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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 Soleb Inscription and Exodus 6:3

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

An Egyptian temple inscription names a southern nomad group called Yhw around the 14th century BCE. In Exodus 6, Moses is told that the ancestors knew him as God Almighty, using the name described as new though it was already in use among neighbors.

Passages

Soleb Inscription

Ancient Near East, Egyptian · Soleb Topographical List
From the inscriptions on the columns of the hypostyle hall of the temple of Amun-Re at Soleb, built by Amenhotep III. Column N4 preserves a list of subdivisions within the “Shasu-land” (ta shasu), a regional designation for mobile pastoralist communities in the southern Levant. ta shasu trbr (Shasu-land: Trbr) ta shasu yhwʒ (Shasu-land: Yhwʒ) ta shasu smt (Shasu-land: Smt) pyspʒys (Pyspys)
1390–1352 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Soleb Inscription

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

... This landscape before the kingdoms of Israel and Judah opens up space to consider “Yahweh before Israel,” both in the 14th-century Yhwʒ of Shasu-land and in the “people of Yahweh” of Judges 5. ... In a text that lacks any link to the mountain of God, Exodus 6:2-8 recounts God's command to present Israel an offer of divine deliverance. The passage has long been attributed to Priestly (P) writing, which begins with the creation of the world in Genesis 1 and self-consciously connects an account of ancestors in Genesis with Moses as chosen intermediary in Exodus. ... The text opens with a precise and emblematic declaration that Yahweh has reserved communication of his proper name for this occasion of rescue from Egypt and establishment in their own land: “I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El Shaddai, but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.” ...
Daniel E. Fleming, Yahweh Before Israel: Glimpses of History in a Divine Name (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 8, 87–90.

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Soleb Inscription and Exodus 6:3

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