What Does Exodus 6:27 Mean?

It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, Moses and Aaron. Verse 27 completes the formal identification of Moses and Aaron as the persons who were commissioned (verse 26) and who have actually spoken to Pharaoh (verse 27). The double identification (verse 26: "the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said"; verse 27: "it was they who spoke to Pharaoh") brackets the mission with genealogical identity on one side and ambassadorial action on the other. Aaron and Moses are identified not only as covenant family members but as the ones who have already acted.

The reversal of the order (Aaron first in verse 26, Moses first in verse 27) reflects the narrative convention: Aaron is the older brother and is listed first in genealogical contexts; Moses is the primary prophet and is listed first in mission contexts. Both orderings are correct; they reflect different frameworks of identity. In the covenant community's family structure, Aaron is the firstborn. In the divine commissioning for the Exodus mission, Moses is the prophetic principal. The genealogy and the commissioning narrative use the appropriate order for each context.

The formal identification of Moses and Aaron in verses 26-27 also functions as a hinge between the genealogy (verses 14-25) and the renewed narrative (verses 28-30 and beyond). The genealogy was an interruption of the commissioning narrative; verses 26-27 re-establish the narrative thread by identifying the persons whose genealogy has just been recorded as the same persons who are about to return to action. The formal re-identification is the narrative mechanism for resuming the story that was paused for the genealogical register.