Part 37 (2/2)

5:17. And he said: You are idle, and therefore you say: Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

5:18: Go therefore and work: straw shall not be given you, and you shall deliver the accustomed number of bricks.

5:19. And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in evil case, because it was said to them: There shall not a whit be diminished of the bricks for every day.

5:20. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood over against them as they came out from Pharao:

5:21. And they said to them: The Lord see and judge, because you have, made our savour to stink before Pharao and his servants, and you have given him a sword, to kill us.

5:22. And Moses returned to the Lord, and said: Lord, why hast thou afflicted this people? wherefore hast thou sent me?

5:23. For since the time that I went in to Pharao to speak in thy name, he hath afflicted thy people: and thou hast not delivered them.

Exodus Chapter 6

G.o.d reneweth his promise. The genealogies of Ruben, Simon and Levi, down to Moses and Aaron.

6;1. And the Lord said to Moses: Now thou shalt see what I will do to Pharao: for by a mighty hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he cast them out of his land.

6:2. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord

6:3. That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of G.o.d Almighty: and my name ADONAI I did not shew them.

My name Adonai... The name, which is in the Hebrew text, is that most proper name of G.o.d, which signifieth his eternal, self-existent being, Ex. 3.14, which the Jews out of reverence never p.r.o.nounce; 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 p.r.o.nunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by long disuse, is now quite lost.

6:4. And I made a covenant with them, to give them the land of Chanaan, the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers.

6:5. I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, wherewith the Egyptians have oppressed them: and I have remembered my covenant.

6:6. Therefore say to the children of lsrael: I am the Lord who will bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver you from bondage: and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments.

6:7. And I will take you to myself for my people, I will be your G.o.d: and you shall know that I am the Lord your G.o.d, who brought you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians:

6:8. And brought you into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and I will give it you to possess: I am the Lord.

6:9. And Moses told all this to the children of Israel: but they did not hearken to him, for anguish of spirit, and most painful work.

6:10. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:11. Go in, and speak to Pharao king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

6:12. Moses answered before the Lord: Behold the children of Israel do not hearken to me: and how will Pharao hear me, especially as I am of uncirc.u.mcised lips?

Uncirc.u.mcised lips... So he calls the defect he had in his words, or utterance.

6:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and he gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharao the king of Egypt, that they should bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

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