Exodus 4:8

8 "{And} if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, [then] they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

Exodus 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 4:8

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee
Will not give credit to the commission he had from God, but question the truth of it: neither hearken to the voice of the first sign;
which miracle wrought, spoke plain enough that he that wrought it, or for whose sake it was wrought, must be one come from God, or such a miracle would never be wrought by him or for him; but should any of the Israelites be still incredulous, it is supposed, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign;
which had a voice in it commanding belief that he was a messenger of God; the first sign respects his rod, the other his hand.

Exodus 4:8 In-Context

6 And Yahweh said to him again, "Put your hand into the fold of your garment." And he put his hand into the fold of his garment, and he took it out, and, {to his surprise}, his hand [was] afflicted with a skin disease, like snow.

7 And he said, "Return your hand to the fold of your garment." And he returned his hand to the fold of his garment, and he took it out from the fold of his garment, and, {to his surprise}, it was restored like the rest of his body.

8 "{And} if they do not believe you and they will not listen to the voice of the former sign, [then] they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

9 {And} if they also do not believe the second of these signs and they will not listen to your voice, [then] you must take water from the Nile and pour [it] onto the dry ground, and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

10 And Moses said to Yahweh, "Please, Lord, I [am] not a man of words, {neither recently nor in the past nor since your speaking} to your servant, because I [am] heavy of mouth and of tongue."

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "and he/it will be"