Liberation Thematic Study #3

How do the literary devices in Exodus 6:1-12 help us understand the author’s intention?

The emphasis in this section is very clearly on Yahweh. Moses may have started the dialogue in 5:22 by accusing Yahweh of bringing trouble on the nation, and he may end it with continued doubts in 6:12 but the main voice is that of Yahweh’s. His tone of authority, confidence and promise exudes throughout the passage.

The repeated phrases also signal this emphasis on Yahweh. The name itself is repeated seven times with the phrase ‘I am the LORD’ recorded four times. Adjectives or nouns linked to ‘might’ are repeated four times also. The power of Yahweh is further expanded upon through the use of anthropomorphism in 6:1. 6:6 and 6:8. Yahweh’s power is going to directly intervene into the lives of the Israelites.

There is also an emphasis on the actions of Yahweh. Yahweh explicitly links the results of liberation to His own actions through the use of causal connectives: because of my mighty hand...he will let..., because of my mighty hand ...he will drive...The personal pronoun ‘I’ relating to actions that Yahweh has or will do is repeated at least fourteen times. The use of modal verbs demonstrates the certainty of Yahweh’s promises: I will is repeated seven times in a succession of sentences declaring Yahweh’s actions. There is an abundance of verbs littering the passage: appeared, established, give, heard, remembered, bring out, free, redeem, take you, be, brought out, swore, bring to, give and so on. There is no possible way that the Israelites will be able to say Yahweh has not rescued them. He is declaring is power and control over the Egyptians and thus over the Israelites themselves.

There is also a possible chiasm within the passage that indicates the transition between ownership of the Israelite nation.

This chiasmic structure helps the reader see the main focus of this liberation event: “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.”

It appears that the aim of the liberation, its reason and purpose, is not for freedom for freedom’s sake, but to know the authority of God and be under His ownership. That this purpose is sandwiched between Yahweh’s repeated promises that He will bring them out from the yoke of the Egyptians is further evidence of this change of ownership and master. No longer will they be under the authority of Pharaoh, but under Yahweh’s. This ownership will not be one of cruel bondage, enslaving or groaning but rather one of promise and hope. It is not one of undergoing discouraging oppression (6:5,9) but of receiving promised possession (6:4, 8).

This is reflected in Yahweh’s mention of the covenant. He has not forgotten the promises given in Genesis 17. This idea of the covenant, which is repeated twice and alluded to again in verse 8, is an important one in this liberation event. Further discussion of this will be made in the following post as we consider some of the secondary sources regarding the Exodus as well as the historical/cultural context of this passage.