Exodus 6:17
Ver. 17. And the sons of Gershom, Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. He had only two sons, from whom came the families of the Libnites and Shimites; see Nu 3:21. Exodus 6:18Ver. 18. And the sons of Kohath, Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel,.... So they are reckoned in 1Ch 6:18 though only the family of the Hebronites are mentioned in Nu 26:58and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty three years. A Jewish chronologer says {f} he died one hundred years before the going out of Egypt: just the same number of years is ascribed to him by Polyhistor from Demetrius, an Heathen historian {g}.{f} Shalshalet Hakabalaut, ut supra. (fol. 5. 1.) {g} Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 21. p. 425.) Exodus 6:19Ver. 19. And the sons of Merari, Mahali, and Mushi,.... From whence sprung the families of the Mahalites, and Mushites, Nu 3:33:these are the families of Levi, according to their generations: the families that descended from him and his sons, according to the order of their birth. Exodus 6:20Ver. 20. And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife,.... This Amram was the first son of Kohath, and the father of Moses, as after related, and so must be the same with the man of the house of Levi, and his wife the daughter of Levi, as in Ex 2:1 and though such a marriage was afterwards prohibited, Moses does not conceal it, though it may seem to reflect some dishonour on him and his family; he writing not for his own glory, but for the sake of truth, and the good of mankind, and especially the church and people of God. Indeed the Vulgate Latin version, and the Septuagint, Samaritan, and Syriac versions, make her to be his first cousin, the daughter of his father's brother, his uncle's daughter: and so does Polyhistor from Demetrius {h}; but in Nu 26:59, she is expressly said to be a daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt, and therefore must be his father's sister:and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and Miriam also, though not mentioned, it being for the sake of these two that the genealogy is made:and the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty seven years: just the age of his grandfather Levi, Ex 6:16. A Jewish chronologer {i} says he died in the thirtieth year of Moses: but the Arabic writers {k} say in the fifty sixth or fifty seventh, and at the end of A. M. 3810. Polyhistor {l} from Demetrius makes his age to be one hundred and thirty six, and him to be the father of Moses and Aaron, and Aaron to be three years older than Moses, exactly according to the Scripture account.{h} Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 21. p. 425.) {i} Shalshalet Hakabala, ut supra. (fol. 5. 1.) {k} Patricides, p. 26. Elmacinus, p. 46. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. c. 8. p. 392. {l} Apud Euseb. ut supra. Exodus 6:21Ver. 21. And the sons of Izhar, Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri. These seem to be mentioned for the sake of Korah, concerning whom is a remarkable history in the following book; for the other two are nowhere else spoken of. Exodus 6:22Ver. 22. And the sons of Uzziel, Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zichri. The two first of these were the men that were ordered by Moses to carry out of the camp the two sons of Aaron, who were killed by lightning for offering strange fire, Le 10:4. Exodus 6:23Ver. 23. And Aaron took him Elisheba,.... The same name we pronounce Elizabeth; and of this name was the wife of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, Lu 1:5, this woman Aaron took wasthe daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Naashon; a prince of the tribe of Judah, Nu 7:12, her he took to wife; or married; for though intermarriages with the several tribes were not allowed, nor used in after times, that they might be kept distinct, and the inheritances also, yet the tribe of Levi often took wives of other tribes, because they had no inheritance, and were to have none in the land of Canaan, so that confusion in tribes and inheritance was not made hereby; and it is observable, that these marriages were frequently with the tribe of Judah, as signifying the union of the kingly and priestly offices in Christ, who sprung from the tribe of Judah:and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar; the two first of these died by fire from heaven in their father's lifetime, for offering strange fire to the Lord, Le 10:1. Eleazar succeeded his father in the priesthood, Nu 20:26 and of the sons of Ithamar executing the priest's office, see 1Ch 24:2. Exodus 6:24Ver. 24. And the sons of Korah,.... The eldest son of Izhar, who, though he proved a bad man, yet many of his posterity were good men, and are often mentioned in general in the titles of some of the psalms of David: the immediate sons of Korah wereAssir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph. Aben Ezra says, that Samuel the prophet was of the sons of Korah; perhaps what might lead him to it was, because his father's name was Elkanah, the name of one of these sons of Korah, but cannot be this Elkanah:these are the families of the Korhites; the heads of them, or from whom they descended. Exodus 6:25Ver. 25. And Eleazar Aaron's son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife,.... This was Aaron's eldest son. The person, whose daughter he married, Dr. Lightfoot {m} conjectures was an Egyptian convert, perhaps of the posterity of Potipherah, among whom Joseph had sowed the seeds of true religion, and supposes that the Egyptians used the name of Puti or Poti, either in memorial of their uncle Put, Ge 10:6 or in reverence of some deity of that name; but the Targum of Jonathan makes Putiel to be the same with Jethro; and so does Jarchi; but Aben Ezra seems to be most right, who takes him to be of the children of Israel, though the reason of his name is not known, and the daughter of such an one it is most likely a son of Aaron would marry:and she bore him Phinehas; of whom see Nu 25:11:these are the heads of the Levites, according to their families; from whence the Levites sprung, and their several families. It may be observed, that Moses says nothing of his own offspring, only of his brother Aaron's, partly out of modesty and humility, and partly because the priesthood was successive in the family of Aaron, but not the civil government in the family of Moses; and that he proceeds no further to give the genealogy of the remaining tribes, his chief view being to show the descent of Aaron and himself, that it might be with certainty known in after times who they were that were instruments of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt, which would be matter of inquiry, and very desirable to be known.{m} Works, vol. 1. p. 704, 705. Exodus 6:26Ver. 26. These are that Aaron and Moses,.... Aaron is set before Moses, because he was the eldest, and because he prophesied in Egypt before Moses, as Aben Ezra observes; though Moses was greater in dignity than he, and therefore the true reason may be the modesty of Moses; though in a following verse Moses is set before Aaron, to show that they were equal, as Jarchi thinks; and perhaps the thing was quite an indifference to the historian, and done without any care and intention, however these words are emphatically expressed, on purpose to point out the persons to future ages:to whom the Lord said, bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt: which is the charge he gave them both, Ex 6:13, and the account of which is returned to again, after an interruption by the genealogy before recorded: Israel were to be brought out,according to their armies; denoting their numbers, and the order in which they were to march out of Egypt, as they did, not by flight, nor in confusion, but in a formidable manner, and in great composure and order, with these two men, Moses and Aaron, as their generals at the head of them. Exodus 6:27Ver. 27. These are they which spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... In the name of the Lord of hosts; and demanded the dismission of Israel, in orderto bring the children of Israel from Egypt; nor did they desist making application to him, until they had prevailed upon him to let them go:these are that Moses and Aaron; which is repeated, that it may be observed who were the deliverers of Israel, what their names, of what tribe they were, and from whom they descended, and who sprung from them, at least from Aaron. Exodus 6:28Ver. 28. And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt. This verse depends upon the following for the sense of it, which shows what it was the Lord said to Moses in the day he spake to him in Egypt, when he was come thither, which is as follows: Exodus 6:29Ver. 29. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord,.... See Ex 6:2:speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee; that he let Israel go; and that in case of refusal, that he would punish him and his people with this and the other plague, one after another, and at last slay him and their firstborn. Exodus 6:30Ver. 30. And Moses said before the Lord, behold, I am of uncircumcised lips,.... As he had done, Ex 6:13, and this is only a repetition of what is there said, in order to lead on to what is related in the following chapter:how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me? so mean a person, and so poor a speaker, and he a mighty king, surrounded with wise counsellors and eloquent orators.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.