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Exodus 4:1-17

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Yahweh Provides Signs and Help for Speaking

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."
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."
11 And Yahweh said to him, "Who gave a mouth to humankind, or who makes mute or deaf or sighted or blind? [Is it] not I, Yahweh?
12 So then go, and I myself will be with your mouth, and I will teach you what you must speak."
13 And he said, "Please, Lord, do send {anyone else whom you wish to send}."
14 {And Yahweh was angry with} Moses and said, "[Is there] not Aaron your brother the Levite? I know that he certainly can speak, and also there he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.
15 And you will speak to him, and you will put words in his mouth, and I myself will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you must do.
16 And he will speak for you to the people, {and then} he will be to you as a mouth, and you will be to him as a god.
17 And you must take this staff in your hand, with which you will do the signs."
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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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Footnotes 9

  • [a]. Or "fathers"
  • [b]. Literally "look" or "behold"
  • [c]. Literally "look" or "behold"
  • [d]. Literally "and he/it will be"
  • [e]. Literally "and he/it will be"
  • [f]. Literally "also from yesterday also from the day before also from then your speaking"
  • [g]. Literally "by the hand of [someone] you will send"
  • [h]. Literally "and the nose of Yahweh was hot against"
  • [i]. Literally "and he/it will be"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.