Exodus 4:10

10 Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, "Lord, I've never been a good speaker. And I haven't gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don't speak very well at all."

Exodus 4:10 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 4:10

And Moses said unto the Lord
Notwithstanding the above miracles, he seems unwilling to go on the Lord's errand to Pharaoh and to the Israelites, and therefore invents a new objection after all his other objections had been sufficiently answered: I am not eloquent;
or "a man of words" F19, that has words at command, that can speak well readily, and gracefully; such an one, he intimates, was proper to be sent to a king's court, that was an orator, that could make fine speeches, and handsome addresses, for which he was not qualified: neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant;
neither in his younger years had he ever been an eloquent man, nor was there any alteration in him in that respect, since God had given him this call: but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue;
had some impediment in his speech, could not freely and easily bring out his words, or rightly pronounce them; so Lucian F20 the Heathen calls Moses slow tongued, or one slow of speech, and uses the same word the Septuagint does here, which version perhaps he had seen, and from thence took it.


FOOTNOTES:

F19 (Myrbd vya) "vir verborum", Paguinus, Montanus, Piscator, Ainsworth.
F20 In Philopatride.

Exodus 4:10 In-Context

8 Then the LORD said, "Suppose they do not believe you or pay attention to the first miracle. Then maybe they will believe the second one.
9 "But suppose they do not believe either miracle. Suppose they will not listen to you. Then get some water from the Nile River. Pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will turn to blood on the ground."
10 Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, "Lord, I've never been a good speaker. And I haven't gotten any better since you spoke to me. I don't speak very well at all."
11 The LORD said to him, "Who makes a man able to talk? Who makes him unable to hear or speak? Who makes him able to see? Who makes him blind? It is I, the Lord.
12 Now go. I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say."

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