In spite of multiple continuity errors, weird interpolations, and repetitiveness, the authors have been moving the plot along reasonably well. Then we get this. First, God talks to Moses again, exactly how or where we don't know, and basically repeats stuff he has already said and also makes a couple of false assertions.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”
Well no, that's not what's going to happen. He won't "drive them out of his country."
2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4
NIV as usual is engaged in cleanup here. They are translating "YWHW," Jehovah, as The Lord but they don't want to tell us that. Here is Genesis 2:14: "And Abraham called the name of that place
Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the
LORD it shall be seen."
I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 “Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”
This is of course largely repetition. Again it appears that multiple versions of the same story have been written on one scroll, resulting in the herky-jerky plot and
9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”
12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”
As the NIV translators tell us in a footnote, the actual Hebrew is "uncircumcised lips." They don't want to deal with this so they deliberately mistranslate it. What exactly can it mean? I would hope his lips weren't circumcised. It could imply that Moses himself is uncircumcised, which would be a great embarrassment given how important circumcision is to God. It could imply that circumcision gives power to the penis, the analog of which is lacking from Moses's lips. Who knows?
13 Now the Lord
spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
14 These were the heads of their families:
We interrupt this story to return to our obsession with patriarchal lineages. Why is anyone supposed to care about this? Remember that a) this entire story is fiction and b) it was written some 1,600 years or so after it supposedly happened, when no living person could possibly have ever heard of any of these people or cared what their names were. And, since all we get are names, with no personal information of any kind, this lacks any substantial meaning.
The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.
Where is Simeon going to find a Canaanite woman to knock up? He's a slave in Egypt. Whatev. Too bad she doesn't have a name.
16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years.
Right. I thought we had gotten over the implausible lifespans.
17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei.
18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years.
Uhuh.
19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.
These were the clans of Levi according to their records.
20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years.
So, like most of the patriarchs, Moses and Aaron are the product of incest. Their mother is also their aunt. At least she gets a name, unlike all the other women in this genealogy. Spending 120 years or so married to your aunt doesn't sound like fun to me.
21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri.
22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.
23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans.
25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas.
These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan.
26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron.
28 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
Again, the Hebrew is "uncircumcised lips," not "faltering lips." And we have been through all of this before, prior to the first meeting between Moses and Pharaoh, which did not go according to plan.
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