These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
Parallel Translations
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These are the heads of their fathers’ houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben.
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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.
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These are the heads of their fathers' houses: the sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. These are the families of Reuben.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Exodus 6:14 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 46:9 The sons of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
- 1 Chronicles 5:3 the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
- Numbers 26:5-7 Reuben, the firstborn of Israel; the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. These are the families of the Reubenites; and those who were counted of them were forty-three thousand seven hundred thirty.
- Genesis 49:3-4 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength; excelling in dignity, and excelling in power. Boiling over like water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.
- Exodus 6:25 Eleazar Aaron’s son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
- Joshua 13:15 Moses gave to the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their families.
- Joshua 13:23 The border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan. This was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families, the cities and its villages.
- Joshua 14:1 These are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed to them,
- 1 Chronicles 5:24 These were the heads of their fathers’ houses: even Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers’ houses.
- 1 Chronicles 7:2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers’ houses, of Tola; mighty men of valor in their generations. Their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred.
- 1 Chronicles 7:7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers’ houses, mighty men of valor; and they were listed by genealogy twenty-two thousand thirty-four.
- 1 Chronicles 8:6 These are the sons of Ehud. These are the heads of fathers’ households of the inhabitants of Geba, who were carried captive to Manahath:
- Joshua 19:51 These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Yahweh, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This genealogy showeth of whom Moses and Aaron came.
This genealogy showeth of whom Moses and Aaron came.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 6:14 These [be] the heads of their fathers’…
Exo 6:14 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.
Ver. 14. These be the heads.] This is a digression, to show the descent of Moses and Aaron. Digressions in divine discourses are not always and absolutely unlawful. God’s Spirit sometimes draws aside the doctrine, to satisfy some soul which the preacher knows not: and sparingly used, it quickeneth attention.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This genealogy he describes here, to show the lineage…
This genealogy he describes here, to show the lineage of Moses and Aaron, by. whom this great work was to be effected. Only he promiseth in brief the genealogy of his two elder brethren. Reuben and Simeon, to make way for the third, which he intended more largely to insist upon. And he mentions them rather than any other, either to advance the favour of God in preferring that tribe before the descendants of their elder brethren; or to show that, although the parents were sharply censured, and rather cursed than blessed by Jacob, Ge 49, yet their posterity was not rejected by God, but received to mercy, and admitted to the same privilege with their brethren.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain I. We have here a genealogy, not an endless…
I. We have here a genealogy, not an endless one, such as the apostle condemns (Ti1 1:4), for it ends in those two great patriots Moses and Aaron, and comes in here to show that they were Israelites, bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh whom they were sent to deliver, 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, and whose genealogy also, like this, was to be carefully preserved. The heads of the houses of three of the tribes are here named, agreeing with the accounts we had, Gen. 46. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, are thus dignified here by themselves for this reason, because they were left under marks of infamy by their dying father, Reuben for his incest and Simeon and Levi for their murder of the Shechemites; and therefore Moses would put this particular honour upon them, to magnify God's mercy in their repentance and remission, as a pattern to those that should afterwards believe: the two former seem rather to be mentioned only for the sake of a third, which was Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron descended, and all the priests of the Jewish church. Thus was the tribe of Levi distinguished betimes. Observe here, 1. That Kohath, from whom Moses and Aaron, and all the priests, derived their pedigree, was a younger son of Levi, Exo 6:16. Note, The grants of God's favours do not go by seniority of age and priority of birth, but the divine sovereignty often prefers the younger before the elder, so crossing hands. 2. That the ages of Levi, Kohath, and Amram, the father, grandfather, and great grandfather, of Moses, are here recorded; they all lived to a great age, Levi to 137, Kohath to 133, and Amram to 137. Moses himself came much short of them, and fixed seventy or eighty for the ordinary stretch of human life (Psa 90:10); for now that God's Israel was multiplied and had become a great nation, and divine revelation was by the hand of Moses committed to writing and no longer trusted to tradition, the two great reasons for the long lives of the patriarchs had ceased, and therefore henceforward fewer years must serve men. 3. That Aaron married Elisheba (the same name with that of the wife of Zecharias, Elizabeth, as Miriam is the same with Mary), daughter of Amminadab, one of the chief of the fathers of the tribe of Judah; for the tribes of Levi and Judah often intermarried, Exo 6:23. 4. It must not be omitted that Moses has recorded the marriage of his father Amram with Jochebed his own aunt (Exo 6:20); and it appears by Num 26:59 that it must be taken strictly for his father's own sister, at least by the half blood. This marriage was afterwards forbidden as incestuous (Lev 18:12), which might be looked upon as a blot upon his family, though before that law; yet Moses does not conceal it, for he sought not his own praise, but wrote with a sincere regard to truth, whether it smiled or frowned upon him. 5. He concludes it with a particular mark of honour on the persons he is writing of, though he himself was one of them, Exo 6:26, Exo 6:27. These are that Moses and Aaron whom God pitched upon to be his plenipotentiaries in this treaty. These were those to whom God spoke (Exo 6:26), and who spoke to Pharaoh on Israel's behalf, Exo 6:27. Note, Communion with God and serviceableness to his church are things that, above any other, put true honour upon men. Those are great indeed with whom God converses and whom he employs on his service. Such were that Moses and Aaron; and something of this honour have all his saints, who are made to our God kings and priests.
II. In the close of the chapter Moses returns to his narrative, from which he had broken off somewhat abruptly (Exo 6:13), and repeats, 1. The charge God had given him to deliver his message to Pharaoh (Exo 6:29): Speak all that I say unto thee, as a faithful ambassador. Note, Those that go on God's errand must not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. 2. His objection against it, Exo 6:30. Note, Those that have at any time spoken unadvisedly with their lips ought often to reflect upon it with regret, as Moses seems to do here.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the sons of Simeon, Jemuel, and Jamin, and…
And the sons of Simeon, Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanitish woman,.... See Gill on Gen 46:10.
these are the families of Simeon; who gave rise and name to the several families of that tribe now in Egypt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain This genealogy ends in those two great patriots, Moses…
This genealogy ends in those two great patriots, Moses and Aaron; and comes in here to shew that they were Israelites, bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh, whom they were sent to deliver, raised up unto them of their brethren, as Christ also should be, who was to be the prophet and priest, the Redeemer and law-giver of the house of Israel, and whose genealogy also like this was to be carefully preserved. The heads of the houses of three of the tribes are here named, agreeing with the accounts we had, Gen. xlvi, 8-27. Reuben and Simeon seem to be mentioned only for the sake of Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron descended, and all the priests of the Jewish church.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 14. These be the heads] ראשי rashey, the…
Verse 14. These be the heads] ראשי rashey, the chiefs or captains. The following genealogy was simply intended to show that Moses and Aaron came in a direct line from Abraham, and to ascertain the time of Israel's deliverance. The whole account from Ex 6:14-26 inclusive, is a sort of parenthesis, and does not belong to the narration; and what follows from Ex 6:28 is a recapitulation of what was spoken in the preceding chapters.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 6:14. This genealogy ends in those two great…
Exo 6:14. This genealogy ends in those two great patriots, Moses and Aaron, and comes in here to show that they were Israelites, bone of the bone, and flesh of the flesh of those whom they were sent to deliver; raised up unto them of their brethern, as Christ also should be, who was to be the Prophet and Priest, the Redeemer and Lawgiver of the house of Israel, and whose genealogy also, like this, was to be carefully preserved. The heads of the houses of three of the tribes are here named, agreeing with the accounts we had, Genesis 46. Reuben and Simeon seem to be mentioned only for the sake of Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron descended, and all the priests of the Jewish Church.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain These be the heads - We have in the…
These be the heads - We have in the following verses, not a complete genealogy, but a summary account of the family of the two brothers. Moses records for the satisfaction of Hebrew readers, to whom genealogical questions were always interesting, the descent and position of the designated leaders of the nation. See Exo 6:26-27.
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Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain These. From this place to ver. 26, is written…
These. From this place to ver. 26, is written in a kind of parentheses: the remainder of the chapter is a recapitulation of what had been said. (Calmet) --- Moses intends to give his own genealogy, and the state of affairs when he began to afflict Egypt. (Haydock) --- He mentions three tribes, which Jacob had rebuked, lest any one might think they had forfeited their title to some distinctive tribes. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain THE GENEALOGY OF MOSES. (Exo. 6:14-30)
THE GENEALOGY OF MOSES. (Exo. 6:14-30)
These be the heads of their fathers' houses--chiefs or governors of their houses. The insertion of this genealogical table in this part of the narrative was intended to authenticate the descent of Moses and Aaron. Both of them were commissioned to act so important a part in the events transacted in the court of Egypt and afterwards elevated to so high offices in the government and Church of God, that it was of the utmost importance that their lineage should be accurately traced. Reuben and Simeon being the oldest of Jacob's sons, a passing notice is taken of them, and then the historian advances to the enumeration of the principal persons in the house of Levi [Exo 6:16-19].
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The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 14. These are the heads of their fathers’ houses]…
14. These are the heads of their fathers’ houses] The form of superscription, as often in P; e.g. Gen_10:1; Gen_11:10; Gen_25:13; Gen_46:8, Exo_1:1, Num_1:5; Num_13:4, &c. ‘Fathers’ house’ is an expression which occurs frequently in P and Chronicles, especially in connexion with genealogies. It means the ‘house,’ or family, descended,—or reputed to be descended,—from a single ancestor; it may thus denote even an entire tribe, as Num_17:2; but usually it denotes either the main subdivision of a tribe, which we might call a ‘clan,’ as Num_3:24, or the subdivision of a clan, i.e. a family, Exo_12:3. Here it denotes a clan: Ḥãnôch, Pallu, Ḥeẓron, and Carmi, were the reputed ancestors of the four main subdivisions of the tribe of Reuben, which were called by the corresponding patronymics Ḥanochites, Palluites, &c. (Num_26:5 f., where ‘family’ is used in the largest sense of the word, equivalent to ‘clan’). Cf. here, ‘these are the families of Reuben.’
these are the families of Reuben] The closing subscription to such enumerations, even where it might seem superfluous, is also in the manner of P: cf. vv. 15b, 19b, 24b, 25b, Gen_10:20; Gen_10:31-32; Gen_25:16, Num_1:13; Num_13:16, &c.
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14–27. Genealogies are frequent in P (Genesis 5, 11, Gen_25:12-16, Gen_46:8-27, &c.); and here, at his first mention of Moses and Aaron, he is careful to define their position among the descendants of Jacob: they belonged to the tribe of Levi, which claimed descent from Jacob’s third son, Levi, and the particulars about the descendants of the two elder sons, Reuben and Simeon (vv. 14b–15), are introduced merely for the purpose of leading up to Levi, about which tribe more circumstantial particulars are given (vv. 16–25). The particulars in vv. 14, 15, 16a are identical with those given in the list of Jacob’s descendants who came down into Egypt, Gen_46:9-11.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (14) These be the heads of their fathers’ houses.—Genealogies…
THE FAMILY OF MOSES.
(14) These be the heads of their fathers’ houses.—Genealogies have always had a special interest for the Semitic races. They occupy quite as prominent a position in Arabian as in Jewish history. The descent of a man who aspired to be a leader would be a subject of curiosity, with a Semitic people, to all those who submitted themselves to his guidance; and 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. A “father’s house” is a family. (See Num_1:2; Num_1:18.)
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(14, 15) Reuben . . . Simeon.—It fixes the position of the family of Levi in the house of Jacob to commence the genealogy with a mention of the two elder brothers. As, however, the writer is really concerned only with the Levites, the families of Reuben and Simeon are dismissed with the briefest possible notice. Nothing new is rocorded of them. (See Gen_46:9-10.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain These be the heads of their fathers" houses. By…
These be the heads of their fathers" houses. By "fathers" houses" are meant families; (see 1Ch_4:38 1Ch_5:13 1Ch_7:40 1Ch_9:9, etc.) and "the heads of fathers" houses" are simply the acknowledged chiefs and founders of families. The main families of the tribe of Reuben were those of Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carrel, actual sons of the patriarch. (see Gen_46:9; and compare 1Ch_5:3)
HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 14, 28The genealogy of Moses and Aaron.
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Beside its direct interest as setting in an exact light the descent and relationship of the two principal figures in the succeeding history Moses, the Lawgiver of Israel, and Aaron, the head of the priesthood this genealogical register presents us with several points deserving of attention. We are taught by it
I TO RECOGNISE THE DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY IS THE SELECTION OF ITS INSTRUMENTS.
1. The men selected Moses and Aaron (vers. 26, 27). Selection, as implying the previous or foreseen existence of variously qualified objects from which the selection is made is scarcely the fitting term to express the fact we have in view, viz. the preparing and raising up at this particular time and place, and from this particular stock, of a man of the special mould of Moses, with an eye to the accomplishment by him of a certain work. The appearance of great men at particular junctures of history is assuredly not to be attributed to chance. It is a shallow view of the Divine election which regards it as simply availing itself of happy varieties of character spontaneously presenting themselves in the course of natural development; as a workman might choose from a set of ready-made tools those best suited for his purpose. Election, if one may so speak, presides at the making of its object (Isaac, Jacob, David, etc.) as well as uses it when made (see Lange"s "Dogmatics"). The question is not simply how, a man of Moses" gifts and qualifications being given, God should use him in the way he did, but rather, how a man of this spiritual build came at that precise juncture to be there at all broke out at that point in the genealogical tree and not at another. This is the true problem, and the solution can only be found in the Divine arrangements.
2. The sovereignty of the selection. We cannot but be struck by the almost studious departure in this list from the lines of descent which would imply natural pre-eminence.
(1) Moses is not descended from Reuben and Simeon, the eldest sons of Jacob (vers. 14, 15). The only purpose, apparently, served by the introduction of these two names in the genealogy is to show that Moses did not spring from them.
(2) Neither did he spring from Judah or Joseph the sons of Jacob who fell heirs to the birthright forfeited by the sin of Reuben. (1Ch_5:1, 1Ch_5:2) The genealogy stops, as having attained its end, before it gets their length.
(3) He sprang from Levi a tribe originally united with Simeon under a (Gen_49:7) yet not from the oldest branch of it, but from Kohath, the second son (vers. 16-19).
(4) Moses himself was not the eldest son of Amram, but stood by descent in a secondary relation to Aaron, who was afterwards to occupy so secondary a position in relation to him. What are we taught by these facts, if not the lesson so strongly emphasised in Romans 9., that mere natural advantages constitute no ground of pre-eminence in the kingdom of God; that the spiritual everywhere rules and controls the natural. Examples may be drawn from every part of Scripture history. Isaac, not Ishmael; Jacob, not Esau; Ephraim, not Manasseh; David, not his elder brothers; etc. The Jehovah attributes of freedom and sovereignty, to which this chapter introduces us, find not their least conspicuous illustration in this section of it.
II TO TRACE, NOTWITHSTANDING, IN THE EXERCISE OF THE DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY, VARIOUS SPIRITUAL LAWS. The sovereignty of God is degraded whenever it is viewed as mere arbitrariness or caprice, as a liberty of indifference, or as anything else than the perfectly free and self-determined action of an all-wise, all-holy, all-good Will, working at every moment for the accomplishment of wise and good ends. Studied in this light, it will be recognised that it has not only
(1) its inherent laws of operation, but
(2) its self-imposed limitations.
Partial glimpses of some of these laws are here afforded us.
1. The natural, while subordinate to the spiritual, is taken as the basis of it. There is to he recognised a congruity between the instrument and the use to which it is to be put; between the man, in respect of his physical, mental, and moral endowments, and the work for which he is designed. Election works in the natural sphere prior to its being revealed in the spiritual. Moses, for example, was, on his natural side, the product of a long line of causes operating through successive generations for the production of just such a man as he was. He was a descendant of Levi, as truly as any other. Inherited organisation was a fact of quite as capital importance in his case as in the case of any of his contemporaries. It had as much to do with the kind and quality of his manhood. Compare also Patti, separated from his mother"s womb, (Gal_1:15) and essentially the same man after his conversion as before it. The mould in which he was cast by nature was that which specially fitted him for the work he had to do as an apostle.
2. The purpose of God is wrought out not fatalistically, but in harmony with the laws of human freedom, and through man"s moral self-determinations. This principle also receives striking illustration in the names of this list. The derivation of Moses from Levi, and not from Reuben or Simeon, has a connection with facts in the moral history of the respective tribes. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, the progenitors, were all three originally of so wicked a disposition as virtually to undergo their father"s curse. Reuben lost the birthright, and Simeon and Levi were denied an inheritance with their brethren. (Gen_49:3-8) The descendants of the two former followed closely in the footsteps of their ancestors, and consequently never recovered themselves. It was different with the tribe of Levi, which by earnest piety and zeal seems to have risen to the rank of moral leadership even in Egypt, and was honoured to give birth to Moses and Aaron. And greater honour still was in reserve for it; for while in its letter "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel the curse was not repealed, an entirely new turn was given to it by the election of the tribe to the priesthood and service of the sanctuary. The curse was changed into a blessing. Had Reuben and Simeon followed in Levi"s footsteps, who can doubt but that mercy would have been shown to them also?
3. Election flows by preference in the lines of pious descent. Moses and Aaron were the children of pious parents. The names of Moses" father Amram, "the kindred of the lofty one and of his mother she "whose glory is Jehovah" (ver. 20), testify to the piety of his ancestry. The instruction he received from them in early life, and during the visits he paid to their home, would not be without an important influence upon his character, and he had the benefit of their unceasing prayers. Aaron had even greater home advantages, in being with his parents till character was fully formed. This also is an important fact in its bearing on God"s election of them to special service. The faith and prayers of parents have an important influence on the salvation of their children. By far the larger number of pious men and women in the world have come from pious homes. (See numerous illustrations of this in Dr. Norman MacLeod"s "Home School.") The Church historian, Neander, has noticed in how many cases "pious mothers" had to do with the planting of the seeds of Christianity in the souls of those who afterwards produced great effects as teachers of the Church. He instances Nonna, the mother of Gregory of Nazianzum; Arethusa of Antioch, the mother of Chrysostom; the mother of Theodoret; and Monica, the mother of Augustine. (See the whole passage in "Church History," vol. 3. sect. 2, 1.)
III THAT HONOR IN GOD"S SIGHT IS DETERMINED BY SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS,
1. As regards position. The true centre point of honour in this genealogy is ver. 20 that which includes the names of Moses and Aaron. It was the spiritual greatness of these men which secured for them this honour.
2. As regards rise and fall, Reuben was "the firstborn of Israel" (ver. 14), but he lost through sin the prerogatives of birth. He is eclipsed by Levi, who, through piety, rose from a degraded position to one of honour.
Korah, whose name, from considerations of relationship, is honourably prominent in this select list (vers. 21-24), subsequently destroyed himself by his rebellion. (Nu 16) His posterity, however (another illustration of the same law), rose to high spiritual honour in the minstrelsy of the temple.
3. As regards relationship. The families of the tribe of Levi, grouped around the names of Moses and Aaron, some in nearer, some in more distant relations, draw honour from the association. The chief prominence is given to the Kohathites, as most nearly related to the sons of Amram. This distinction was subsequently confirmed by the appointment of this family to the charge of the sacred Ark, and of the vessels of the sanctuary. (Num_4:4-16) Relationship with the good thus confers honour, and secures privilege. The highest of all examples of this is the honour and privilege conferred through relationship to Christ. J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain These be the heads of their fathers houses.
Exo_6:14-27
These be the heads of their fathers houses.
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The genealogy of the Church
I. That it was, humanly speaking, of very unpretentious origin.
II. That it was, morally speaking, of a very miscellaneous character. We have names in this list of very varied moral worth. Some noted for their piety, others remark, able for their profanity. The Church has now a mixed genealogy. All down through the ages the tares and wheat have been growing together, and they will do so until the harvest, which is the end of the world. The miscellaneous character of the Church is accounted for--
1. By the diversified temperaments of men.
2. By the diversified thinkings of men.
3. By the diversified character of men.
4. By the diversified alliances of men.
III. That it was, socially speaking, of very great influence. It had a great political influence. The Jewish nation was for a long time a theocracy. God was its king. Heaven was its parliament. The priests were of supreme influence in the nation. The community was eminently religious in idea and sentiment. Hence, from the names here recorded there comes out a great stream of social, moral, and political influence upon humanity to-day. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Lessons
1. Order in genealogy is useful to give right understanding of the Churchs line.
2. Heads of families in the Church have been too prone to mingle themselves in strange marriages (Exo_6:15). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
A panoramic glance at history
I. We see the mass of lives that are crowded into a brief era. The ages soon empty their contents into eternity.
II. We see how the minute details of individual life are lost in the aggregate of history. The heroes battles are forgotten. The remembrance of our great calamities is no more. The life of the greatest king is summed up into a sentence on the page of the worlds history.
III. We see the great effort of life to culminate in, and give prominence to, the birth of its heroes and emancipators. The whole of these lives were preparatory to the lives of Moses and Aaron. All before them were introductory. There is a gradual process in life. Life is ever trying to find emphatic expression in the conduct of the good. History makes this apparent.
IV. We see here that individual lives derive their greatness from the call of God to service, rather than from social considerations. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The genealogical table
We have here a genealogy of those two great patriots, Moses and Aaron, to show that they were Israelites, bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh, whom they were sent to deliver, 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, and whose genealogy also was to be carefully preserved. The heads of the houses of three of the tribes are here named. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi are thus dignified here because they three were left under marks of infamy by their dying father; and Moses would put this peculiar honour upon them to magnify Gods mercy in their repentance and remission, as a pattern to them that should afterward believe: the two first seem to be mentioned only for the sake of Levi, from whom Moses and Aaron descended, and all the priests of the Jewish Church. (M. Henry.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Exo_6:14. The heads of their fathers’ houses] It is…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Exo_6:14. The heads of their fathers’ houses] It is obvious that Exo_6:13-30 form a distinct section: indeed Exo_6:30 resumes the very words of Exo_6:13. The interjected portion might seem to interrupt the flow of the narrative; but on closer examination the conclusion that it could ill be spared is easily arrived at, since the genealogy given relates directly to the leading actors who are coming on the scene. The houses of Reuben and Simeon are given for the sake of introducing Levi; and Levi and his house are brought forward mainly for sake of exhibiting the tribal and family connections of Moses and Aaron. Note, accordingly, the climax attained in Exo_6:26-27; and the return, then, to the point departed from at Exo_6:13.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_6:14-30
THE GENEALOGY OF THE CHURCH
I. That it was, humanly speaking, of very unpretentious origin. The human origin of the Church was very humble. It was not born of kings. It was not the conquest of a renowned warrior. It was not the discovery of a bold adventurer. Its primitive social position was poor. Its numbers were few. Its ancestors were men of moral greatness. They were eminent for faith. Instance Abraham. These men are now the rulers of the world The few in the days of the old patriarch have multiplied as the stars of heaven.
II. That it was, morally speaking, of a very miscellaneous character. We have names in this list of very varied moral worth. Some noted for their piety, others remarkable for their profanity. At this time the Church was almost co-extensive with the Jewish nation. Nominally there was no line of separation. The religion was one of ceremony, and in this all the people could join. There were a few great and good souls who obtained a deeper insight into moral truth, and whose lives were rendered beautiful and powerful by an anticipation of some all-sufficient sacrifice in the future ages. But these were the exception. The spirit of the common multitude was confined within the conventional system of their grand worship. The Church has now a mixed genealogy. All down through the ages the tares and wheat have been growing together, and they will do so until the harvest, which is the end of the world. The miscellaneous character of the Church is accounted for:—
1. By the diversified temperaments of men.
2. By the diversified thinkings of men.
3. By the diversified character of men.
4. By the diversified alliances of men.
III. That it was, socially speaking, of very great influence.
1. It had a great political influence. The Jewish nation was for a long time a theocracy. God was its king. Heaven was its parliament. The priests were of supreme influence in the nation. The community was eminently religious in idea and sentiment. Hence from the names here recorded there comes out a great stream of social, moral, and political influence upon humanity to-day.
A PANORAMIC GLANCE AT HISTORY
I. We see the mass of lives that are crowded into a brief era. We have here a great mass of names, each representing a distinct life of peculiar type and condition; they are all heaped together in ten or fifteen verses. They all lived within a comparatively brief period. The world is crowded with life. The ages are crowded with men. They soon empty their contents into eternity.
II. We see how the minute details of individual life are lost in the aggregate of history. There is very little recorded of the many lives that are here mentioned. In a few ages after death, the lives of men diminish into a mere name. The heroes’ battles are forgotten. The remembrance of our great calamities is no more. The life of the greatest King is summed up into a sentence on the page of the world’s history.
III. We see the great effort of life to culminate in, and give prominence to, the birth of its heroes and emancipators. The whole of these lives were preparatory to the lives of Moses and Aaron. All before them were introductory. There is a gradual process in life. Life is ever trying to find emphatic expression in the conduct of the good. History makes this apparent.
IV. We see here that individual lives derive their greatness from the call of God to service, rather than from social considerations.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo_6:14. Sacred genealogy is made by God’s spirit to make clear the line of His Church.
Natural primogeniture may be allowed to such to whom the spiritual may be denied.
The multitude of the churches seed did arise from small beginnings.
Exo_6:15. Order in genealogy is useful to give right understanding of the line of the Church.
Heads of families in the Church have been too prone to mingle themselves in strange marriages.
Exo_6:16. The line of Levi is remarkable by God’s spirit. A poor stock may yield noble instruments for the salvation of the Church.
The fathers who lived long saw not all the promises fulfilled.
Exo_6:17-19. Gradually God increaseth His Church. Third generations under God may add much more seed unto His Church.
Exo_6:20. Incestuous marriages are not good, though by God sometimes passed over.
God can bring out His instruments and work from the sins of men.
Exo_6:20-25. From generation to generation God continueth the succession of His Church.
God hath various ends in recording the good and bad in the genealogy of His Church.
Exo_6:26-27. God would have His Church know the instruments, whom He calleth, though of low descent.
God’s commission maketh poorest instruments eminent for greatest deliverance of His people.
It is God’s work to make shepherds lead armies.
God entitles His poorest instruments to honour, even to face kings at His pleasure.
God honours His weak instruments to deliver His Church out of the hands of kings.
In God’s record, and at His pleasure, the poorest names are made eminent.
Exo_6:28-30. In the day of instruments drawing back, God repeats His charge to quicken them.
Place as well as time for duty God orders in His charge.
The name of Jehovah carrieth enough in it to support His ministers.
Weakness of faith puts God’s servants sometimes upon their shifts to brave His work.
Bodily infirmities may discourage the minds of God’s servants from their work.
It is weakness to urge infirmities against God’s charge, who can heal them.
THE MINISTER TO DECLARE THE WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD
“Speak thou unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I say unto thee.” Ministers must declare the whole counsel of God:—
I. Notwithstanding the unwillingness of the people to hear it. Pharaoh would be displeased with the message that Moses delivered. It would excite his royal anger. Yet it must not be withheld. Prudence must be respected. Courage must be sought.
II. Notwithstanding the social position of those who hear it. Moses was to deliver his message to the king of Egypt. Wealth, fear of man, wish for fame, must not deter us from proclaiming the entire counsel of God.
Excuses:—
1. I am slow of tongue.
2. I am low in purse.
3. I am feeble in energy.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WM. ADAMSON
Growth! Exo_6:14. Earth and sea and sky furnish illustrations of the growth of Christianity.
1. Earth! Go forth by day, and count if you can the blades of grass on the Surface of the field, their bristling spears flashing back the gleam of heaven’s sunshine like swords of steel; converts to God are green in the city as grass upon the earth.
2. Sea! How do the waters cover the sea? Do they not flow into its most profound caverns and secret recesses? And so the earth is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
3. Sky! Go forth by night, and gaze upon the jewelled heavens, whose diamond pointless are thickly set on the purple-hued ring that wreathes Jehovah’s finger! Attempt to enumerate those constellations rising tier above tier—vast beyond the utmost stretch of imagination! Even these are made witnesses to us of the growth and numbers of the Church of Christ, who are to become as innumerable and glorious as the stars in the everlasting firmament.
“Yes! countless as the stars of heaven,
Or as the early dew,
And entering the eternal halls,
In robes of victory,
That mighty multitude shall keep,
The joyous Jubilee.
Church! Exo_6:14. Very humble was the origin of the Church, whether we look at “the father of the faithful”—or at the “founder of the faith.” Abraham was a cipher till God put the figure one before him: Jesus was the child of a village maiden, till the Spirit of the Lord anointed Him; while the fishermen of Galilee were ignorant and unlettered. But how great has been the influence of the Church, which humanly speaking was of very unpretentious origin! Humble as is the sand-reed which grows on the sandy shores of Europe, how great is its influence! Its roots penetrate to a considerable depth, and spread in all directions, writes Hartwig, forming a network which binds together the loosest sands; while its strong, tall leaves protect the surface from draught, and afford shelter to small plants, which soon grow between the reeds, and gradually form a new green surface on the bed of sand. But for this sand-reed, the sea wind would long since have wafted the drift far into the interior of the country—converting many a fruitful acre of England and France into a waste. Lowly as is the origin of the Christian Church, vast have been its influences in preserving society, humanity, and morals from desert draught and wilderness waste. Its roots have penetrated deep, and spread far and wide into the civilization of every country; and in the great blast of Satanic wind which soon will endeavour to engulf the human race beneath the drift-sand of infidelity and godlessness, the Church will evidence how wondrously extensive her influence is.
“Nations shall seek her pillar’d shade,
Her leaves shall for their healing be;
The circling flood that feeds her life,
The blood that crimson’d Calvary.”
Genealogies! Exo_6:14. Dr. Hamilton likens these to rugged cliffs, which claim more than a sterile grandeur. Bleak and barren though they seem, there is a well-spring at their foot. It is from these dreary crags that the fountain of Christ’s manhood takes its rise. And as you follow the stream from Ur of the Chaldees to the manger of Bethlehem, you find how faithful the promises—and how watchful the Providence which through all the eventful centuries kept afloat and guided on the ark of the advent.
“For that wondrous Ark
Lived in the safeguard of Jehovah’s eye;
His power secured it, and his wisdom guides.”
—Grant.
Generations! Exo_6:20. This successive flow and swell of the Church in her generations has been likened by Miss Cobbe to the Nile. Doubtless if we could stand—as so many brave hearts have striven to do—beside the fountain of the Nile, it would be hard to think that little trickling stream was actually the same as the great river of Egypt; and that it should grow and swell deeper and stronger, receiving the floods of heaven and the tributes of earth, till at last it rolls in resistless seas of water, bearing fertility and blessing over the land. Were a being from some far stellar world—unfamiliar with Nature’s growth—to find his way to earth, how hard would it be for that visitant to realise that from the acorn which you held in your hand there had sprung that giant oak with its gnarled trunk of a thousand circles, ten thousand boughs and million-tongued leaves, amid which the birds carolled their notes, and beneath whose extensive shade man and beast found shelter and repose. So with the Church. But before ONE EYE, both river, tree, and church were self-evident Jehovah sees them all mapped out from their source and entrance in weakness to their summit and end in power. The successive generations of the Church are all part of one mighty plan, which has its climax of loftiness and acme of perfection in that majestic benediction rising on the bosom of the universe of eternity, and reflecting on its ever-swelling surface the infinite glory of Jehovah, who says, I am the LORD.
“Let us then rejoice and sing;
’Tis the marriage of the Lamb;
And the Bride is ready; raise—
Raise the everlasting Psalm.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
The Genealogy of Moses and Aaron
v. 14. These be the heads of their father’s houses. The tribes were considered as branching off first into families, or clans, or heads of the father-houses; these again branch off into the father-houses themselves. The sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these be the families of Reuben. Cf Gen 46:9; 1Ch 5:3.
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v. 15. 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. Cf Gen 46:10; 1 Chronicles 4-24.
v. 16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their; generations: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari, Gen 46:11; and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
v. 17. The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimi, according to their families.
v. 18. 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.
v. 19. And the sons of Merari: Mahali and Mushi; these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
v. 20. 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. Cf 1Ch 6:1-3. Note that the sum of the ages of these three generations, plus the age of Moses at the time of the Exodus, is four hundred eighty-seven years; so there is no difficulty in making Bible chronology fit. of the three children of Amram and Jochebed, Aaron was three years older than Moses, and Miriam was older than either.
v. 21. And the sons of Izhar: Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
v. 22. And the sons of Uzziel: Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri. These were the cousins of Moses and Aaron.
v. 23. And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife, a woman of the tribe of Judah, 1Ch 2:10; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
v. 24. And the sons of Korah: Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Korhites.
v. 25. 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, the heads of the father-houses.
v. 26. 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. Although the heads of the father-houses of Reuben and Simeon were also mentioned, the genealogy was here inserted chiefly for the sake of showing the family relations of Moses and Aaron.
v. 27. 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, Moses being mentioned in first place again on account of his leadership at the time of the Exodus. The men through whom the Lord performed such great works occupy a place of honor in the history of the Lord’s kingdom.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 the heads of their fathers' houses
the heads of their fathers' houses
Here "heads" refers to the original ancestors of the clan. AT: "the ancestors of the clans"
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Hanok ... Shaul
These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
head
ancestor
house
Reuben
firstborn
Jacob
clan
Simeon
Canaan
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 6:14-30 This genealogical interlude places Moses and Aaron among…
6:14-30 This genealogical interlude places Moses and Aaron among the families of Israel. That it is an interlude is clear because 6:30 is a repetition of 6:12. There is a recurring emphasis in Exodus on Yahweh as the God of the ancestors, both explicitly (from 3:6 on) and implicitly (from 1:1 on). What was about to happen was not an unrelated action by some new god who was devaluing impotent older gods (a typical theme in ancient pagan literature). Unlike pagan gods, whose only purpose is personal power, and who are in constant conflict among themselves, the true God has a single, overarching purpose: He wants his creation to find its fulfillment in proper relation to him. Although he enacts that purpose in ever-expanding displays of creativity, the new activities are always consistent with what he has already revealed of himself. Moses and Aaron did not suddenly appear out of the unknown, but were an integral part of that same people to whom God first revealed himself and through whom he was about to give an even grander revelation. The genealogies of Jesus have a similar purpose (Matt 1:1-16; Luke 3:23-38).
6:14-16 The genealogy works its way through Jacob’s first and second sons to the third, Levi, the ancestor of Moses and Aaron. Having reached Levi, it dispenses with the other nine sons.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.