Exodus 5:22-6:13
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Renewal of God’s Promise. 22 Then Moses again had recourse to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you treated this people badly? And why did you send me? 23 From the time I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has treated this people badly, and you have done nothing to rescue your people.”
Chapter 6
1 The Lord answered Moses: Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. For by a strong hand, he will let them go; by a strong hand,[a] he will drive them from his land.
Confirmation of the Promise to the Ancestors. 2 [b]Then God spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord. 3 As God the Almighty[c] I appeared(A) to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but by my name, Lord, I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they were residing as aliens.(B) 5 Now that I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians have reduced to slavery, I am mindful of my covenant.(C) 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the Lord. I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will redeem you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God;(D) and you will know that I, the Lord, am your God who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians 8 and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession—I, the Lord! 9 But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to him because of their dejection and hard slavery.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 11 Go, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites leave his land. 12 However, Moses protested to the Lord, “If the Israelites did not listen to me, how is it possible that Pharaoh will listen to me, poor speaker[d](E) that I am!” 13 But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and charged them to bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
- 6:1 By a strong hand: by God’s hand or Pharaoh’s hand? The Hebrew is ambiguous; although it may be an allusion to God’s hand of 3:19–20, both interpretations are possible.
- 6:2–7:7 According to the standard source criticism of the Pentateuch, 6:2–7:7 represents a Priestly version of the JE call narrative in 3:1–4:17. But in context the present account does more than simply repeat the earlier passage. See note below.
- 6:3 God the Almighty: in Hebrew, El Shaddai. This traditional translation does not have a firm philological basis. But by my name…I did not make myself known to them: although the text implies that the name Lord was unknown previously, in context the emphasis in the passage falls on the understanding of God that comes with knowledge of the name. In this way God responds to the worsening plight of the Israelites and Moses’ complaint in 5:23 that God has done nothing at all to rescue them.
- 6:12 Poor speaker: lit., “uncircumcised of lips”: a metaphor expressing the hindrance of good communication expressed as “slow of speech and tongue” (4:10). Also used as a metaphor for impeded “heart” (Lv 26:41; Dt 10:16).
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