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Zakhor
The Bible · 14/54

Vaera

The seven first plagues, and a genealogy inserted in the midst of the narrative.

Hebrew name
וָאֵרָא
Book
Exodus
Verses
Ex 6,2–9,35
Haftara
Ez 28,25–29,21

At the moment when the action takes shape, the text breaks off to give the genealogy of Moses and Aaron over three generations. The insertion seems incongruous; it states the essential: these liberators do not come out of nowhere, they emerge from a family, a tribe, a lineage that can be named. It is from this passage that the tribe of Levi derives its documentary foundation.

Documented figures