Bible Strands
Exodus 6:5
Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Moses, instructing him to report to the Israelites that He has noticed their suffering. This declaration follows the reaffirmation of the land promise in Exodus 6:4 and immediately precedes the command to announce their rescue in Exodus 6:6.
The words — The Hebrew שָׁמַ֗עְתִּי (sha.Ma'.ti) translates literally to "I have heard," and נַאֲקַת֙ (na.'a.Kat) means "groaning" or "cry of distress." These terms anchor the verse in the specific reality of Israelites being enslaved and crying out under Egyptian oppression.
The thread — The combination of hearing distress and remembering covenant appears in Exodus 2:24, where God hears the groaning and recalls His pledge to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The same motif runs through Psalm 106:44 and Isaiah 63:9, which record God noting Israel’s cry and responding with saving action.
Why it lands — The text states that God’s covenant memory is triggered by hearing the enslaved people’s groaning, establishing a direct link between divine attention and human suffering. Interpreters infer this requires the reader to stop attributing deliverance to human initiative and instead recognize that covenant faithfulness initiates rescue.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
Cross-references
- Exodus 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Psalms 106:44 Nevertheless He heard their cry; He took note of their distress.
- Isaiah 63:9 In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
- Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. And God sent a wind over the earth, and the waters began to subside.
- Genesis 9:15 I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
- Exodus 3:7 The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Psalms 105:8 He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- Luke 1:54 He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
- Luke 1:72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,