Exodus 6:22–27

Exodus 6:22 — The sons of Uzziel: Uzziel, previously identified in v. 18 as a son of Kohath and thus a grandson of Levi, here receives his own posterity: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. Elzaphan (or Elizaphan) will reappear in Numbers 3:30 as a leader of the Kohathite clans, and in Leviticus 10:4 he is called upon, alongside Mishael, to carry the bodies of Nadab and Abihu from the sanctuary after their fatal transgression. The genealogy is not ornamental; these names will bear narrative weight in the unfolding drama of Israel's worship.

Exodus 6:23 — Aaron's marriage and sons: Aaron's marriage to Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, is densely significant. Amminadab is a prominent figure in the tribe of Judah (Numbers 1:7; Ruth 4:19–20), and Nahshon will lead Judah's contingent in the wilderness (Numbers 2:3). Aaron's union with Elisheba therefore represents a covenant bond between the priestly tribe of Levi and the royal tribe of Judah — a prefiguring of the eventual union of priestly and kingly dignities in Christ. The four sons born to them — Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar — will form the founding generation of Israel's Aaronic priesthood. The mention of all four is poignant: the reader of the Pentateuch knows that Nadab and Abihu will die before the Lord for offering "unauthorized fire" (Leviticus 10:1–2), leaving Eleazar and Ithamar as the surviving priestly heirs.

Exodus 6:24 — The sons of Korah: Korah, son of Izhar (v. 21), generates his own sub-lineage: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. This line will become famous — or rather, infamous — when Korah leads a revolt against Moses and Aaron's authority in Numbers 16. Yet the sons of Korah themselves are spared (Numbers 26:11), and they become the authors of Psalms 42–49, 84–85, and 87–88. The genealogy thus silently holds together divine judgment and divine mercy: rebellion does not destroy God's ultimate purposes for a family.

Exodus 6:25 — Eleazar's marriage and Phinehas: Eleazar's marriage to a daughter of Putiel produces Phinehas, who will become one of the most celebrated figures of Israelite tradition. His zealous action in Numbers 25:7–13, stopping the plague at Peor, earns him God's "covenant of perpetual priesthood." The brief mention here — a single verse — carries the weight of all that is to come. Putiel's identity is debated: some ancient interpreters (including Jerome) took "Putiel" as a compound name suggesting both Joseph ("he whom God gave") and Jethro ("he who fattened"), since Moses' father-in-law was of Midianite stock and Phinehas's mother may have had a mixed lineage. This detail underscores that priestly identity is not purely ethnic but is always a gift of divine calling.

Verses 26–27 — The solemn double identification: These two verses form a deliberate rhetorical frame. The Hebrew construction ("These are that Aaron and Moses … These are that Moses and Aaron") uses a demonstrative pronoun that points, almost like a finger, at the men just introduced through their ancestry. The reversal of order — Aaron-Moses in v. 26, Moses-Aaron in v. 27 — is intentional: Aaron's name appears first when speaking of divine commission, perhaps reflecting his role as spokesman (4:16), while Moses is named last in v. 27 as the one ultimately responsible. The double formula also serves as a structural closing bracket on the genealogical insertion (6:14–27), signaling the narrator's return to the main narrative thread of confrontation with Pharaoh. The phrase "according to their armies" (literally "according to their hosts," צִבְאֹתָם) is significant: it frames the Exodus not as a chaotic flight but as the ordered, military-style march of God's people — a point the Passover narrative will develop further (12:51).

From a Catholic perspective, this genealogy is far more than administrative record-keeping; it is theology in the form of names. The Church has consistently read such genealogies as declarations that God works through history, through real families, through traceable human succession — a principle that finds its fullest expression in the Incarnation itself (Matthew 1:1–17; Luke 3:23–38).

The union of Aaron and Elisheba — Levi married to Judah — is read typologically by the Fathers as anticipating the person of Christ, in whom the priestly and royal offices are permanently united. St. Augustine, in The City of God, notes that the intertwining of Judah and Levi in Israelite genealogies points toward the one Mediator "who is both priest and king" (De Civitate Dei, XVII). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§1544) teaches that the Levitical priesthood prefigures the unique priesthood of Christ, "the one mediator between God and men" (1 Timothy 2:5), who unites in himself the office of priest, prophet, and king.

Phinehas's lineage points toward priestly zeal as a defining quality of authentic ministry. The Church Fathers, including Origen (Homilies on Numbers), held Phinehas up as a model of pastoral courage — the willingness to act decisively for holiness when the community of God is threatened. This finds resonance in the Second Vatican Council's Presbyterorum Ordinis (§12–13), which calls ordained priests to a life of genuine holiness as intrinsic to their ministry, not merely ornamental to it.

The double identification of Moses and Aaron in vv. 26–27 also speaks to the Catholic understanding of apostolic authority: those who act in God's name are not self-appointed but commissioned through a traceable line of calling, rooted in community and confirmed by God. The CCC (§857) connects apostolic succession directly to this biblical pattern of commissioned mediation.

This passage invites contemporary Catholics to reflect on the spiritual significance of lineage — not merely biological, but baptismal and ecclesial. Every Catholic stands within a traceable tradition: bishop to bishop, faith community to faith community, stretching back through the apostles to Christ himself. We are not spiritual orphans inventing our faith in isolation.

On a practical level, the genealogy of Aaron challenges those in any form of ministry — ordained, religious, or lay — to consider their own "family of origin" in the faith: Who taught you to pray? Who modeled sacrifice and fidelity? Naming these people, as Scripture names Elisheba and Putiel and Elzaphan, is itself an act of gratitude and theological seriousness.

The figure of Phinehas, introduced here in a single verse, also reminds us that our children and those we form in faith may be called to roles of greater consequence than we can foresee. Parents and catechists are genealogists of grace. Finally, the solemn double identification of Moses and Aaron — "these are the ones to whom God said" — speaks to the dignity and accountability of anyone who acts in God's name: authority in the Church is always a commission, never a possession.