under a different spelling:
A Levite, one of the sons of Korah, and the head of one of the families of the Korahites. Ex. 6:24. In 1 Chr. 6:37 and 1 Chr. 9:19 there is EBIASAPH, a son of Korah, who is probably the same.
The verse closes with the clans of the Korahites. This group held a settled place in Israel's worship:
Descendants of Korah, the grandson of Kohath. The two main offices assigned to them were the service of song, and keeping the doors of the sanctuary.
Korah himself later led a revolt against Moses and Aaron, and judgment fell on him. His children did not die with him. That exception is the heart of the story:
The children of Dathan, Abiram, and the rest were all swallowed up; but, wonderful to say, there was an exemption. Where was it? Was it some specially faithful person, who had the misfortune of being closely connected with them? Not at all. The exception of grace was in the household of the very worst of them. By man's reckoning, these people deserved to be spared from destruction less than anyone. Yet they were exactly the ones for whom God reserved this special grace — the sons of Korah!
Survival was only the beginning. One writer lists what this family later received:
Sovereign grace saved the sons of Korah from the awful fate of the father. They were saved from the pit. Mercy was remembered in wrath. They had the cities of refuge. They kept the gates of the tabernacle. They were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of the LORD. The instruments of the sanctuary, the wine, oil and so on were in their charge. They were mighty men of valour, strong men, the royal guards. And more than that, the Holy Spirit inspired them to write some of the beautiful Psalms.
The families named in this verse did not die out. Two of the best-known names in Israel's later worship came from them:
1 Chron. 6:33, 38 gives the clear proof that Heman was the grandson of the prophet Samuel. Heman was the central one of the three leading singers of Israel. Both he and Samuel were descendants of that very man Korah, who led the great rebellion in the wilderness. The children of Dathan and Abiram went down with their parents alive into the pit. "But the sons of Korah did not die" (Num. 26:11). These seem to have left their father alone in his wickedness. That same man disputed the authority of Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Yet from his sons came the prophet who spoke to Israel and said, "It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron."
Samuel's father Elkanah came from the same line. One writer traces his worship back to it:
"A debtor to mercy alone," he had good cause to worship. Others might go up merely to sacrifice, but Elkanah both worshipped and sacrificed. It was no formal or meaningless ceremony with him. He knew what he owed to the LORD's distinguishing grace: not only the blessings of his life, but his very existence as a descendant of one of the spared children of Korah. Knowing grace, and owning it, is what produces worship and obedience in the believer's life.
- Named — Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph head the clans of Korah; Abiasaph appears later as Ebiasaph in Chronicles.
- Spared — the sons of Korah did not die with him. Grace made its exception in the household of the worst offender of all.
- Stationed — this clan kept the sanctuary doors and led the service of song. They also held cities of refuge, treasuries and holy vessels.
- Singing — the Holy Spirit inspired this spared family to write some of the Psalms; those saved from the pit became Israel's singers.
- Sounding on — the line ran down to Samuel the prophet and to his grandson Heman, chief singer of Israel. A spared family became a worshipping one.
And Eleazar Aaron's son took [one] of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
The genealogy in Exodus 6 pauses the story of the plagues to trace one family line, and verse 25 closes that line with a marriage and a baby. Why does Scripture stop the account of a nation's rescue for that?
One writer sees the timing of this list as deliberate. Slavery, he says, had not destroyed Israel's order as a nation.
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. It is just at this point that the record introduces the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. Though Israel was enslaved, they still lost nothing of their tribal order or of the headship of their princes. Israel was a nation: it was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage. The genealogy marks a new starting point in the history God was giving.
Reuben and Simeon get a verse each, then the record slows down and stays with Levi until it reaches this verse. Levi's own past was no credit to him. Jacob had denounced his cruel anger, and that is the point.
Levi is the third son. Three is a number which speaks of resurrection — the power of God shown when everything on man's side is gone. His ruin is owned, and Levi illustrates this. He was "joined" to Simeon in that display of cruel anger which Jacob denounces. Yet now God takes him up in sovereign grace, working for His glory. This same name Levi, "joined," also speaks of the mediatorship of Christ, which is only fully reached in resurrection.
Putiel is named only as the "father-in-law of Eleazar, son of Aaron" (Morrish Bible Dictionary). His son-in-law matters far beyond this verse, starting with what his name means.
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, "my God is help," was the successor of his father — a clear picture of Christ in resurrection. As Aaron the priest dies, Eleazar is clothed with his garments. This same name, dressed in the Greek of the New Testament, "Lazarus," is linked with the resurrection of the brother of Martha and Mary.
Phinehas is a newborn here, but his name carries weight elsewhere in Scripture. A short entry gathers up his whole career.
Son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. He showed his zeal for God by killing Zimri and Cozbi. God commended him for it, and promised His "covenant of peace" to him and his seed, even "the covenant of an everlasting priesthood." He succeeded Eleazar as high priest.
Not every son follows his father well. Here the son did, and then the grandson did, and one writer draws comfort from that.
But there is comfort as well as warning in Aaron's family. How beautiful to see Eleazar his son step into his father's place at his death! We follow Eleazar's path from that time on through the Book of Joshua. We see his son Phinehas growing up to walk in the steps of his father and grandfather. It cheers and comforts the heart.
The verse ends by naming these men as the heads of the Levite families. That label had legal force later on.
Only the sons of Aaron could be priests, so it was essential that they preserve their genealogy. When the people came back from exile, some could not show their descent from Aaron. They were put out of the priesthood.
The line of priests that starts with this baby is not the end of the story.
He did not take this honour to Himself. Rather He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Through that suffering, like Phinehas, He made atonement and turned away wrath… Levi is nothing, and Aaron is nothing, and Phinehas is nothing. Jesus is the Priest. In His hand alone the blessing is laid, and by Him it is ministered.
- Timing. The family record comes when Israel is at its lowest. It marks a fresh start, not a pause in the story.
- Choice. The line passes over Reuben and Simeon and rests on Levi. His ruin is owned, and God takes him up in sovereign grace.
- Help. Eleazar's name means "my God is help." He followed Aaron as priest, and pictures Christ in resurrection.
- Zeal. God later promised Phinehas, the newborn named here, a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood for his zeal.
- Destination. The record had legal weight: no proof of descent from Aaron, no priesthood. Yet the whole line points past itself to Jesus, the Priest in whose hand alone the blessing is laid.
This is that Aaron and Moses, to whom Jehovah said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their hosts.
The genealogy of Exodus 6 breaks into the story to answer one question. Who are the two men God has commissioned? Verse 26 closes the list by naming them and repeating their charge. Both the order of the two names and the phrase "by their hosts" carry weight.
The chapter turns away from Pharaoh and Israel's misery to trace the family line from Reuben, through Simeon, to Levi. One writer sees the timing as deliberate. The list arrives at the point where hope had died.
The record brings in the genealogy of Aaron and Moses just at this point, when Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. It shows their high dignity as God's servants in Israel's deliverance. And we see that Israel, though in slavery, had lost none of its tribal order, and its princes still led. Israel was a nation. Even in its most bitter and hopeless slavery it never sank to a herd of slaves. The genealogy marks a new starting point in the history God gave.
The writer could have gone on through the other tribes. The list stops where it does because of the men it was heading toward.
It is very significant that the genealogy of the tribes is given only until Moses and Aaron are reached (Ex. 6:26); so Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
Aaron was the elder brother, and verse 26 puts him first. Verse 27 flips the order. Commentators treat the switch as deliberate, not careless.
Moses was not the elder brother; Aaron was. The genealogy keeps the order of nature, as in verses 20 and 26. But the moment we come to spiritual action, it is always "Moses and Aaron" — never "Aaron and Moses." How slow we are to learn how perfect the word of God is! Our difficulty is that people are so familiar with it that they fail to notice what is right in front of their eyes.
Grace does not cancel natural ties. It keeps them in their place.
God always recognises the natural relationships He Himself has set up, and so should we, as those who understand His mind. But in doing so we must keep the superiority of grace in every particular… As to spiritual action, Moses keeps the place of superiority. Together, Moses and Aaron form a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus as Mediator and Priest. As Mediator He brings to people all that God is, in the fullness of grace and blessing. As Priest He is Head of the priestly family, holding them up in the love and activity that come out in worship.
The final phrase describes the manner of the exodus. Runaway slaves would leave in a scramble. That is not how God brought Israel out.
At the very moment of the people's deepest anguish of spirit, the Lord gave Moses and Aaron a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt. The charge was "to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt" (Ex. 6:13). And in what way would the slaves come out? As escaped slaves? No — "by their hosts" (v. 26), with all the dignity of the army of the Lord.
The order of that march says something about God Himself:
The Israelites did not travel in disorder. The heads of each tribe would have control over their tribe and could arrange its march… It is clear that they marched in order. God was bringing them out, and it would have been unworthy of Him to have them moving as a disorderly rabble.
Verse 26 speaks of Moses in the third person. Some read that as proof that someone wrote it long after his lifetime, and so that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible. One writer answers that the wording fits a man writing about himself, amazed that God used him:
Exodus 6:26 has nothing to do with a long lapse of time after Moses. It comes from the writer's sense of God's condescension in using such men, and the writer was one of the two… None of this in the smallest degree touches the claim that Moses wrote the Pentateuch by inspiration.
- Identity — The genealogy lands where despair was deepest, and names the two men God commissioned.
- Narrowing — The list runs only as far as Moses and Aaron, and points on to Christ, God's one Deliverer.
- Order — Aaron stands first by birth; Moses stands first in spiritual action. God owns nature; grace still rules.
- Dignity — They were not to escape as slaves but to march out as the ordered host of the Lord.
- Authorship — The third-person wording shows a writer amazed that God used such men. It is not the mark of a later hand.
These are they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt this is that Moses and Aaron.
The chapter's family list ends by pointing at the two men who stood before Pharaoh, and this time Moses comes first. Why does a family list interrupt a rescue story, and why do the brothers swap places between verse 26 and verse 27?
The list interrupts the narrative at its lowest moment. Israel would not listen. Moses had lost heart. Pharaoh stood against them. One writer reads the timing as deliberate:
Israel was in despair and Moses was overwhelmed. It is just at this point that the record brings in the genealogy of Aaron and Moses, and their high dignity as God's servants in the deliverance of Israel. Israel was enslaved, yet they lost nothing of their tribal order or of the headship of their princes. Israel was a nation. It was not reduced to a herd of slaves even at the time of its most bitter and hopeless bondage. The genealogy shows a new starting point in the history God gave.
The record begins with Reuben and Simeon, Jacob's two eldest sons, then turns to Levi and goes no further. One writer sees meaning in where the list stops:
It is very significant that the genealogy of the tribes is given only until Moses and Aaron are reached (Ex. 6:26); so Christ is the one object before God, the only Deliverer of His elect.
Another writer asks why the two older brothers appear at all:
Only Reuben and Simeon have a place here. As the elder sons of Jacob, they might seem to have a claim above Levi to supply the deliverer of Israel. Yet they do not, and they appear here only to be passed by. But God does nothing without the fullest reason for it, so there is a reason in this case too. It does not lie on the surface, no doubt, but faith can still discover it.
The verse does not just say that someone spoke to Pharaoh. It names them, and the family list before it settles who they are:
Verses 14-27 give family details about the sons of Reuben and Simeon, and then in more detail the sons of Levi, leading up to Moses and Aaron and their immediate descendants. This establishes the identity of these two chief actors on God's behalf.
Verse 26 says "Aaron and Moses"; verse 27 says "Moses and Aaron." The switch is not careless writing. Aaron was the elder brother, which explains verse 26. One writer explains the change in verse 27:
Aaron, not Moses, was the elder brother, and the genealogy keeps the order of nature... But the moment we come to spiritual action, it is always "Moses and Aaron" — never "Aaron and Moses." How slow we are to learn the perfection of the word of God! Yet nothing is like it for simplicity and accessibility. Our difficulty is that men are so familiar with it that they fail to notice what is under their eyes.
Another writer explains why the two orders differ:
Aaron had priority over Moses in nature, but grace never follows the order of nature. Grace recognizes all the natural relationships God has formed... but since it is above nature and outside it altogether, it acts in its own sphere and by its own laws. So God, acting by His own sovereign rights, chose Moses and not Aaron. Later, because Moses failed, and out of tenderness to his weakness, He joined his brother with him in the work. The divine order is "Moses and Aaron"; the natural order, seen in the genealogy and in verse 26, is "Aaron and Moses."
By now the whole mission looked like failure. One writer says God's purpose was untouched by it:
But the Lord is not affected by human weakness or human resistance. His purposes flow from His own heart, His own power carries them out, and nothing can change them... The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt. Unmoved by the deafness of His people, the failure of His servant, or the open hostility of Pharaoh, He calmly goes on to bring about the redemption of His people.
- Timing. The family record drops in at the point of despair, marking a fresh start in the story rather than a pause in it.
- Order. Verse 26 follows nature: Aaron the elder comes first. Verse 27 follows God's choice: Moses leads.
- Selection. The list passes over Reuben and Simeon, the older sons, and stops at Levi. God sets the elder aside and picks His own man.
- Identity. The two men who confronted Pharaoh have a name, a family and a tribe, so the rescue rests on real people.
- Source. God gave them the charge, and His unchangeable purpose carried it through, not their strength.