The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
Genealogies of Moses and Aaron
Exodus 6:14–30 — Genealogies of Moses and Aaron. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
14These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’êl·leh rā·šê ’ă·ḇō·ṯām ḇêṯ- bə·nê rə·’ū·ḇên bə·ḵōr yiś·rā·’êl ḥă·nō·wḵ ū·p̄al·lū ḥeṣ·rō·wn wə·ḵar·mî ’êl·leh miš·pə·ḥōṯ rə·’ū·ḇên
Literal — word-for-word from the original
These [were] the heads of the house of their fathers: the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn — Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these [were] the clans of Reuben.
Where the English smooths the original
בּית־אבות father's-houses (not fathers' house) is a composite noun, so formed that the two words not only denote one idea, but are treated grammatically as one wordK&D’s grammatical point underwrites our literal “house of their fathers” as a single term-of-art.
The insertion of this genealogical table in this part of the narrative was intended to authenticate the descent of Moses and Aaron.JFB names the genealogy’s function: it is a credential, certifying that the deliverers really belong to the people they deliver.
Reuben and Simeon, to make way for the third, which he intended more largely to insist upon.
15The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·nê šim·‘ō·wn yə·mū·’êl wə·yā·mîn wə·’ō·haḏ wə·yā·ḵîn wə·ṣō·ḥar wə·šā·’ūl ben- hak·kə·na·‘ă·nîṯ ’êl·leh miš·pə·ḥōṯ šim·‘ō·wn
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Simeon: Jemuel and Jamin, Ohad and Jachin and Zohar, and Shaul the son of the Canaanite woman; these [were] the clans of Simeon.
Where the English smooths the original
The clan Shaul must have had in it an admixture of Canaanite blood.
The list corresponds exactly, both in the names and in the order, with that given in Genesis 46:10 , but differs considerably from 1 Chronicles 4:24 , and Numbers 26:12 .
who gave rise and name to the several families of that tribe now in Egypt.
16These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’êl·leh šə·mō·wṯ bə·nê- lê·wî lə·ṯō·lə·ḏō·ṯām gê·rə·šō·wn ū·qə·hāṯ ū·mə·rā·rî ū·šə·nê lê·wî ḥay·yê še·ḇa‘ ū·šə·lō·šîm ū·mə·’aṯ šā·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And these [are] the names of the sons of Levi by their generations: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. And the years of the life of Levi [were] a hundred and thirty-seven years.
Where the English smooths the original
the two great reasons for the long lives of the patriarchs were ceased, and from henceforward fewer years must serve men.
The Israelites were in the habit of constructing their genealogies by omitting some of the links, as we see plainly in the genealogy of Ezra ( Ezra 7:1-5 ) and in St. Matthew’s genealogy of our Lord ( Matthew 1:8 ).
For he was 42 years old when he came into Egypt and lived there 94 years.
17The sons of Gershon were Libni and Shimei, by their clans.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·nê ḡê·rə·šō·wn liḇ·nî wə·šim·‘î lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans.
Where the English smooths the original
18The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·nê qə·hāṯ ‘am·rām wə·yiṣ·hār wə·ḥeḇ·rō·wn wə·‘uz·zî·’êl ū·šə·nê qə·hāṯ ḥay·yê šā·lōš ū·šə·lō·šîm ū·mə·’aṯ šā·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Kohath: Amram and Izhar, and Hebron and Uzziel. And the years of the life of Kohath [were] a hundred and thirty-three years.
Where the English smooths the original
Kohath, who was probably about twenty at the time of the descent into Egypt, must have considerably outlived Joseph
Cf. Numbers 3:19 , 1 Chronicles 6:2 ; 1 Chronicles 6:18 ; and for families regarded as descended from them, Numbers 3:27
and the years of the life of Kohath were one hundred and thirty three years.
19The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites according to their records.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·nê mə·rā·rî maḥ·lî ū·mū·šî ’êl·leh miš·pə·ḥōṯ hal·lê·wî lə·ṯō·lə·ḏō·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These [are] the clans of the Levite by their generations.
Where the English smooths the original
20And Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
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‘am·rām ’eṯ- way·yiq·qaḥ lə·’iš·šāh dō·ḏā·ṯōw lōw yō·w·ḵe·ḇeḏ wat·tê·leḏ lōw ’eṯ- ’a·hă·rōn wə·’eṯ- mō·šeh ū·šə·nê ‘am·rām ḥay·yê še·ḇa‘ ū·šə·lō·šîm ū·mə·’aṯ šā·nāh
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And Amram took for himself Jochebed his father’s sister as a wife, and she bore for him Aaron and Moses. And the years of the life of Amram [were] a hundred and thirty-seven years.
Where the English smooths the original
Jochebed - The name means "the glory of Jehovah (Yahweh)," one clear instance of the use of the sacred name before the Exodus.
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
the 137 of Levi, the 133 of Kohath, and the 137 of Amram, the father of Moses, would, even in Egypt, have been abnormal.
21The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·nê yiṣ·hār qō·raḥ wā·ne·p̄eḡ wə·ziḵ·rî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Izhar: Korah and Nepheg and Zichri.
Where the English smooths the original
These seem to be mentioned for the sake of Korah, concerning whom is a remarkable history in the following book
Moses and he were cousins, whose rebellion was punished in Nu 16:1.
Zithri in this verse should be Zichri.Substantiates our note on the silent spelling-settlement: older English ‘Zithri’ reflects a sin/zayin confusion the modern form corrects.
22The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri.
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ū·ḇə·nê ‘uz·zî·’êl mî·šā·’êl wə·’el·ṣā·p̄ān wə·siṯ·rî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael and Elzaphan and Sithri.
Where the English smooths the original
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, Leviticus 10:4 .
The family of his third son, Hebron, is passed by; presumably, though Hebronites are mentioned elsewhere (see on v. 18), there were no separate families which traced their descent to him.
Mishael and Elzaphan are again mentioned as "sons of Uzziel" in Leviticus 10:4 . They were employed by Moses to carry the bodies of Nadab and Abihu out of the camp.
23And Aaron married Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’a·hă·rōn ’eṯ- way·yiq·qaḥ lə·’iš·šāh ’ĕ·lî·še·ḇa‘ baṯ- ‘am·mî·nā·ḏāḇ ’ă·ḥō·wṯ naḥ·šō·wn lōw wat·tê·leḏ lōw ’eṯ- nā·ḏāḇ wə·’eṯ- ’ă·ḇî·hū ’eṯ- ’el·‘ā·zār wə·’eṯ- ’î·ṯā·mār
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And Aaron took for himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as a wife, and she bore for him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Where the English smooths the original
Amminadab and Naashon were among the ancestors of David ( Ruth 4:19-20 ; 1Chronicles 2:10-15 ), and their names are consequently found in the genealogies of our Lord ( Matthew 1:4 ; Luke 3:32-33 ).
there were many marriages made between the tribes of Judah and Levi, to signify that both were united in Christ, who was to be both king and priest.
These minute particulars recorded of the family of Aaron, while he has passed over his own, indicate the real modesty of Moses.
24The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These were the clans of the Korahites.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
ū·ḇə·nê qō·raḥ ’as·sîr wə·’el·qā·nāh wa·’ă·ḇî·’ā·sāp̄ ’êl·leh miš·pə·ḥōṯ haq·qā·rə·ḥî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And the sons of Korah: Assir and Elkanah and Abiasaph. These [were] the clans of the Korahites.
Where the English smooths the original
The sons of Korah did not partake in his sin, and therefore “died not” ( Numbers 26:11 ), but became the heads of important families.
In much later days the Koraḥites acted as gate-keepers in the Temple ( 1 Chronicles 9:19 ; 1 Chronicles 26:1-19 ), and also, probably (cf. 2 Chronicles 20:19 ; and the titles of Psalms 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, 88), assisted in some way in the worship of the Temple.
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
25Aaron’s son Eleazar married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families by their clans.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
’a·hă·rōn ben- wə·’el·‘ā·zār lā·qaḥ- lōw lə·’iš·šāh mib·bə·nō·wṯ pū·ṭî·’êl lōw wat·tê·leḏ lōw ’eṯ- pî·nə·ḥās ’êl·leh rā·šê hal·wî·yim ’ă·ḇō·wṯ lə·miš·pə·ḥō·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself [one] of the daughters of Putiel as a wife, and she bore for him Phinehas. These [were] the heads of the fathers of the Levites by their clans.
Where the English smooths the original
the author appends to it an emphatic statement that the Moses and Aaron mentioned in it ( Exodus 6:20 ; Exodus 6:23 ) are the very Moses and Aaron appointed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt
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
This Phinehas became high priest on the death of Eleazar ( Judges 20:28 ).
26It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said, “Bring the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by their divisions.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hū ’a·hă·rōn ū·mō·šeh ’ă·šer Yah·weh lā·hem ’ā·mar bə·nê yiś·rā·’êl hō·w·ṣî·’ū ’eṯ- mê·’e·reṣ miṣ·ra·yim ‘al- ṣiḇ·’ō·ṯām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
This [is] that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.”
Where the English smooths the original
The names of Moses and Aaron are given twice and in a different order; used in Exodus 6:26 probably to mark Aaron as the older in the genealogy, and used in Exodus 6:27 to denote the leadership of Moses.
It seems to refer to that organisation, of a quasi-military character, which was given to the people by the order of Moses during the long struggle with Pharaoh
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.
27Moses and Aaron were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
hêm mō·šeh wə·’a·hă·rōn ham·ḏab·bə·rîm ’el- par·‘ōh me·leḵ- miṣ·ra·yim lə·hō·w·ṣî ’eṯ- bə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl mim·miṣ·rā·yim hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
They [are] the ones speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt — this [is] that Moses and Aaron.
Where the English smooths the original
These were the men commissioned also to speak to the Pharaoh on behalf of Israel
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
This emphatic repetition shows the reason for inserting the genealogy.
28Now on the day that the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,
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way·hî bə·yō·wm Yah·weh dib·ber ’el- mō·šeh bə·’e·reṣ miṣ·rā·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And it came to pass on the day [when] the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt,
Where the English smooths the original
They are a recapitulation of main points in Exodus 6, rendered necessary by the long parenthesis ( Exodus 6:14-27 ), and serve to unite Exodus 7 with the previous narrative.
The stream of the narrative here, after its interruption by v. 13, and the genealogy, vv. 14–27, is resumed
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
29He said to him, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I say to you.”
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Yah·weh way·ḏab·bêr ’el- mō·šeh lê·mōr ’ă·nî Yah·weh dab·bêr ’el- par·‘ōh me·leḵ miṣ·ra·yim ’êṯ kāl- ’ă·šer ’ă·nî dō·ḇêr ’ê·le·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I [am] the LORD; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I [am] speaking to you.”
Where the English smooths the original
30But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “Since I am unskilled in speech, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
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Yah·weh lip̄·nê mō·šeh way·yō·mer hên ’ă·nî ‘ă·ral śə·p̄ā·ṯa·yim wə·’êḵ par·‘ōh yiš·ma‘ ’ê·lay
Literal — word-for-word from the original
And Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I [am] uncircumcised of lips; so how will Pharaoh listen to me?”
Where the English smooths the original
Uncircumcised, is used in Scripture to note the unsuitableness there may be in any thing to answer its proper purpose; as the carnal heart and depraved nature of fallen man are wholly unsuited to the services of God
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.
The disobedience both of Moses and of the people, shows that their deliverance came only from God's free mercy.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The narrative breaks off its struggle with Pharaoh to file a family tree. Charles Ellicott reads the placement as deliberate: “Moses naturally inserts his at the point where, fully accepting the post of leader, he came forward and commenced his struggle with Pharaoh for the emancipation of his nation.” The opening words are technical, not casual — rā·šê ’ăḇōṯām, “heads of the house of their fathers” (H7218, H1004, H1). Keil & Delitzsch press the grammar: bêṯ-’āḇôṯ is “a composite noun, so formed that the two words not only denote one idea, but are treated grammatically as one word.” Reuben and Simeon are named only to fix Levi’s rank; Matthew Poole sees them dismissed “to make way for the third, which he intended more largely to insist upon.” With Levi the register slows and, uniquely, records life-spans — the tôwlēdôt word (lə·ṯōlᵉḏōṯām, H8435) that organizes Genesis now stamps the Levitical line into the same canonical chain.
Three men — Levi (137), Kohath (133), Amram (137) — receive death-notices borrowed from the patriarchs (ḥay·yê, “the years of the life of,” H2416). Ellicott openly concedes the gaps: “The Israelites were in the habit of constructing their genealogies by omitting some of the links, as we see plainly in the genealogy of Ezra…and in St. Matthew’s genealogy of our Lord.” Keil & Delitzsch run the numbers to prove it — if the Amram of v. 20 were literally the son of Kohath in v. 18, “Moses must have had 2147 brothers and brothers’ sons,” which is “absolutely impossible” (their citation of Tiele). The genealogy is selective by design: a legal skeleton, not a complete census. Joseph Benson reads the long lives theologically — once Israel “was multiplied, and become a great nation, and divine revelation was…committed to writing,” the patriarchal life-spans cease and “fewer years must serve men.”
The list does not launder Israel. Shaul is “the son of the Canaanitess” (H3669, definite); Cambridge notes that “The clan Shaul must have had in it an admixture of Canaanite blood.” Eleazar marries a daughter of Putiel (pū·ṭî·’êl, H6317), a half-Egyptian name — foreign descent reaching even the high-priestly stem. And Amram takes dō·ḏā·ṯōw, “his father’s sister” (H1733). Keil & Delitzsch refuse the LXX/Vulgate euphemism “cousin,” insisting the plain “aunt” stands “in direct opposition to the usage of the language” otherwise — a marriage the later Law (Lev 18:12) would forbid. John Gill draws the moral: “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.”
The register seeds later history without comment. Korah (H7141) is listed flatly; Gill notes the family appears “for the sake of Korah, concerning whom is a remarkable history in the following book” — the rebellion of Numbers 16. Yet judgment is not the last word: Ellicott observes that “The sons of Korah did not partake in his sin” and so did not perish (Num 26:11), and Cambridge traces the surviving Korahites to the Temple, “gate-keepers” and singers behind the titles of Psalms 42–49. Elisheba (H472) bears the name the Greek NT gives as “Elizabeth”; her brother Nahshon stands, says Ellicott, “among the ancestors of David…and…in the genealogies of our Lord.” Poole hears the design: the Judah–Levi marriages “signify that both were united in Christ, who was to be both king and priest.” And Phinehas is born (H6372), whose zeal will earn a perpetual priesthood (Num 25).
The genealogy exists for one sentence, twice spoken. Albert Barnes: “The names of Moses and Aaron are given twice and in a different order; used in Exodus 6:26 probably to mark Aaron as the older in the genealogy, and used in Exodus 6:27 to denote the leadership of Moses.” The emphatic hū / hêm (H1931, H1992) press the identification: these very men, of this traceable Levitical blood, are the ones charged to “bring out” (Hiphil hōwṣî’ū, H3318) Israel “by their hosts” (ṣiḇ’ōṯām, H6635) — Ellicott’s “quasi-military” ranks. Then the narrative resumes (way·hî, H1961) and Moses repeats his objection: “I [am] uncircumcised of lips” (H6189, H8193). Matthew Henry: the figure marks “the unsuitableness there may be in any thing to answer its proper purpose.” The certified deliverer is, by his own confession, unfit — and that is the point of the next chapters.
⚙ This is the tool’s own fallible reading, offered to be tested against Scripture. Why bury a battle-cry under a list of dead men’s names? Because the Exodus is not a tale of a self-made liberator. The text stops, takes Moses and Aaron by the collar, and traces them back through Amram, Kohath, and Levi to Jacob — ordinary, flawed, traceable men, born of a forbidden marriage and a Canaanite-blooded clan. The genealogy is an anti-myth: it forbids us to read Moses as a demigod and forces us to read him as a brother “raised up…of their brethren” (so Matthew Henry, on every verse of this passage). And the moment the line is established — “this is that Moses and Aaron” — the man it certifies opens his mouth to say he cannot speak. The pattern is exact and, I would argue, intentional: God names the instrument, fixes its pedigree, and then lets the instrument confess its own inadequacy, so that when Pharaoh finally bends, no one can mistake whose arm did it. The candor of the record — the aunt-marriage left unhidden, the rebel Korah quietly seeded, the deliverer’s stammer left on the page — is itself the argument for its truthfulness. Test this against the text: every honest detail here points away from the men and toward the LORD who said, “I am the LORD.”
God writes the deliverer’s pedigree in full — the forbidden marriage, the foreign blood, the stammering mouth — so that the glory of the rescue can belong to no one but Himself.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
Exodus 6:14 reproduces the four sons of Reuben — Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, Carmi — in the same names and order as the descent-list of Genesis 46:9, the register also picked up in 1 Chronicles 5:3. The verbal tier rests not on a quoted sentence but on the cluster of rare proper names shared verbatim (Pallu occurs in only five verses), which marks a deliberate re-citation of one fixed roll rather than an independent tradition.
Exodus 6:14 · Genesis 46:9 · 1 Chronicles 5:3
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier): H6396 Pallûwʼ (5 vv — rare), H3756 Karmîy (8 vv), H2585 Chănôwk (15 vv), H2696 Chetsrôwn (17 vv); the rare shared name Pallu confirms direct re-citation of the Genesis 46 roll (a shared name-cluster, not a quoted clause).
Gershon, Kohath, and Merari (6:16) recur in identical order in the Levitical musters of Numbers 3:17 and the priestly genealogy of 1 Chronicles 6:1, the backbone of every later Levite organization. We tier this structural/thematic rather than verbal: the Verifier’s shared lexemes are the three clan-names plus “Levi” itself, but none is rare (the rarest, Gershon, occurs in 18 verses), so the link is a recurring genealogical pattern running across the Pentateuch and Chronicles, not a rare-word quotation. Under-claiming is the honest call here.
Exodus 6:16 · Numbers 3:17 · 1 Chronicles 6:1
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier, Ex 6:16↔Num 3:17): H1648 Gêrᵉshôwn (18 vv), H6955 Qᵉhâth (29 vv), H4847 Mᵉrârîy (36 vv), H3878 Lêvîy (57 vv) — a shared, recurring triad/pattern; none rare enough to score as a quotation, so tiered structural (editor downgrade from the draft’s ‘verbal’).
Like the Reuben roll, the Simeonite list of 6:15 (Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul son of the Canaanitess) reproduces the descent-roll of Genesis 46:10. The Pulpit Commentary marks the verse’s honesty about variation: the list “corresponds exactly…with that given in Genesis 46:10, but differs considerably from 1 Chronicles 4:24, and Numbers 26:12” (there Jemuel is Nemuel, Zohar is Zerah, Ohad drops out). The shared names are rarer here than in any other thread in the unit, making the re-citation verbally decisive while the spelling-drift across the parallel rolls is left visible, not harmonized.
Exodus 6:15 · Genesis 46:10 · Numbers 26:12
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier, Ex 6:15↔Gen 46:10): H161 ʼÔhad (2 vv), H3223 Yᵉmûwʼêl (2 vv), H6714 Tsôchar (4 vv), H3226 Yâmîyn (6 vv) — multiple genuinely rare proper names confirm direct re-citation of the Genesis 46 Simeon roll.
Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59 are the only two verses in the Bible that name Jochebed (yōwḵeḇeḏ, H3115). Both also call her Amram’s wife and mother of Aaron and Moses; Numbers 26:59 adds that she was “a daughter of Levi…born to Levi in Egypt,” confirming the “father’s sister” relation. The rarity of the name (frequency 2) makes the verbal link decisive.
Exodus 6:20 · Numbers 26:59
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier): H3115 Yôwkebed (in only 2 vv — a uniquely rare name), with H6019 ʻAmrâm (in 12 vv) and H175 ʼAhărôwn; the rare shared lexeme confirms a verbal link, not mere coincidence.
Izhar’s son Korah (6:21) is named again in the rebellion of Numbers 16:1; his sons Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph (6:24) reappear in 1 Chronicles 6:22, the Korahite line that “did not die” (Num 26:11) and later sang in the Temple. The shared rare names trace one continuous, redeemed family.
Exodus 6:21 · Exodus 6:24 · Numbers 16:1 · 1 Chronicles 6:22
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier): Ex 6:21↔Num 16:1 share H3324 Yitshâr (in 9 vv) + H7141 Qôrach (in 37 vv); Ex 6:24↔1 Chr 6:22 share H617 ʼAççîyr (in only 4 vv) + H7141 Qôrach.
Aaron’s wife Elisheba is daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon (6:23) — the very Amminadab–Nahshon of the royal Judah line in Ruth 4:19–20 and 1 Chronicles 2:10. Priestly Levi marries into kingly Judah; Ellicott notes their names “are consequently found in the genealogies of our Lord.” We tier this structural/thematic, not verbal: the shared name Amminadab occurs in twelve verses (not rare) and the only other shared lexeme, “bore” (yâlad), is a common verb. What binds the verses is the recurring marriage-into-Judah pattern, argued by the voices, not a rare-word quotation.
Exodus 6:23 · Ruth 4:19 · 1 Chronicles 2:10
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier, Ex 6:23↔Ruth 4:19): H5992 ʻAmmîynâdâb (12 vv — not rare) + H3205 yâlad (403 vv, common); the connection is the recurring Levi-into-Judah marriage pattern, so tiered structural (editor downgrade from the draft’s ‘verbal’).
Uzziel’s sons Mishael and Elzaphan (6:22) surface once more at the worst hour of Aaron’s priesthood: when Nadab and Abihu fall dead before the LORD for strange fire, it is these two cousins Moses commands to carry the bodies out of the camp (Leviticus 10:4). The Pulpit Commentary marks the link plainly — they “are again mentioned as ‘sons of Uzziel’ in Leviticus 10:4” — and the genealogy quietly stations the men who will handle that judgment.
Exodus 6:22 · Leviticus 10:4
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier): H469 ʼĔlîytsâphân (6 vv — rare), H4332 Mîyshâʼêl (7 vv — rare), H5816 ʻUzzîyʼêl (16 vv); two rare proper names shared verbatim confirm the same two men in both verses.
The Phinehas born here (6:25, pînᵉḥās, H6372) is the same priest whose decisive zeal at Peor stays the plague in Numbers 25:7–13 and is praised in Psalm 106:30 (“then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stayed”). His birth-notice is load-bearing for the “covenant of a perpetual priesthood.”
Exodus 6:25 · Numbers 25:7 · Psalm 106:30
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexeme (Verifier): H6372 Pîynᵉchâç (in 24 vv) links all three; the Verifier scores this thematic/structural (the name, though shared, is not rare enough to score as a quotation) — the connection is the single continuous person and his priestly covenant.
Moses’ closing protest in 6:30 nearly verbatim repeats his objection in 6:12 (and recalls 4:10), the bracket that re-opens the suspended narrative. The shared figure of “uncircumcised lips” before Pharaoh marks the seam where the genealogy ends and Exodus 7 begins.
Exodus 6:30 · Exodus 6:12 · Exodus 4:10
basis: Hebrew↔Hebrew shared lexemes (Verifier, Ex 6:30↔Ex 6:12): H6189 ʻârêl 'uncircumcised' (in 32 vv) + H8193 sâphâh 'lip' + H6547 Parʻôh; the repeated objection-formula is a structural inclusio, not a citation of an external source.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Matthew Henry, on the whole passage, frames the genealogy christologically: Moses and Aaron were “raised up unto them of their brethren, as Christ also should be, who was to be the Prophet and Priest, the Redeemer and Lawgiver of the people of Israel.” The very point of certifying Moses as bone-of-their-bone is the pattern Deuteronomy 18:15–18 turns into promise — a deliverer from among the brethren — which Acts 3:22 and 7:37 read as fulfilled in Christ.
Exodus 6:14 · Exodus 6:26 · Deuteronomy 18:15 · Acts 3:22
Aaron the Levite marries Elisheba of Judah, sister of the tribe-prince Nahshon (6:23). Matthew Poole reads the recurring Judah–Levi marriages as designed “to signify that both were united in Christ, who was to be both king and priest” — the two offices the Old Testament keeps separate (cf. the Levitical priesthood and the Davidic throne) joined in one Person, the priest-king after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 7:1–3; Zech 6:13).
Exodus 6:23 · Zechariah 6:13 · Hebrews 7:14
Amminadab and Nahshon, here brought into Aaron’s family by marriage, stand in the very chain that Matthew 1:4 and Luke 3:32–33 run down to Christ. Ellicott names it plainly: their names “are consequently found in the genealogies of our Lord.” The same selective, link-omitting genealogical art that builds this Levitical list (Ellicott’s explicit comparison) builds Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus — the method itself is a thread that runs to the manger.
Exodus 6:23 · Matthew 1:4 · Luke 3:32
Moses ends the chapter confessing himself “uncircumcised of lips” (6:30). Matthew Henry draws the gospel inference from the figure: as “the carnal heart and depraved nature of fallen man are wholly unsuited to the services of God…all our sufficiency must be in the Lord” — closing with Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” That God commissions a stammerer to speak deliverance prefigures the pattern by which Christ’s power is “made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
Exodus 6:30 · Exodus 6:12 · 2 Corinthians 12:9
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Genealogical gaps. The text presents four generations (Levi–Kohath–Amram–Moses), but the commentators we cite — Ellicott, Keil & Delitzsch (quoting Tiele) — argue on internal arithmetic (Num 3:27–28 vs. Ex 18:3–4) that names are omitted between the Amram of v. 18 and the Amram of v. 20. Cambridge presses the opposite tendency: P “consistently represents Moses, or his contemporaries, as being in the fourth generation” from one of Jacob’s sons. We report both as reasoning, not as established fact; the synthesis (⚙) takes no position on the exact number of missing links. (2) Aunt vs. cousin (v. 20). The Hebrew dōḏāh (H1733) means “father’s sister”; the LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac render “cousin” (so JFB, Poole). We follow the Masoretic “aunt” (with K&D, Cambridge, and the BSB parse) and flag the versional divergence rather than harmonizing it. (3) Cross-Testament links. Threads to Matthew 1:4, Luke 3:32, Acts 3:22, Hebrews 7:14, and 2 Corinthians 12:9 are Greek↔Hebrew and therefore cannot rest on shared Strong’s numbers; the Verifier returns ‘flagged — verify source / no shared original-language lexeme’ for Ex 6:23↔Matt 1:4, exactly as expected. They are offered as structural/typological or theological readings (in the Christ section), argued from the named PD voices, never asserted as verbal quotation. (4) Tier downgrades (editor pass). The Verifier’s rare-lexeme rule scores several name-list overlaps ‘verbal,’ but where the rarest shared lexeme is common we have under-claimed: Levi’s triad (Ex 6:16↔Num 3:17 / 1 Chr 6:1; rarest = Gershon, 18 vv) and Aaron’s Judah marriage (Ex 6:23↔Ruth 4:19; Amminadab, 12 vv) are tiered structural, not verbal. The Phinehas thread (Ex 6:25↔Num 25:7 / Ps 106:30) the Verifier itself scores structural, because the shared name H6372 (24 vv) falls above the rare-lexeme threshold; we honor that. Genuinely rare shared names do earn the verbal tier: Reuben’s Pallu (5 vv), Simeon’s Jemuel/Ohad (2 vv each), Jochebed (2 vv), Assir (4 vv), and Mishael/Elzaphan (6–7 vv). (5) Spelling variants (Zohar/Zerah, Shimei/Shimi, Sithri/Zithri, Mahli/Mahali) are real textual variations across the parallel lists (Gen 46; Num 26; 1 Chr 4–6), not errors; where the BSB silently settles them we have named the underlying Hebrew. (6) This unit is genealogy — no Joshua 1:5 / Hebrews 13:5 thread applies.
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)