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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 Exodus 6:6 and Psalm 77:15

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Exodus 6 promises redemption from Egypt through God’s outstretched arm and decisive acts of judgment. Psalm 77 recalls the same imagery when celebrating God’s power to redeem the people, connecting past deliverance with current worship.

Passages

Exodus 6:6

Hebrew Bible
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.’”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Psalm 77:15

Hebrew Bible
13 O God, your deeds are extraordinary. What god can compare to our great God? 14 You are the God who does amazing things; you have revealed your strength among the nations. 15 You delivered your people by your arm21—the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah) 16 The waters saw you, O God, the waters saw you and trembled. Yes, the depths of the sea shook with fear. 17 The clouds poured down rain; the skies thundered. Yes, your arrows flashed about.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... In hymnic descriptions of the theophany of Yahweh we find these same patterns and motifs. (Otherwise, the Canaanite hymn, Psalm 29, would hardly have been accommodated to the cult.) The language of theophany in early Israel was primarily language drawn from the theophany of Baal. Hymns which fall into our first category, the march of the Divine Warrior to battle, convulsing nature by his wrath, have been treated at length above under the headings 'The Divine Warrior' and the 'Song of the Sea'. They include virtually all of Israel's oldest hymns and in most instances are fixed geographically and historically with the march of Conquest, sometimes including the event of the Reed Sea, regularly including the march from the southern mountains and the gift of the land. The Song in Exodus 15:1-18 has been found to be the earliest as well as the fullest example. Other examples which include the event at the Reed Sea as part of the Conquest march are the Song of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3:3-15), Psalm 77:15-20, and Psalm 114. The poem underlying Judges 5:4-5 and Psalm 68:8-9, Psalm 68:18, and Deuteronomy 33:2, 26-29 rehearse only the march from Sinai northward, the Conquest proper. The closing verses of the Blessing of Moses, while descriptive of the Conquest, also are strong with reminiscences of the storm god in their language ..."
Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History of the Religion of Israel (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997), 156–157.

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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Exodus 6:6 and Psalm 77:15

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