1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.The Lord promises to make Pharaoh kick the Hebrews out of Egypt. His initial plan not only didn't work, he hardened Pharaoh's heart to ensure that it wouldn't work. This may be the most self-fulfilling failure until the Piranha brothers' first two Operations:
2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
13 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
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.
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.
16 And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
17 The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.
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.
19 And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations.
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.
21 And the sons of Izhar; Korah, and Nepheg, and Zichri.
22 And the sons of Uzziel; Mishael, and Elzaphan, and Zithri.
23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24 And the sons of Korah; Assir, and Elkanah, and Abiasaph: these are the families of the Korhites.
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.
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.
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.
28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
At the age of fifteen Doug and Dinsdale started attending the Ernest Pythagoras Primary School in Clerkenwell. When the Piranhas left school they were called up but were found by an Army Board to be too unstable even for National Service. Denied the opportunity to use their talents in the service of their country, they began to operate what they called 'The Operation'... They would select a victim and then threaten to beat him up if he paid the so-called protection money. Four months later they started another operation which they called 'The Other Operation'. In this racket they selected another victim and threatened not to beat him up if he didn't pay them. One month later they hit upon 'The Other Other Operation'. In this the victim was threatened that if he didn't pay them, they would beat him up. This for the Piranha brothers was the turning point.God says he didn't tell Moses' forefathers that his name was Jehovah. Not sure what to make of that.
The dispirited Hebrews won't listen to Moses' pitch about the Lord's oft-repeated promises.
God tells Moses to ask Pharaoh again, but Moe objects that his "uncircumcised lips" (!?) won't git 'er done.
In a twist (not), God tells Aaron and Moses to convince the Hebrews and Pharaoh. In chess, three times in the same position is a stalemate.
But on we go, wading through a sudden list of begats — including an off-the-cuff mention that Amram "took him" his Aunt Jochebed, who turned out to be Aaron and Moses' mom.
Then, some of this chapter's story beats are rehashed. This book may be inerrant, but sometimes it's pretty dang repetitive.
7 comments:
I just thought I'd let you know that I've just this day been through all your previous posts, and added comments here and there which you may find informative.
Anonymous,
I've been trying to catch up with all of your intriguing posts from today. Thanks much for taking the time!
I was just introduced to this blog recently from the "Holy Crap" entries on C&L (last week?). I have enjoyed reading your take on the verses that you read.
I grew up in the Catholic Church, so I have an alternate translation of the Bible than the KJV that you are using. (I am no longer practicing. Not been to mass in 14 years).
I also have a KJV that somehow made it into my library over the years, though I do not know where it came from.
After that windy intro, I would like to address the issue of the "un-circumcised lips" spoken of in this chapter. In the New American Translation of the Catholic Bible, the text says that Moses is a "poor speaker". This is why he needs Aaron with him at all times. This was also noted in the burning bush scene earlier in this book.
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I kind of wish I had been here during the beginning of this blog... Sorry for coming in so late :]
Before anything, I'd like to say that I am surprised that people would take this blog seriously, because (although based only off of this specific entry)it's obvious you have little knowledge of how to exegete books of the Bible.
- First of all, The KJV or NKJV are among the worste Bible translations to use for a handful of reasons, among which is the fact that they are based off of more recent manuscripts (in other words, further away from the time of the actual events and therefore more likely to contain errors) and they are also, to most, less clear; more confusing.
- Secondly, you seem to care little for cultural context. For anyone serious about scientific or historical analysis, or any kind of scholar for that matter, this is very important.
(I'm trying not to be rude, but helpful and critical so as to strengthen your validity.)
Perhaps in the future, you could at least use a version such as the NIV. (Most of the newer translations, in fact, would be better, because they are based off of texts much closer to the actual time they would have been written.)
:)
-Cormack.
Cormack,
Thanks for stopping by. Not sure if you caught the "Read-Me-First" link on the right, but that will give you a little context about my goals and methodology here.
Essentially, I'm approaching this as an irreverent sort of "Bible literalist," discussing the apparent literal meaning, as well as the metaphors I encounter.
I claim no prior knowledge of the Bible; a major motivation for me is the journey itself.
Many folks want our public schoolchildren to read the Bible as literature. That's what I'm doing -- taking the approach of treating the text as the proper focal point (as opposed to relying on historical background docs or other analysis).
As long as people don't totally freak out over the aforementioned irreverence, I heartily welcome commentary from all -- atheists, first-time readers, history buffs, and True Believers. If you can complement or credibly contradict my observations with your own or with links to other relevant content, I'll be much obliged.
As to the choice of KJV, no matter which edition I use, some people are bound to disagree. I was attracted to the poetic weight of its old-school syntax; where things get a little thick, I refer to more modern translations to form a guess as to the intentions of a particular verse.
VLC said: "God says he didn't tell Moses' forefathers that his name was Jehovah. Not sure what to make of that."
It seems, previously, that YHWH was cagey about letting anyone have invocational power over him by knowing his name. An example from Genesis 32, where Jacob and the Almighty have just had an all night wrestling match:
29 Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
Verse 30 contradicts Exodus 33, which clearly states that not even Moses may see the face of God:
20 "But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." 21 Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
Catching a glimpse of His feet and legs were apparently okay, as stated above. Also implied in Exodus 24:
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.
Steelman,
Thanks for your observations.
There indeed is some variability about whether one can or can't look at God's face.
For example, Exodus 30 also says "11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend."
Also notable is how often the Lord threatens to "set [his] face against" someone or other.
I'll keep my eyes open for further beats pertaining to knowing or saying YHWH's name.
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