Exodus 6:23

Exo 6:23 And Aaron took him Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon, to wife; and she bare him Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

Ver. 23. Elisheba.] Or, Elizabeth, a prince’s sister. {Num 2:3} Our English Elizabeth was by a French duchess said to be the most glorious and most happy woman that ever swayed sceptre.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Who was a prince of Judah, Num. 1:7.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Elisheba--that is, Elizabethan. These minute particulars recorded of the family of Aaron, while he has passed over his own, indicate the real modesty of Moses. An ambitious man or an impostor would have acted in a different manner.

Next: Exodus Chapter 7

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Elisheba] The oath of the Lord. It is the same name as Elizabeth, so very common among Christians. She was of the royal tribe of Judah, and was sister to Nahshon, one of the princes; see Nu 2:3.

Eleazar] He succeeded to the high priesthood on the death of his father Aaron, Nu 20:25, &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Naashon.—Amminadab and Naashon were among the ancestors of David (Rth_4:19-20; 1Ch_2:10-15), and their names are consequently found in the genealogies of our Lord (Mat_1:4; Luk_3:32-33). Naashon was “prince of Judah” at the time of the Exodus (Num_1:7; Num_1:16).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. Aaron’s family. Aaron marries a wife of the tribe of Judah, viz. the daughter of Amminadab, and sister of Naḥshon, a descendant in the fifth generation from Judah (1Ch_2:4-5; 1Ch_2:9-10; Mat_1:3-4), who according to P was leader of the tribe of Judah in the wilderness (Num_1:7; Num_2:3; Num_7:11). Elisheba (LXX. Ἐλισαβεθ) is not mentioned elsewhere.

Nadab and Abihu] See Exo_24:1; Exo_24:9, in J: mentioned in P as priests (with their two brethren), Exo_28:1; and as being killed for offering ‘strange’ fire, Lev_10:1 f. (cf. Num_3:4; Num_26:61), and leaving no issue (Num_3:4).

Eleazar and Ithamar] Exo_28:1, Lev_10:6; Lev_10:12; Lev_10:16; Eleazar afterwards succeeded Aaron as chief priest (Deu_10:6; and in P, Num_20:26), and is often mentioned by P in the latter part of Numbers (e.g. Exo_26:1, Exo_31:6) and in Joshua (as Jos_14:1, Jos_19:51). For Ithamar, see Exo_38:21, Num_4:28; Num_4:33; 1Ch_6:3; 1Ch_24:1-6, Ezr_8:2.

23–25. Of two of Kohath’s grandchildren, Aaron and Koraḥ, some further descendants are enumerated,—no doubt, on account of their later prominence in the history.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

These are that Aaron and Moses,.... Aaron is set before Moses, because he was the eldest, and because he prophesied in Egypt before Moses, as Aben Ezra observes; though Moses was greater in dignity than he, and therefore the true reason may be the modesty of Moses; though in a following verse Moses is set before Aaron, to show that they were equal, as Jarchi thinks; and perhaps the thing was quite an indifference to the historian, and done without any care and intention, however these words are emphatically expressed, on purpose to point out the persons to future ages:

to whom the Lord said, bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt: which is the charge he gave them both, Exo 6:13, and the account of which is returned to again, after an interruption by the genealogy before recorded: Israel were to be brought out:

according to their armies; denoting their numbers, and the order in which they were to march out of Egypt, as they did, not by flight, nor in confusion, but in a formidable manner, and in great composure and order, with these two men, Moses and Aaron, as their generals at the head of them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Nahason, prince of the tribe of Juda, Numbers i. 7. Observe the modesty of Moses, who passes over his own family almost in silence. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Amminadab a prince of the tribe of Judah, Num 1:7; 2:3. Marriages were not yet confined to their own tribes; and when they were, the Levites seem to have had this privilege, that they might marry a daughter of any other tribe, because indeed the reason of that law did not concern them, there being no danger of confusion or loss of inheritance on their part. And especially there were many marriages made between the tribes of Judah and Levi, to signify that both were united in Christ, who was to be both king and priest. It is observable, that Moses is here silent in his own progeny, but gives a particular account of his brother’s, not only from his great humility and modesty, which shines forth in many other passages, but because it was of more concernment; and the honour of priesthood given to Aaron was to be hereditary, and peculiar to his seed, and therefore it was necessary they should be exactly known; whereas Moses’s honour and government was only personal, and did not pass to his children.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23-25. Elisheba, (Elisabeth,) which means, God is her oath, that is, She owns and worships God. The family connexions of Aaron and his wife Elisabeth are detailed with far more fulness than these of Moses, since the lineage of the high priests was a matter of the highest importance in Israel. The sons of Moses had no special prominence in the national history, and their names are hardly mentioned. It is recorded here that Aaron’s wife was the sister of Naashon, a well known prince of Judah.

It will be noticed that the priestly succession here stops at Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, who, as a youth, entered Canaan, and was the last of the line that Moses could have seen. This incidental evidence of Mosaic authorship is worthy of attention.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab. Amminadah had not been previously mentioned. He was a descendant of Judah, through Pharez and Hezron, and held a place in the line of our Lord"s ancestry. (see 1Ch_2:3-10; Mat_1:5) Naashon was at this time "prince of the tribe of Judah". (Num_2:3) Nadab and Abihu. On their fate, see Lev_10:1, Lev_10:2. Eleazar became high-priest upon the death of Aaron. (Num_20:23-28) His death is related in Jos_24:33.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Aminadab - A prince of the tribe of Judah. The Levites might marry into any tribe, there being no danger of confusion or loss of inheritance thereby.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Nadab ... Ithamar

These are the names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)

Phinehas

This is the name of a man. (See: How to Translate Names)

These were the heads of the fathers' houses

The word "heads" here represents family leaders. AT: "These were the leaders of the families" (See: Metonymy)

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

אחות נחשון THE SISTER OF NAASHON — Hence they (the Rabbis) learned (i.e. from the fact that Scripture states who her brother was when it mentions her marriage to Aaron) that he who is about to take a wife should strictly investigate who her brothers are (Bava Batra 110a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND AARON TOOK HIMSELF ELISHEBA, THE DAUGHTER OF AMMINADAB, THE SISTER OF NACHSHON TO WIFE. Just as Scripture mentioned the mother of the prophets, [namely, Jochebed], in their honor, saying that she was the daughter of Levi, a righteous man, and alluding to the fact that a miracle occurred to her, it also mentioned the mother of priesthood, i.e., that she was related to the seed of royalty, being the sister of the great prince [Nachshon of the tribe of Judah].Scripture mentioned the mother of Phinehas,. for he too was a priest, a reward which he earned himself. Now if this name Putiel — [Phinehas’ maternal grandfather] — is a proper name, it is not clear why Scripture [suddenly] mentions the name of a person whose identity we do not know. It is for this reason that our Rabbis have said that Phinehas was of the family of Joseph, who conquered his passion, (conquered) is suggested by the name Putiel. and of the family of Jethro, who fattened (fattened) is also suggested by the name Putiel. Phinehas was thus descended on his mother’s side not only from Joseph but from Jethro also. calves for idolatrous sacrifice, and he is mentioned for praise [here together with Aaron and his sons], who for their righteousness were worthy to be endowed with everlasting priesthood.In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, we will say [that the mothers of Moses and Aaron, of Aaron’s sons, and of Phinehas are mentioned here because] in the case of kings, it is the customary way of Scripture to mention the names of their mothers: And his mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom; And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi; and so in all cases. It may be that [Scripture does not relate more about Putiel because] he was an honorable and known person in his generation, and it [sufficed just to] mention him in praise.Scripture says, of the daughters of Putiel,. and not “the daughter of Putiel,” because Putiel had many daughters and Eleazar chose one of them. It may be that she was not his daughter but his daughter’s daughter who related herself to him on account of his distinction, and therefore Scripture did not mention her name.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.