Exodus 6

Exodus 6:3

Cassiodorus: The God of gods is the Lord Christ; with the Father and Holy Spirit he is truly called God of gods, though the title is not wholly appropriate to the Godhead because the human tongue cannot, as we have already said, indicate the height of the Godhead beyond this. Deus (“God”) in the Greek language means “fear,” and since he alone is to be feared the word attained the role of a title. We read in Exodus: “My name Adonai I did not show them.” From this we are to realize that the name is secret and is known to have been revealed not even to chosen ministers. So he spoke through prophets, through apostles and more powerfully through his own mouth. — EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 49:1

Eusebius of Caesarea: It will naturally be asked how he that is beyond the universe, himself the only almighty God, appeared to the fathers. And the answer will be found if we realize the accuracy of Holy Scripture. For the Septuagint rendering, “I was seen of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, being their God,” Aquila says, “And I was seen by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as a sufficient God,” clearly showing that the almighty God himself, who is one, was not seen in his own person and that he did not give answers to the fathers, as he did to Moses by an angel, or a fire or a bush, but “as a sufficient God.” Thus the Father was seen by the fathers through the Son, according to his saying in the Gospels, “He that has seen me has seen the Father.” For the knowledge of the Father was revealed in him and by him. But in cases when he appeared to save men, he was seen in the human form of the Son, giving an earnest before the time to the godly of that salvation which should come through him to all men. But when he was going to be the avenger and chastiser of the wicked Egyptians, he appeared no longer as a sufficient God but as an angel ministering punishment, and in form of fire and flame, ready at once to devour them like wild and thorny undergrowth. So they say that the bush darkly refers to the wild, savage and cruel character of the Egyptians and the fire to the avenging power of the chastisement that overtook them. — PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 5.13.240

Richard Challoner: My name Adonai: The name, which is in the Hebrew text, is that most proper name of God, which signifieth his eternal, self-existent being, Ex. 3. 14, which the Jews out of reverence never pronounce; but, instead of it, whenever it occurs in the Bible, they read Adonai, which signifies the Lord; and, therefore, they put the points or vowels, which belong to the name Adonai, to the four letters of that other ineffable name Jod, He, Vau, He. Hence some moderns have framed the name Jehovah, unknown to all the ancients, whether Jews or Christians; for the true pronunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by long disuse, is now quite lost.

Exodus 6:12

Richard Challoner: Uncircumcised lips: So he calls the defect he had in his words, or utterance.

Exodus 6:14

Augustine of Hippo: There is no doubt that this is a mysterious passage. The Scripture wishes to demonstrate the origin of Moses, because his action now required it. His descent began from the firstborn of Jacob, that is, Reuben, and then to Simeon, and then to Levi. It went no further, because Moses was descended from Levi. These men who are mentioned here had already been mentioned among the seventy-five men in whom Israel entered Egypt. For God did not want the first or the second tribe, but the third—that is, the tribe of Levi—to be the priestly tribe. — QUESTIONS ON Exodus 15

Exodus 6:24

Origen of Alexandria: For though there were three sons of Korah whose names we find in the book of Exodus—Aser, which is, by interpretation, “instruction,” and the second Elkana, which is translated “possession of God,” and the third Abiasaph, which in the Greek tongue might be rendered “congregation of the father”—yet the prophecies were not divided but were both spoken and written by one spirit and one voice and one soul, which worked in true harmony. And the three speak as one, “As the hart pants after the springs of the water, so pants my soul after you, O God.” — COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF Matthew 14.1

Exodus 6:30

Augustine of Hippo: Moses says, “Behold, I have a weak voice, how will Pharaoh listen to me?” He appears to excuse himself for the weakness of his voice, not only due to the great number of the people but also due to the condition of one man. It would be remarkable if his voice were so weak that he could not be heard even by one man. Or perhaps the royal dignity did not allow them to speak at close range? For God says to Moses, “Behold, I gave you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.” — QUESTIONS ON Exodus 16