Exodus 3:8-18

8 and 1I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and 2to bring them up out of that land to a 3good and broad land, a land 4flowing with milk and honey, to the place of 5the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 And now, behold, 6the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the 7oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 8Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
11 But Moses said to God, 9"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
12 He said, 10"But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, 11you shall serve God on this mountain."
13 Then Moses said to God, "If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?"
14 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM."[a] And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 12'I AM has sent me to you.'"
15 God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD,[b] the 13God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is 14my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.
16 Go and 15gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, 16"I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,
17 and I promise that 17I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land 18flowing with milk and honey."'
18 And 19they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel 20shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has 21met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.'

Exodus 3:8-18 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 2

In this chapter we are informed how that the Lord appeared to Moses in a bush on fire, but not consumed, Ex 3:1-6, declared unto him that he had seen and observed the afflictions of the children of Israel, and was determined to deliver them, Ex 3:7-9, that he gave him a call to be the deliverer of them, answered his objections to it, and instructed him what he should say, both to the elders of Israel and to Pharaoh, Ex 3:10-18, and assured him, that though at first Pharaoh would refuse to let them go, yet after many miracles wrought, he would be willing to dismiss them, when they should depart with great substance, Ex 3:19-22.

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Cross References 21

  • 1. Genesis 11:5, 7; Genesis 18:21
  • 2. Exodus 6:6; Exodus 12:51; [Genesis 50:24]
  • 3. Deuteronomy 1:25; Deuteronomy 8:7, 8, 9
  • 4. Exodus 13:5; Exodus 33:3; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27; Deuteronomy 26:9, 15; Jeremiah 11:5; Jeremiah 32:22; Ezekiel 20:6
  • 5. Genesis 15:18-21
  • 6. Exodus 2:23
  • 7. Exodus 1:11-14, 22
  • 8. [Psalms 105:26; Micah 6:4]
  • 9. Exodus 6:12; [1 Samuel 18:18; Isaiah 6:5, 8; Jeremiah 1:6]
  • 10. Exodus 4:12, 15; Deuteronomy 31:8, 23; Joshua 1:5
  • 11. See Exodus 19
  • 12. Exodus 6:3; Psalms 68:4; John 8:58; Hebrews 13:8; Revelation 1:4; Revelation 4:8
  • 13. ver. 6
  • 14. Hosea 12:5; [Psalms 135:13]
  • 15. Exodus 4:29
  • 16. Exodus 4:31; Genesis 50:24; [Luke 1:68]
  • 17. ver. 8
  • 18. ver. 8
  • 19. Exodus 4:31
  • 20. Exodus 5:1
  • 21. Num. 23:3, 4, 15, 16

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or I am what I am, or I will be what I will be
  • [b]. The word Lord, when spelled with capital letters, stands for the divine name, YHWH, which is here connected with the verb hayah, "to be" in verse 14
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.