Exodus 4:1-17

Moses Given Powerful Signs

1 Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"
2 The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, 1"A staff."
3 And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.
4 But the LORD said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail"--so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand--
5 "that they may 2believe that the LORD, 3the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."
6 Again, the LORD said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak."[a] And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was 4leprous[b] like snow.
7 Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, 5it was restored like the rest of his flesh.
8 "If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.
9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile 6will become blood on the dry ground."
10 But Moses said to the LORD, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but 7I am slow of speech and of tongue."
11 Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
12 Now therefore go, and 8I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak."
13 But he said, "Oh, my Lord, please send someone else."
14 Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses and he said, "Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, 9he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
15 10You shall speak to him and 11put the words in his mouth, and 12I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.
16 13He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and 14you shall be as God to him.
17 And take in your hand 15this staff, with which you shall do the signs."

Exodus 4:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 4

This chapter is a continuation of the discourse that passed between God and Moses; and here Moses makes other objections to his mission; one is taken from the unbelief of the people of Israel, which is removed by giving him power to work miracles, by turning the rod in his hand into a serpent, and then into a rod again; and by putting his hand into his bosom at one time, when it became leprous, and again into the same place, when it became sound and whole, and by turning the water of the river into blood, Ex 4:1-9, another objection is formed from his want of eloquence, which is answered with an assurance, that God, that made man's mouth, would be with his mouth, and teach him what to say; and besides, Aaron his brother, who was an eloquent man, should be his spokesman, Ex 4:10-17 upon which he returned to Midian, and having obtained leave of his father-in-law to depart from thence, he took his wife and his sons, and returned to Egypt, Ex 4:18-20 at which time he received some fresh instructions from the Lord what he should do before Pharaoh, and what he should say unto him, Ex 4:21-23 then follows an account of what befell him by the way, because of the circumcision of his son, Ex 4:24-26 and the chapter is closed with an account of the meeting of Moses and Aaron, and of their gathering the elders of Israel together, to whom the commission of Moses was opened, and signs done before them, to which they gave credit, and expressed their joy and thankfulness, Ex 4:27-31.

Cross References 15

  • 1. ver. 17, 20
  • 2. Exodus 19:9
  • 3. See Exodus 3:6
  • 4. Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27
  • 5. [2 Kings 5:14]
  • 6. Exodus 7:19
  • 7. [Exodus 6:12; Jeremiah 1:6]
  • 8. [Exodus 3:12; Isaiah 50:4; Jeremiah 1:9; Ezekiel 33:22; Matthew 10:19, 20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:11, 12; Luke 21:15]
  • 9. ver. 27
  • 10. Exodus 7:1, 2
  • 11. Numbers 22:38; Numbers 23:5, 12, 16; Deuteronomy 18:18; 2 Samuel 14:3, 19; Isaiah 51:16
  • 12. [See ver. 12 above]
  • 13. ver. 30
  • 14. [Exodus 7:1; Exodus 18:19]
  • 15. ver. 2; Exodus 7:15

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Hebrew into your bosom; also verse 7
  • [b]. Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.