Exodus 4:6

6 Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.

Exodus 4:6 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 4:6

And the Lord said furthermore unto him
Continued his discourse, and gave him another sign: put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom;
within his coat, under that part of the garment next to his breast: and when he took it out, behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow;
that is, white as snow, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, through the leprosy that was upon it; it was a leprosy of the white sort, and which is reckoned the worst and most difficult to be cured, see ( Leviticus 13:3 Leviticus 13:4 ) ( Numbers 12:10 ) . It is highly probable that this gave rise to the story told by several Heathen writers, as Manetho ^F13, Lysimachus {n}, Trogus ^F15, and Tacitus ^F16, that Moses and the Israelites were drove out of Egypt by the advice of an oracle, because they had the leprosy, itch, and other impure diseases upon them.

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 26.
F14 Apud. ib. c. 34.
F15 Justin e Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
F16 Hist. l. 5. c. 3.

Exodus 4:6 In-Context

4 And the Lord said to Moses, Put out your hand and take it by the tail: (and he put out his hand and took a grip of it and it became a rod in his hand:)

5 So that they may be certain that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has been seen by you.

6 Then the Lord said to him again, Put your hand inside your clothing. And he put his hand inside his robe: and when he took it out it was like the hand of a leper, as white as snow.

7 And he said, Put your hand inside your robe again. (And he put his hand into his robe again, and when he took it out he saw that it had become like his other flesh.)

8 And if they do not have faith in you or give ear to the voice of the first sign, they will have faith in the second sign.