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Exodus

About this book
Chapter 6

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for compelled by my strong hand he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”⁠

God Reaffirms the Promise of Deliverance

2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name ‘the Lord’ I was not known to them.⁠ 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners. 5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore, tell the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord. I will bring you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians, I will rescue you from the hard labor they impose, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm⁠ and with great judgments.⁠ 7 I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God.⁠ Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land which I raised my hand to give21⁠ to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—and I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’” 9 Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and hard labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt that he must release the Israelites from his land.” 12 But Moses replied to the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, then how will Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with difficulty?” 13 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge for the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. 14 These were the heads of their fathers’ households: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon. 16 Now these were the names of the sons of Levi, according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (The length of Levi’s life was 137 years.) 17 The sons of Gershon, by their families, were Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. (The length of Kohath’s life was 133 years.) 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi, according to their records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. (The length of Amram’s life was 137 years.) 21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zikri. 22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. 25 Now Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the fathers’ households of Levi according to their clans. 26 It was the same Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their regiments.” 27 They were the men who were speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt, in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the same Moses and Aaron. 28 When the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I am telling you.” 30 But Moses said before the Lord, “Since I speak with difficulty, why should Pharaoh listen to me?”

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 4:26 and Exodus 6:3

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Genesis says people called on the name of God in Enosh’s time, but Exodus says the name was first revealed to Moses. This difference reflects two traditions, one treating the name as known for a long time and the other as formally revealed later.

Passages

Genesis 4:26

Hebrew Bible
25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Exodus 6:3

Hebrew Bible
2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name ‘the Lord’ I was not known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as resident foreigners.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

References

"... for traditional source critics, the name Yahweh helps demarcate the J literary strand. Adam’s grandson Enosh was not a lone voice calling upon the name of Yahweh. Despite the statement in Genesis 4:26 that people began to call upon the name Yahweh, the deity was already known to Adam and Eve as well as Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1–7). Many who came after Enosh and yet prior to Moses also had a relationship with the deity Yahweh, to whom they prayed, brought offerings, and built altars (Genesis 8:20; 12:7–8; 13:4, 18; 26:25), not to mention engaging in other cultic activity such as Laban’s use of divination (Genesis 30:27; compare 44:5, 15). Even the name of Moses’ own mother (Jochebed) could be used to prove that Yahweh was worshipped prior to his advent. How does this view handle P’s bold contradiction in Exodus 6:2–3 that the name Yahweh was unknown in patriarchal times? One could assume, along with more conservative scholars, that the name Yahweh was understood in patriarchal times and that Exodus 6 is not stating that the appellation itself was unknown; rather, it was the covenantal nature of the name that was kept secret prior to Moses. Thus the author meant for his audience to be able to read between the lines. Yet relying on an ellipsis to communicate such an important concept hardly makes for an attractive hypothesis ... P emphasizes how the fullness of God’s self-disclosure comes only through the revelation of the name Yahweh to Moses. P uses Elohim for the primeval history, then El Shadday for the patriarchs, reserving his most special name for the foremost covenant, which culminates with the priest and lawgiver Moses. The priestly interests of P here are easy to see ..."
Theodore J. Lewis, The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 224–225.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 4:26 and Exodus 6:3

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