Messianic Education Trust
		Living in Exile     Pesach VII

Shemot/Exodus 6:6   I am Adonai and I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt; and I will deliver you from their slavery; and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgements.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

One of the things that we do at Pesach each year, as we sit around the seder table, is to review and remind ourselves of the promises of release and emancipation that The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem gives Moshe to share with the Children of Israel in Shemot 6:6-8. These come shortly after Moshe and Aharon have been to see with Pharaoh with HaShem's demand to "Let My people go" (Shemot 5:1) to which Pharaoh responds with the famous but overwhelmingly arrogant, "Who is the L-RD that I should heed Him and let Israel go? I do not know the L-RD, nor will I let Israel go" (5:2, NJPS) and tells the Egyptian taskmasters no longer to provide straw for the brick-making of the Israelite slaves while still insisting on the same number of bricks. Thomas Dozeman points out that these first three statements in our text "provide insight into the character of The Name ...

Yahweh: The pronunciation Yahweh is a scholarly reconstruction of the original pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, first suggested by Wilhelm Gesenius in the 19^th century, based on the idea that the tetragrammaton is derived from the Hebrew root hay-yod-hay, "to be".
Yahweh as saviour."¹ Walter Brueggemann agrees, adding, "the exodus event is not only a covenant about Israel's future, but about Yahweh's character as well."² Moshe shares these mighty promises with the Children of Israel to lift their spirits and offer them hope but, "they could not listen to Moshe, from shortness of breath, from the hardness of their slave labour" (6:9).

The text starts with the two word couplet אֲנִי יהוה, aniy Adonai, a noun phrase that we normally take as an identity statement by HaShem and translate - as above - as "I am the L-rd." But what is its purpose here? What is HaShem saying to the Israelites by having Moshe start his words to them this way? Often the prophets preface their messages on HaShem's behalf with this or similar words as an authority formula, meaning that this is really HaShem speaking, not just the prophet. Here, however, the commentators suggest that more is intended. Who Is ...

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE), French rabbi who wrote commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets and the Talmud, lived in Troyes where he founded a yeshiva in 1067; focuses on the plain meaning (p'shat) of the text, although sometimes quite cryptic in his brevity
Rashi puts it this way, "I am HaShem - thereby implying that I can be trusted to keep My promise", which is paraphrased by Michael Carasik as both words to speak and instructions about how to say it: "Use the Name that indicates that My promise is reliable." Brevard Childs explains that "the name of Yahweh functions as a guarantee that the reality of G-d stands behind the promise and will execute its fulfilment."³ When Moshe uses the divine name in this way, it is as if HaShem not only adds His stamp of authority and authenticity to what is said, but demonstrates His personal level of investment to bring the words to pass.

In a similar way, the Apostolic Writers affirm the power and significance of the name of Yeshua. Peter, for example, speaking to the "rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem" (Acts 4:5, ESV) is forthright in saying, "let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Yeshua the Messiah of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom G-d raised from the dead -- by him this man is standing before you well" (v. 10, ESV), adding, "there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (v. 12, ESV). Luke reports Yeshua Himself telling the disciples, "that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in [My] name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47, ESV), while Peter tells the people assembled in the house of Cornelius, "all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name" (Acts 10:43, ESV). Rav Sha'ul reminds the Corinthians that they "were justified in the name of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and by the Spirit of our G-d" (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV), and gives us the glorious promise that "at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth" (Philippians 2:10, ESV). The name of Yeshua stands behind and authenticates His promises.

Let's take a look at each of the three promises of our text in turn. Each one starts with a verb in the affix form with a vav-reversive; this signifies that each is a single completed action that will be performed in future time. The first is "I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt", starting with the verb וְהוֹצֵאתִי, v'hotzeytiy - the Hifil 1cs affix form of the root יצא, to go out, rendered here: "and I will bring out". Nahum Sarna reports that the verb יצא is often used in the context of emancipation and liberation. Rashi claims that this is the enactment of HaShem's promise to Avraham - "your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years; but I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth" (B'resheet 15:13-14, NJPS) - while the Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno comments that "as soon as the plagues begin, the bondage will subside." Rabbi Who Is ...

Hirsch: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888 CE), German rabbi, author and educator; staunch opponent of the Reform movement in Germany and one of the fathers of Orthodox Judaism
Hirsch disagrees, proposing almost the opposite: "Not, I shall do away with your burdens so that you can raise yourselves up by yourselves. The burden remains a burden, but I will take you up and lead you out from beneath it." Perhaps we can hear an echo of that idea in Rav Sha'ul's assertion that "no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. -d is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV).

Our second promise - "and I will deliver you from their slavery" - starts with the verb וְהִצַּלְתִּי, v'hitzality, the Hifil, 1cs affix form of the root נצל, to deliver, save or rescue,⁴ here translated "and I will deliver". The Sforno suggests that the Israelites will realise this delivery, "on the day you pass the frontier at Raamses." Only at that point will their delivery be complete. Hirsch explains that it is only HaShem that can deliver His people: "Egypt has put your necks into stocks from which you cannot get out. You are not meant to get out of them; for what is to be shown is that from oppressions and burdens out of which you cannot save yourselves, I have the power to lead you out."

Finally, the third promise - "and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great judgements" - starts with the verb וְגָאַלְתִּי, v'ga'ality, the Qal 1cs affix form of the root גאל, to redeem or rescue,⁵ here "and I will redeem". Sarna explains that "the root גאל is a socio-legal term that belongs to the realm of kinship rights and obligations. The go'el was the near kin who had primary responsibility for protecting or regaining persons and property for the extended family." Walter Brueggemann adds that "the verb has the force of a kinsman who acts for the honour and well-being of a wounded or abused member of the family, thus bespeaking G-d's intimate solidarity as a member of the slave community."⁶ While the Sforno sees this happening at a specific time in the future - "when the Egyptians drown in the sea" - Hirsch voices HaShem making a very present declaration: "I stand up as your relation. I am injured, I am hurt, when any one of My children is hurt." This is happening in real time: HaShem is hurting alongside His people because they are hurting and He is right now speaking out to redeem them.

"With these words of authority and commitment," Terence Fretheim writes, "past promises are linked to present deeds. This G-d will not fail or forsake 'My people'. There is a divine restlessness and relentlessness to be about the promises. In the face of all obstacles, even Moshe's or Israel's faithlessness, G-d will be faithful."⁷ HaShem has waited long enough; the time has come to act and the words almost convey an impatience to start. Leon Kass reflects again on the picture of Himself that HaShem embeds in these promises: "G-d, speaking as YHVH, reveals that He is an emancipator, a deliverer and a judge who will redeem His people from burdensome servitude and punish their oppressors."⁸ This is going to happen for the Israelites, the promises will be fulfilled in every degree; the story of the Exodus related in the rest of the Torah and into the book of Joshua shows us how HaShem faithfully acts, time and again, to make sure that every promise He has made is brought about - sometimes even despite the Israelites!

Shemot 6:6-8 recounts the great promises of Pesach. They are the great promises for the exiles, to give them hope and a future. G-d heard the groans of His people in Egypt; He remembered His covenant and He took action to redeem them. In the same way, G-d has heard our groans in exile today and G-d will remember us. He has acted, is acting and will act to redeem us when the day of Yeshua arrives. We must encourage each other regularly with these words - "for all His promises are 'Yes' in Yeshua" (2 Corinthians 1:20) - and maintain our expectations of homecoming. In Cadences of Home, Water Brueggemann explains that "Exiles have a way of speech that is more directly and singularly preoccupied with G-d's sure future, namely, oracles of promise. Israel believes that G-d can indeed work a newness out of present shambles and that that newness will more fully embody G-d's goodwill for the world."⁹ In the chaos that surrounds us every day in our days of exile, as we wait for Yeshua to return and set everything aright, we must join Israel in believing that G-d's promises are a certainty, that His name still stands behind them, that they still apply - and apply to us - and that He is already "working all things together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). May it be soon and in our days!

Chag Matzah Sameach!

1. - Thomas B. Dozeman, Exodus, Eerdmans Critical Commentaries, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmanns, 2009), page 167.

2. - Walter Brueggemann, "Exodus", in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Vol I, edited by Leander E. Keck, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2015), page 324.

3. - Brevard S. Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary, The Old Testament Library, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), page 115.

4. - David J. A. Clines (ed.) The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), page 281.

5. - Clines, page 59.

6. - Brueggemann, "Exodus", page 324.

7. - Terence E. Fretheim, Exodus, Interpretation, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), page 92.

8. - Leon R. Kass, Founding G-d's Nation - Reading Exodus (New Haven, Yale University Press, 2021), page 112.

9. - Walter Brueggemann, Cadences of Home, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1977), pages 21-22.

Further Study: Isaiah 42:8-9; Romans 15:8; Hebrew 10:23-25

Application: Are you waiting for and talking about the newness of G-d's promises, His capacity and ability to break through the fixed and inflexible nature of our world? Or have we lost sight of the promises because we would rather have an enhancement and guarantee of our preferred present status than the newness that Yeshua brings?

Comment - 08:52 14Apr25 Gavin Cox: Thank you for reminding me of this prophetic season of Pesach and Easter, it's good to get back to HaShem's now Word!

© Jonathan Allen, 2025

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