Exodus 6:23 records a family detail: Aaron marries Elisheba, and she becomes the mother of four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. The verse is a genealogy entry, so its meaning lies in who is named and why the record matters for the story that follows. It is spoken by the narrator of Exodus, who is recording the family history of the people who will serve as Israel’s priests.
Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
Exodus 6:23 (WEB)
What Exodus 6:23 Means
The verse begins with “Aaron took Elisheba,” using the ordinary wording of marriage in the Old Testament. Elisheba is identified as “the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon.” Naming her father and brother ties her to a known family line, which was important in a world where lineage shaped identity and standing. Nahshon, her brother, later appears as a leader of the tribe of Judah in the wilderness, so the verse links Aaron’s household to a prominent tribe.
The verse then says that “she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.” These four sons matter because the priesthood will pass through them. Nadab and Abihu die in a dramatic judgment in Leviticus 10, while Eleazar and Ithamar carry the priestly line forward. The verse does not promise anything to the reader directly. It records facts that shape the events that come next, and it reminds us that God works through real families, with their joys and losses.
The Context of Exodus 6:23
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses, and it tells how God rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and formed them into a covenant people. Chapter 6 sits in the middle of God’s renewed promise to Moses, where God reaffirms that he will bring Israel out of Egypt. Verses 20 to 26 give the family records of Levi, tracing the line that will produce Moses, Aaron and the priests. The original audience was the Israelite community that heard or read this story, and it was meant to show that the leaders God chose came from a specific, documented people.
The verses just before and after work together. Verse 20 introduces Amram and Jochebed, the parents of Aaron and Moses, and verses 24 to 25 move on to Korah and Eleazar’s family. Read in that sequence, verse 23 is a link in a chain that leads to Aaron’s priestly service. The genealogy shows that the priesthood was not invented by a later generation but rooted in a family that God had already set apart.
Key Phrases in Exodus 6:23
Leviticus 10:1-2
1 Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer, and put fire in it, and laid incense on it, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2 Fire came out from before the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
(WEB)
This passage tells what happened to Nadab and Abihu when they offered unauthorized fire. Reading it alongside Exodus 6:23 shows the tragic end of two of the sons named in the genealogy and explains why the priesthood passed to Eleazar and Ithamar.
Numbers 3:1-4
1 Now this is the history of the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai. 2 These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4 Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
(WEB)
This section lists the sons of Aaron and notes the death of Nadab and Abihu. It helps readers see how the family named in Exodus 6:23 becomes the priestly family of Israel, with a clear record of who served and who did not.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 6:23
Lord, thank you that you are faithful to write our families into your story. Some of the names in our histories bring joy, and some bring sorrow, and we trust you with both. Help us to hand our children and our loved ones to you with honest hearts. When we feel that our lives are ordinary or broken, remind us that you use real people to carry out your purposes. Teach us to serve you faithfully in the place where you have put us. Amen.
