Exodus 4:2

2 Then the LORD asked him, "What's that in your hand?" He answered, "A shepherd's staff."

Exodus 4:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 4:2

And the Lord said unto him
Not reproving him for contradicting him, or showing any diffidence of what he had said; but rather as approving the hint he gave of having some sign or miracle wrought, to command from the Israelites an assent unto him, as commissioned of God to deliver them: what [is] that in thine hand?
which question is put, not as being ignorant of what it was, but to lead on to what he had further to say, and to the working of the miracle: and he said, a rod;
or staff, such as shepherds use in the management of their flocks, for Moses was now feeding the flock of his father-in-law; but Aben Ezra seems rather to think it was a walking staff, such as ancient men lean upon, since Moses did not go to Pharaoh after the manner of a shepherd; yea, it may be added, he went with the authority of a prince or ruler of Israel, and even with the authority of the ambassador of the King of kings.

Exodus 4:2 In-Context

1 "They will never believe me or listen to me!" Moses protested. "They will say, 'The LORD didn't appear to you.'"

2 Then the LORD asked him, "What's that in your hand?" He answered, "A shepherd's staff."

3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." When Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran away from it.

4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out and grab the snake by its tail." He reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a staff as he held it.

5 [The LORD explained,] "This is to convince the people that the LORD God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to you."