Exodus 4:2

2 And Yahweh said to him, "What [is] this in your hand?" And he said, "A 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 And Moses answered, and he said, "And if they do not believe me and they do not listen to my voice, but they say, 'Yahweh did not appear to you?'"

2 And Yahweh said to him, "What [is] this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."

3 And he said, "Throw it onto the ground." And he threw it onto the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it.

4 And Yahweh said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and grasp [it] by its tail"--" (And he reached out his hand and grabbed it, and it became a staff in his palm.)--

5 "so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."