Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40
The new sedra begins at verse 2, but the Christian chaptering breaks the tale one verse earlier. I have therefore placed 6:1 with the previous chapter, where it really belongs, but also as a prelude here as well, so that students from any faith or none can follow according to their system.
6:1 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH ATAH TIR'EH ASHER E'ESEH LE PHAR'OH KI VE YAD CHAZAKAH YESHALCHEM U VE YAD CHAZAKAH YEGARSHEM ME ARTSO
Sedra 2: Va-Ayra
The new sedra begins at verse 2, but the Christian chaptering breaks the tale one verse earlier. I have therefore placed 6:1 with the previous chapter, where it really belongs, but also as a prelude here as well, so that students from any faith or none can follow according to their system.
6:1 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH ATAH TIR'EH ASHER E'ESEH LE PHAR'OH KI VE YAD CHAZAKAH YESHALCHEM U VE YAD CHAZAKAH YEGARSHEM ME ARTSO
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה עַתָּה תִרְאֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱשֶׂה לְפַרְעֹה כִּי בְיָד חֲזָקָה יְשַׁלְּחֵם וּבְיָד חֲזָקָה יְגָרְשֵׁם מֵאַרְצוֹ
KJ: Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
BN: And YHVH said to Mosheh: "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by the power of my hand he will let them go, and by the power of my hand he himself will drive them out of his land."
BN: And YHVH said to Mosheh: "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for by the power of my hand he will let them go, and by the power of my hand he himself will drive them out of his land."
Does the strong hand here belong to Pharaoh (see verse 9, above), and not yet to YHVH? The text is ambiguous (or do I mean ambivalent?) Again the essence of the story seems to be less the historical narrative than the analogy of YHVH's amazing powers – a story to inspire faith.
It is very hard to equate this picture of YHVH with the merciful and compassionate god elsewhere. This is YHVH as Freud does not describe him, the Midyanite volcano god who scorches his enemies with fire and molten lava, the god of Sedom and the Flood. No rainbows here.
Samech break. End of Sedra Shemot.
✡
Exodus 6:2 – 9:35
Chapter 6 (cont)
6:2 VA YEDABER ELOHIM EL MOSHEH VA YOMER ELAV ANI YHVH
וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו אֲנִי יְהוָה
KJ: And God spake unto
Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
Elohim... YHVH: This will need an essay to explain it, and fortunately Sigmund Freud has written it. He called it "Moses and Monotheism". In brief, and as we have seen, there is a school of Bible scholars which believes (click here) that there are two texts, the Yehudan "J" and the Ephrayimite "E", the former holding YHVH as its deity, the latter Elohim. The Yehudan text prevailed when the ten tribes of Ephrayim were conquered by Sennacherib and disappeared from history in 722 BCE, and, at the final redaction, at the time of Ezra (5th century BCE), the Yehudan text absorbed the Ephrayimite once and for all, so that it became necessary to insert additional, though often nonsensical phrases like this one, to try to demonstrate that Elohim and YHVH always were the same god, albeit by different names. TheBibleNet does not accord with this hypothesis, but it needs to be included as this is one of the key verses in its argument. Much more probably, YHVH was the name of the volcano god of Mount Chorev, who rose through the Elohim, the pantheon, to become its principal, and then staged a coup through which he became the Omnideity, the Supreme Leader, the Monotheistic Autocrat.
But this is only part of the problem with this verse. As I have already pointed out on several occasions, referencing this and the verse that follows: YHVH told Mosheh (3:14) to use EHEYEH ASHER EHEYEH as his name, and of course "I am that I am" is universal enough to include YHVH, but it is still a different name and denotes a different god, at least from the ones that were used in Genesis that you probably know what to expect. It is not, however, necessarily a different name from YHVH, because both derive from the same root, LEHIYOT = "to be", and indeed YHVH, which no one is certain how to pronounce, can only really be either YEHO'AH or YEHIYEH.
6:3 VA ERA EL AV-RAHAM EL YITSCHAK VE EL YA'AKOV BE EL SHADAI U SHEMI YHVH LO NODA'TI LA HEM
וָאֵרָא אֶל אַבְרָהָם אֶל יִצְחָק וְאֶל יַעֲקֹב בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם
KJ: And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the
name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known
to them.
BN: "Now I appeared to Av-Raham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov, as El Shadai, but I did not make myself known to them by my name YHWH...
BN: "Now I appeared to Av-Raham, to Yitschak, and to Ya'akov, as El Shadai, but I did not make myself known to them by my name YHWH...
The texts of Genesis run counter to this (see Genesis 15 for example, and especially verse 7); he is in fact referred to as YHVH innumerable times. From which prompt we should now go back to the Book of Genesis, and delete the word YHVH altogether, replacing it with El Shadai at every occurrence; except that we cannot, because Av-Raham's god may have been El Shadai, or Av-Raham may himself have been El Shadai, and Yitschak and Ya'akov may have made reference to El Shadai when speaking of Av-Raham, but Yitschak's god was PACHAD YITSCHAK, "the fear of Isaac", and Ya'akov's god was probably just El.
6:4. VE GAM HAKIMOTI ET BERITI ITAM LATET LAHEM ET ERETS KENA'AN ET ERETS MEGUREYHEM ASHER GARU VAH
וְגַם הֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתָּם לָתֵת לָהֶם אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן אֵת אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר גָּרוּ בָהּ
KJ: And I have also
established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of
their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Continuing to make the same claim as in verse 2. However, this states "covenant" in the singular, and there are rather more than that, though the total is disputed, because the nature of covenant is disputed. Some Christian commentators argue that there are two in the Creation story, known as the Adamic and the Edenic, but these are not accepted as covenants within Judaism. There are five with Av-Raham, (Genesis 12:1-3 and 6-7; 13:14-17; 15:18-21; 17:1-14; 22:15-18 - the Akeda), which include promises to make his name great (Genesis 12:2), that he would have numerous physical descendants (Genesis 13:16), and that he would be the father of a multitude of nations (Genesis 17:4-5). The same covenants also denote the geographical boundaries of Yisra-El, though unfortunately the different versions are a long way from being in agreement with each other. Three of the covenants (12:7, 13:14-15 and 15:18-21) are understood by Christians to be explicit Messianic prophecies or predictions (it is not obvious in the world of religion what distinguishes these two terms), while two of them (12:3; 22:18) are implicitly so, as they extend the vision from merely Yisra-El to the inclusion of all of humankind, which previously was bound by a separate covenant, known as the No'achic. There are then covenants with Yitschak (Genesis 26) and Ya'akov (Genesis 27 and 28). For a useful list, including the Christian interpretations, click here.
6:5 VE GAM ANI SHAMA'TI ET NA'AKAT BENEY YISRA-EL ASHER MITSRAYIM MA'AVIDIM OTAM VA EZKOR ET BERITI
וְגַם אֲנִי שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת נַאֲקַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר מִצְרַיִם מַעֲבִדִים אֹתָם וָאֶזְכֹּר אֶת בְּרִיתִי
KJ: And I have also heard
the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and
I have remembered my covenant.
6:6 LACHEN EMOR LIVNEY YISRA-EL ANI YHVH VE HOTSE'TI ET'CHEM MI TACHAT SIVLOT MITSRAYIM VE HITSALTI ET'CHEM ME AVODATAM VE GA'ALTI ET'CHEM BIZRO'A NESUYAH U VISHPHATIM GEDOLIM
לָכֵן אֱמֹר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲנִי יְהוָה וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלֹת מִצְרַיִם וְהִצַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מֵעֲבֹדָתָם וְגָאַלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בִּזְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה וּבִשְׁפָטִים גְּדֹלִים
KJ: Wherefore say unto the
children of Israel, I am the LORD,
and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will
rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm,
and with great judgments:
GA'ALTI: For a full explanation of the concept of the go'el, or "redeemer", click here.
BIZRO'A NESUYAH: We have been told YAH CHAZAKAH, which is a strong hand, but no hand can be strong without, and no hand can ever be as strong as, the forearm, which is the ZERU'A (Isaiah 17:5, Job 26:2); though with animals it could be the shoulder (Deuteronomy 18:3, Judges 6:19) instead. So it came to mean "force" or "strength" in general (1 Samuel 2:31, Psalm 10:15), including the armed forces as an entity in Daniel 11:15.
How does this connect with OR ZARU'A, which can be found in Psalm 97:11, and which provides the opening phrase before the Kol Nidrei at Yom Kippur:
The answer is - it doesn't; it only looks like it should, because both words are spelled identically, though they stem from different roots. This ZARU'A comes from ZER'A, which means "a seed", and can be found, for example, at Leviticus 11:37 and Isaiah 61:11. For the book "Or Zaru'a", by Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, click here.OR ZARU'A LA TSADIK U LE YISHREY LEV SAMCHAHא֭וֹר זָרֻ֣עַ לַצַּדִּ֑יק וּֽלְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵ֥ב שִׂמְחָֽהLight is sown for the righteous, radiance for the upright.
VISHPATIM GEDOLIM: "Great judgements" means what exactly? If, as I believe, this text belongs to the school of Yesha-Yahu, then we can take our understanding of the term from there, for it is one of the major themes of that book: every event which takes place in the world, good or bad (and good or bad for you can be the opposite for someone else, as shown, most specifically, by the catastrophic disaster that befell Mitsrayim, first through the plagues, then through the drowning of its Pharaoh and entire army, when the miracles were performed that brought Yisra-El to freedom, law and national identity in their own homeland)... every event which takes place in the world, good or bad, owes its origin to the deity, who may be rewarding or punishing you, or your ancestors to the third generation, or using you, or the other party, as a tool for the achievement of the same, whether in respect of you, or of them; and whatever it may be will remain unknown to you, but should cause you to fear and love the deity, and accept the requirement to live righteously. It is an extremely difficult theology, both to understand and to follow, and it is very different from any other "denomination" of Judaism; for more detail, see the full commentary on the Book of Isaiah, due for publication as part of TheBibleNet in about 2022!
Having said which, I think that this verse is about the SHEPHATIM and not the MISHPATIM, though both words come from the same root. The SHEPHATIM are what the insurance companies call "acts of God", with the intention here that they will benefit the Beney Yisra-El. The Mishpatim will then follow, they being the legal clauses that will comprise the Mosaic Code. This is why I have translated the phrase as "great deeds".
6:7 VE LAKACHTI ET'CHEM LI LA AM VA HAYITI LACHEM LELOHIM VIYDA'TEM KI ANI YHVH ELOHEYCHEM HA MOTSIY ET'CHEM MI TACHAT SIVLOT MITSRAYIM
וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם הַמּוֹצִיא אֶתְכֶם מִתַּחַת סִבְלוֹת מִצְרָיִם
KJ: And I will take you to
me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD
your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Freud deals with this beautifully in "Moses and Monotheism": in all of history, he states, no god has ever chosen a people; only people choose their gods. Much of the Book of Isaiah finds YHVH on the hustings, presenting his case as the best of all possible gods, urging the remnant of Yisra-El to make precisely that choice.
There are, of course, two problems with this. First, that YHVH has just made reference to his previous covenants, most of which already chose the Beney Yisra-El as his people. Second, a deity who is simply a metaphor created by the human mind... you can finish that sentence yourself without neding my assistance! But wouldn't you have thought that Freud, of all people, would have known that?
6:8 VE HEVE'TI ET'CHEM EL HA ARETS ASHER NASA'TI ET YADI LATET OTAH LE AV-RAHAM LE YITSCHAK U LE YA'AKOV VE NATATI OTAH LACHEM MORASHAH ANI YHVH
וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי לָתֵת אֹתָהּ לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב וְנָתַתִּי אֹתָהּ לָכֶם מוֹרָשָׁה אֲנִי יְהוָה
KJ: And I will bring you
in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
NASA'TI ET YADI: Seeing this idiom literally, is it not the same as the hand that is raised in court to take the oath against perjury, is it not the same that the newly-elected President raises to take the oath of office, or the schoolchild in morning assembly making the oath of allegiance. I have translated it accordingly.
MORASHAH: Different words are used at different times, all with the same intent. ACHUZAH (אֲחֻזָּה) is the most common, and usually translated as "possession" - though in law something one inherits becomes by default something that one now possesses; there is nonetheless a distinction, and it will start to matter when the laws come to be written - see for example Leviticus 27:20.
ANI YHVH: We will see this throughout the giving of the laws, from here through Deuteronomy: as though each law requires the divine signature.
6:9 VA YEDABER MOSHEH KEN EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE LO SHAM'U EL MOSHEH MI KOTSER RU'ACH U ME AVDOT KASHAH
וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה כֵּן אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל-מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה
KJ: And Moses spake so
unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of
spirit, and for cruel bondage.
With reference to the "fleshpots" again: so hard was the bondage, they would not even listen to the possibility, the dream, of freedom. This psychological condition, which I call "passive complicity", is repeated throughout human history, and is one of the principal descriptors of the state of humanity, yet seems to have elicited very little attention from the writers and thinkers. By curious irony, the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank since 1948 provides a perfect illustration of this condition.
pey break
6:10 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying,
6:11 BO DABER EL PAR'OH MELECH MITSRAYIM VIYSHALACH ET BENEY YISRA-EL ME ARTSO
בֹּא דַבֵּר אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם וִישַׁלַּח אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאַרְצוֹ
KJ: Go in, speak unto Pharaoh
king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
What happened to the 3-day feast of sacrifices in the wilderness? Two texts in conflict, as so often.
6:12 VA YEDABER MOSHEH LIPHNEY YHVH LEMOR HEN BENEY YISRA-EL LO SHAM'U ELAI VE EYCH YISHMA'ENI PHAR'OH VA ANI ARAL SEPHATAYIM
וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לֵאמֹר הֵן בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֵלַי וְאֵיךְ יִשְׁמָעֵנִי פַרְעֹה וַאֲנִי עֲרַל שְׂפָתָיִם
KJ: And Moses spake before
the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me;
how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of
uncircumcised lips?
BN: And Mosheh spoke before YHVH, saying: "But see, the Beney Yisra-El have not heeded me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?"
ARAL SEPHATAYIM: This is usually taken to mean that he stammers, which relates back to the Midrash referred to in my note to Exodus 2:11, and to Mosheh's own comment about his abilities in Exodus 4:10. There is also a possible reading that he is not yet a fully ordained priest, or not an authorised spokesperson; though we have seen that neither of these applies. However, we have also noted the similarity between this statement and Yesha-Yahu's (Isaiah's) at the time of his calling:
"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, YHVH Tseva'ot [the Lord of hosts]." (Isaiah 6:5)
The Yehudit text gives:
VA AMAR OY LI CHI NIDMEYTI KI ISH TEM'E SEPHATAYIM ANOCHI U VETOCH AM TEM'E SEPHATAYIM ANOCHI YOSHEV KI ET HA MELECH YHVH TSEVA'OT RA'U EYNAI
וָאֹמַר אוֹי לִי כִי נִדְמֵיתִי כִּי אִישׁ טְמֵא שְׂפָתַיִם אָנֹכִי וּבְתוֹךְ עַם טְמֵא שְׂפָתַיִםאָנֹכִי יוֹשֵׁב כִּי אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת רָאוּ עֵינָי
Where Mosheh says he is "aral sephatayim", Yesha-Yahu says that he is "tem'e sephatayim", the former being "uncircumcised", the latter "unclean".
6:13 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH VE EL AHARON VA YETSAVEM EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE EL PAR'OH MELECH MITSRAYIM LEHOTSIY ET BENEY YISRA-EL ME ERETS MITSRAYIM
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וַיְצַוֵּם אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרָיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
KJ: And the LORD spake
unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel,
and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land
of Egypt.
VA YETSAVEM: This means "he gave them orders", but could be understood in either of two senses, as priestly instructions, or as smicha.
samech break (see my note to verse 26, where the text we have been reading resumes, after the interruption that is about to follow)
6:14 ELEH RASHEY VEYT YISRA-EL BEYT AVOTAM BENEY RE'U-VEN BECHOR YISRA-EL CHANOCH U PHALU CHETSRON VE KARMI ELEH MISHPECHOT RE'U-VEN
אֵלֶּה רָאשֵׁי בֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּנֵי רְאוּבֵן בְּכֹר יִשְׂרָאֵל חֲנוֹךְ וּפַלּוּא חֶצְרֹן וְכַרְמִי אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת רְאוּבֵן
KJ: These be the heads
of their fathers' houses: The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel; Hanoch,
and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi: these be the
families of Reuben.
What on Earth is going on here? Is this YHVH still speaking, still giving orders about who is in charge? Or has the scribe changed chapter in mid-story, and decided that this is a good time to list, yet again, the clans of Yisra-El? Either way, there is a certain logic to it: YHVH has given command to Mosheh, in response to his suggestion that he holds no position of authority; Aharon is appointed as his second-in-command, and now the full list of clan chiefs is given. It is bizarre for a god to be choosing his own people, and yet it conforms to the ideological purpose of this entire fiction, which is to demonstrate to a people reluctant to accept YHVH as their god (the people of Ezra and the prophetic era, not those of the Mosaic) that YHVH is truly almighty and powerful, Commander-in-Chief of men as well as Adonay Tseva'ot, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. The constant references to a "strong hand", and to his deliberately hardening Pharaoh's heart, endorse this. "Look how powerful I am" he keeps saying, and will go on saying it for the rest of Exodus and beyond.
However, there is also a problem with the text. Ya'akov the grandfather died while Yoseph was Vizier of Mitsrayim, and the new Pharaoh who oppressed the Beney Yisra-El came to the throne very shortly afterwards - according to Exodus 1:8; no problem there, or with the presentation of the names of Ya'akov's grandchilden here; Mosheh belongs to the generation immediately after Yoseph. BUT, in Exodus 12:40, we will be told that "the time that the children of Yisra-El dwelt in Mitsrayim was four hundred and thirty years" - which makes the naming of the grandchildren somewhat irrelevant, as the clan-chiefs that half-milennium later were unlikely to have those identical names.
But even this is disputed by the very orthodox, who insist that it was only four hundred years, and then challenge that, arguing that it was only 215: (the full text of the debate can be found here)
"Our sages explain that the countdown of 400 years began with Isaac's birth... Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob was born, and Jacob was 130 years old when he went down to Egypt. This means that 190 of the 400 years elapsed before the Israelites arrived in Egypt. So the Israelites were in Egypt for a total of 210 years... Interestingly, when Jacob first instructed his sons to descend to Egypt, he said, 'Go down ('רדו') there and buy [food].' The numerical value of the Hebrew letters of the word 'רדו' ('redu', 'go down') is exactly 210!"
430 or 400 or 210 - for our purposes it really doesn't matter. The point being that the tribes in the time of Mosheh may have kept the names of Ya'akov's eleven children and two grand-children, but it is their distant descendants, not their immediate offspring, who are now the leaders of the people.
RASHEY VEYT YISRA-EL BEYT AVOTAM: Exactly how to tanslate this is problematic, because there has never, insofar as we know, been an equivalent social structure in the English-speaking world, unless it was back in Boudica's time, from which there are no written records to assist us. As to Yisra-El, we know that there were tribes, and the genealogical tables infer that there were then clans, each of which had its own chieftain, and the military leadership later on appears to have been drawn from these; but there would soon also be the Levites and Kohanim, and up until the time of Ezra and Nechem-Yah (see Nehemiah 7 especially) there is absolutely no evidence that these came exclusively from the tribe of Levi, despite the Toraic instructions. And then there were the craft-guilds, including those of the clergy (orchestra, choir etc), which likewise were named for their founding ancestor: plasterers and bronze-workers, masons and basket-weavers, et cetera; all of these likewise counted as RASHIM.
BN: And the Beney Shim'on: Yemu-El, and Yamin, and Ohad, and Yachin, and Tsochar, and Sha'ul the son of a Kena'ani woman. These are the clans of Shim'on.
6:16 VE ELEH SHEMOT BENEY LEVI LE TOLDOTAM GERSHON U KEHAT U MERARI U SHENEY CHAYEY LEVI SHEVA U SHELOSHIM SHANAH
BN: And these are the names of the Beney Levi according to their family tree : Gershon and Kehat, and Merari. And the total number of years that Levi lived were a hundred and thirty-seven.
BN: The Beney Gershon: Livni and Shim’i, according to their family tree.
BN: And the Beney Kehat: Am-Ram, and Yits'har, and Chevron, and Uzi-El. And the years of the life of Kehat were a hundred thirty and three years.
UZI-EL: See the link
BN: And the Beney Merari: Machli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi according to their family tree.
6:20 VA YIKACH AM-RAM ET YOCHEVED DODATO LO LE ISHAH VA TELED LO ET AHARON VE ET MOSHEH U SHENEY CHAYEY AM-RAM SHEVA U SHELOSHIM U ME'AT SHANAH
BN: And Am-Ram took Yocheved his father's sister for his wife; and she bore him Aharon and Mosheh. And the total number of years of the life of Am-Ram were a hundred and thirty and seven.
I am unaware of any Biblical commentator who has ever picked this up, but it does seem to me psychologically interesting that Aharon and Mosheh (and therefore Mir-Yam too, though she is not mentioned here) were the products of an incestuous marriage, and there is no subject, not even employment law, which is extensive, which has so many specific prohibitions attached to it, as this subject, to the degree that it reads almost like an obsession. The list begins at Leviticus 18:6 and continues to the end of that chapter, at verse 30.
BN: And the Beney Yits'har: Korach, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
BN: And the Beney Uzzi-El: Misha-El, and El-Tsaphan, and Sitri.
BN: And Aharon took Eli-Shev'a bat Ami-Nadav, the sister of Nachshon, for his wife; and she bore him Nadav and Avi-Hu, El-Azar and Itamar.
An interesting set of names! See the links for each of them, but also note, as we go on with the tale, which of these sons will have the prominent roles (go youngest upwards, it will save you wasted time!).
BN: And the Beney Korach: Asir, and El-Kanah, and Avi-Asaph; these are the clans of the Beney Korach.
ASIR:
BN: And El-Azar, Aharon's son, took one of the daughters of Puti-El for his wife; and she bore him Pinchas. These are the heads of the ancestral tribe of the Beney Levi according to their clans.
PUTI-EL: Unmentioned previously; or indeed ever again afterwards. The root is Egyptian, as we have seen with Poti-Phera in the Yoseph tales.
BN: ... these are the Aharon and the Mosheh to whom YHVH said: "Bring the Beney Yisra-El out of the land of Mitsrayim according to their clans and tribes."
Verse 13 seemed to be interrupted in mid-sentence by this TOLDOT list; and now it appears to resume. The grammar is very odd, beginning in mid-sentence with HU AHARON U MOSHEH. There is also a play on TSIV'OTAM and YETSAVEM, anagramising the same letters, which only works if verses 13 and 26 are re-combined. Despite the rationalisation of this interruption given above, it is evident that this was not YHVH appointing commanders, but simply the Redactor who had yet another tribal list which he wanted to use, and dropped it in here somewhat casually, for the reason given by me at verse 13.
BN: These are they who spoke with Pharaoh, the king of Mitsrayim, to bring the Beney Yisra-El out of Mitsrayim. These are that Mosheh and Aharon.
BN: And it came to pass, on the day that YHVH spoke to Mosheh in the land of Mitsrayim...
samech break
BN: That YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying: "I am YHVH; tell Pharaoh, the king of Mitsrayim, what I am telling you."
BN: And Mosheh said, while standing before YHVH: "But see, I am a man of uncircumcised lips, so how will Pharaoh heed me?"
See verse 12, where Mosheh has already said exactly this. Is it stylistic repetition, or again the failure to join versions seamlessly?
6:15 U VENEY SHIM'ON YEMU-EL VE YAMIN VE OHAD VE YACHIN VE TSOCHAR VE SHA'UL BEN HA KENA'ANIT ELEH MISHPECHOT SHIM'ON
וּבְנֵי שִׁמְעוֹן יְמוּאֵל וְיָמִין וְאֹהַד וְיָכִין וְצֹחַר וְשָׁאוּל בֶּן הַכְּנַעֲנִית אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת שִׁמְעוֹן
KJ: And the sons of
Simeon; Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son
of a Canaanitish woman: these are the
families of Simeon.
6:16 VE ELEH SHEMOT BENEY LEVI LE TOLDOTAM GERSHON U KEHAT U MERARI U SHENEY CHAYEY LEVI SHEVA U SHELOSHIM SHANAH
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי לֵוִי לְתֹלְדֹתָם גֵּרְשׁוֹן וּקְהָת וּמְרָרִי וּשְׁנֵי חַיֵּי לֵוִי שֶׁבַע וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה
KJ: 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 an
hundred thirty and seven years.
6:17 BENEY GERSHON LIVNI VE SHIM'I LE MISHPECHOTAM
בְּנֵי גֵרְשׁוֹן לִבְנִי וְשִׁמְעִי לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם
KJ: The sons of Gershon;
Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
LIVNI: See the link.
6:18 U VENEY KEHAT AM-RAM VE YITS'HAR VE CHEVRON VE UZI-EL U SHENEY CHAYEY KEHAT SHALOSH U SHELOSHIM U ME'AT SHANAH
וּבְנֵי קְהָת עַמְרָם וְיִצְהָר וְחֶבְרוֹן וְעֻזִּיאֵל וּשְׁנֵי חַיֵּי קְהָת שָׁלֹשׁ וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה
KJ: And the sons of
Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of
Kohath were an
hundred thirty and three years.
Why are some ages given, but not others? Why some "according to their families" but not others? The text is inconsistent.
AM-RAM: See the link.
YITS'HAR: See the link.
CHEVRON: Known to us as Hebron, but this is its correct pronunciation.
UZI-EL: See the link
6:19 U VENEY MERARI MACHLI U MUSHI ELEH MISHPECHOT HA LEVI LE TOLDOTAM
וּבְנֵי מְרָרִי מַחְלִי וּמוּשִׁי אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַלֵּוִי לְתֹלְדֹתָם
KJ: And the sons of
Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the
families of Levi according to their generations.
MACHLI: See the link.
MUSHI: See the link.
6:20 VA YIKACH AM-RAM ET YOCHEVED DODATO LO LE ISHAH VA TELED LO ET AHARON VE ET MOSHEH U SHENEY CHAYEY AM-RAM SHEVA U SHELOSHIM U ME'AT SHANAH
וַיִּקַּח עַמְרָם אֶת יוֹכֶבֶד דֹּדָתוֹ לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת מֹשֶׁה וּשְׁנֵי חַיֵּי עַמְרָם שֶׁבַע וּשְׁלֹשִׁים וּמְאַת שָׁנָה
KJ: And Amram took him
Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the
years of the life of Amram were an
hundred and thirty and seven years.
Which makes Mosheh practically the next generation after Yoseph - son of Am-Ram, who was the son of Kehat, who was the middle son of Levi - which is far too close for the 210 years, let alone the 400 or the 430.
I am unaware of any Biblical commentator who has ever picked this up, but it does seem to me psychologically interesting that Aharon and Mosheh (and therefore Mir-Yam too, though she is not mentioned here) were the products of an incestuous marriage, and there is no subject, not even employment law, which is extensive, which has so many specific prohibitions attached to it, as this subject, to the degree that it reads almost like an obsession. The list begins at Leviticus 18:6 and continues to the end of that chapter, at verse 30.
AM-RAM, YOCHEVED: This is the first time we have been told their parents' names. The link is to a Christian site, which regards Yocheved as a variant of, or in my view more likely a later attempt to disguise, Yah-Chavod - "the glory of Yah". (1 Samuel 4:21 and 14:3 have a son of Pinchas named I-Chavod (אִֽיכָבוֹד֙), the first-letter Aleph being a standard Aramaic variation; but that is a nickname created in a specific circumstance: "gloryless".)
6:21 U VENEY YITS'HAR KORACH VE NEPHEG VE ZICHRI
וּבְנֵי יִצְהָר קֹרַח וָנֶפֶג וְזִכְרִי
KJ: And the sons of Izhar;
Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
KORACH: he who will later lead a rebellion against Mosheh (Numbers 16), and be swallowed up in an earthquake.
NEPHEG: See the link.
ZICHRI: See the link.
6:22 U VENEY UZI-EL MISHA-EL VE EL-TSAPHAN VE SITRI
וּבְנֵי עֻזִּיאֵל מִישָׁאֵל וְאֶלְצָפָן וְסִתְרִי
KJ: And the sons of
Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.
MISHA-EL: See the link.
EL-TSAPHAN: See the link.
SITRI: See the link.
6:23 VA YIKACH AHARON ET ELI-SHEV'A BAT AMI-NADAV ACHOT NACHSHON LO LE ISHAH VA TELED LO ET NADAV VE ET AVI-HU ET EL-AZAR VE ET ITAMAR
וַיִּקַּח אַהֲרֹן אֶת אֱלִישֶׁבַע בַּת עַמִּינָדָב אֲחוֹת נַחְשׁוֹן לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת נָדָב וְאֶת אֲבִיהוּא אֶת אֶלְעָזָר וְאֶת אִיתָמָר
KJ: And Aaron took him
Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him
Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
An interesting set of names! See the links for each of them, but also note, as we go on with the tale, which of these sons will have the prominent roles (go youngest upwards, it will save you wasted time!).
It is also worth wondering, with Aharon's sons especially, why they do not have either Yah or Yahu names, given that Aharaon has just become chief spokesperson for the newly covenanted deity. Imagine a parallel: "And Matthew converted to Christianity, and took Mary for his wife, and they had a son, and they named him Mahmoud." It doesn't work, does it! Yet here we have El-Azar, honouring the principal Kena'ani deity, and NACHSHON, who was a serpent-deity (cf Nechushtan) - though, on reflection, a seprent deity ties in very well with the sceptre Aharon is carrying.
6:24 U VENEY KORACH ASIR VE EL-KANAH VA AVI-ASAPH ELEH MISHPECHOT HA KARCHI
וּבְנֵי קֹרַח אַסִּיר וְאֶלְקָנָה וַאֲבִיאָסָף אֵלֶּה מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַקָּרְחִי
KJ: And the sons of Korah;
Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the
families of the Korhites.
BN: And the Beney Korach: Asir, and El-Kanah, and Avi-Asaph; these are the clans of the Beney Korach.
Again, see the links.
ASIR:
6:25 VE EL-AZAR BEN AHARON LAKACH LO MI BENOT PUTI-EL LO LE ISHAH VE TELED LO ET PIYNCHAS ELEH RASHEY AVOT HA LEVIYIM LE MISHPECHOTAM
וְאֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן לָקַח לוֹ מִבְּנוֹת פּוּטִיאֵל לוֹ לְאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד לוֹ אֶת פִּינְחָס אֵלֶּה רָאשֵׁי אֲבוֹת הַלְוִיִּם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם
KJ: And Eleazar Aaron's
son took him one of the
daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads
of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
PUTI-EL: Unmentioned previously; or indeed ever again afterwards. The root is Egyptian, as we have seen with Poti-Phera in the Yoseph tales.
Why do we only get told El-Azar's forward genealogy, and not those of his brothers?
6:26 HU AHARON U MOSHEH ASHER AMAR YHVH LAHEM ET BENEY YISRA-EL ME ERETS MITSRAYIM AL TSIV'OTAM
הוּא אַהֲרֹן וּמֹשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר יְהוָה לָהֶם הוֹצִיאוּ אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם עַל צִבְאֹתָם
KJ: These are that Aaron
and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the
land of Egypt according to their armies.
Verse 13 seemed to be interrupted in mid-sentence by this TOLDOT list; and now it appears to resume. The grammar is very odd, beginning in mid-sentence with HU AHARON U MOSHEH. There is also a play on TSIV'OTAM and YETSAVEM, anagramising the same letters, which only works if verses 13 and 26 are re-combined. Despite the rationalisation of this interruption given above, it is evident that this was not YHVH appointing commanders, but simply the Redactor who had yet another tribal list which he wanted to use, and dropped it in here somewhat casually, for the reason given by me at verse 13.
TSIV'OTAM: As YHVH is YHVH TSEVA'OT, the Lord of the Hosts of the Heavens. Christian texts generally render the word as "armies", but the intention with YHVH is the planets and constellations, and probably the comets and the black holes as well. Here, based on the genealogy, it is the personal universe: wives, children, grandchildren.
6:27 HEM HA MEDABRIM EL PAR'OH MELECH MITSRAYIM LEHOTSIY ET BENEY YISRA-EL MI MITSRAYIM HU MOSHEH VE AHARON
הֵם הַמְדַבְּרִים אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם הוּא מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן
KJ: These are they which
spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt:
these are that Moses
and Aaron.
Another curious verse, intended, as it reads, for the hopelessly stupid who need finger-pointing explanations (actually the previous verse did the same with "HU Aharon VE Mosheh"). The very nature of the language and tone, here and in the next verse (and beyond?) seems to suggest a change of author, and not a very good author at that (yes, him, that author, that one there, the one who wrote this verse, the verse that's here, that's right, this one...). But it also allows us to understand that there must have been several very different legends, all of them attributed to a man named Mosheh, and others, or perhaps the same ones, to a man named Aharon, but now all of them are concatenaed into the single One - so you have a tribal legend about Ach-Mousa driving out the Hyksos, and you have a tribal legend about an annual pilgrimage to the shrines of the bitter waters, and you have one about the establishment of the Pesach, and you have one about a pilgrimage to the holy mountain in your native Midyan to witness a volcanic eruption, and you have one about a covenant-renewal ceremony after the expulsion of the Hyksos... they're all the same Mosheh, the same Aharon. Or, at least, in the Torah being created as pseudo-history by Ezra and his fellow scribes, they are now.
6:28 VE HAYAH BE YOM DIBER YHVH EL MOSHEH BE ERETS MITSRAYIM
וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
KJ: And it came to pass on
the day when the LORD
spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
samech break
6:29 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR ANI YHVH DABER EL PAR'OH MELECH MITSRAYIM ET KOL ASHER ANI DOVER ELEYCHA
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר אֲנִי יְהוָה דַּבֵּר אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי דֹּבֵר אֵלֶיךָ
KJ: That the LORD spake
unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD:
speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
So different the tone, and yet saying something that has been said before; so it has to be a different version of the story. How do we know that the language and tone are different? We have already seen the ungrammatical HU opening two sentences above. Note the use of DAVAR in the Pa'al form here, which is very rare in Yehudit. DABER AND DOVER both use it, but the common Pi'el form is the one more generally used (VA YEDABER) in the narrative.
This throws in question yet again the Documentary Hypothesis of J and E versions; or at the very least it suggests an anomaly within the Hypothesis, because the alternatives here are not the same as they were in Genesis - here an EHEYEH ASHER EHEYEY version and a YHVH version. Either way, it is odd that the deity uses YHVH so insistently here, and earlier in this passage, but did not use it when Mosheh asked his name previously. And at the start of Exodus Ha Elohim (not Elohim, as per E) was used constantly; but suddenly, in this chapter, it has disappeared.
6:30 VA YOMER MOSHEH LIPHNEY YHVH HEN ANI ARAL SEPHATAYIM VE EYCH YISHMA ELAY PAR'OH
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה לִפְנֵי יְהוָה הֵן אֲנִי עֲרַל שְׂפָתַיִם וְאֵיךְ יִשְׁמַע אֵלַי פַּרְעֹה
KJ: And Moses said before
the LORD, Behold, I am of
uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
See verse 12, where Mosheh has already said exactly this. Is it stylistic repetition, or again the failure to join versions seamlessly?
LIPHNEY: The literal translation is in the KJ; I have expanded it so that it makes sense. LIPHNEY YHVH is another example that demonstrates the change of author in this passage; we have never seen this before; it has always been EL YHVH, and frankly LIPHNEY is odd without my extension, as are all the variations in this slightly analphabetic version; or perhaps we should say this rather "stammering" version. As though it were written by a man imputing his own disability to the hero of his tale!
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