Exodus 6:12

12 Moses answered before the Lord, Lo! the children of Israel hear not me; and how shall Pharaoh hear, mostly since I am uncircumcised in lips? (Moses answered the Lord, and said, Lo! the Israelites will not listen to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, especially since I am such a poor speaker?)

Exodus 6:12 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 6:12

And Moses spake before the Lord
Who appeared in a visible form, and had spoke to him with an articulate voice, and before whom Moses stood, and made the following reply:

saying, behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me;
even though he brought a comfortable message to them from the Lord, and delivered many gracious promises of his to them, assuring them of deliverance out of Egypt, and of their possession of the land of Canaan:

how then shall Pharaoh hear me?
making a demand upon him to part with a people, from whose labour he receives so much advantage, and has such an addition to his revenues, and who is a mighty king, and haughty monarch. And this is further enforced from his own weakness and unfitness to speak to Pharaoh:

who [am] of uncircumcised lips?
had an impediment in his speech, could not speak freely and readily, but with difficulty; perhaps stammered, and so uttered superfluous syllables, repeated them before he could fully pronounce what he aimed at; or in other words, he was not eloquent, which was his old objection, and had been fully answered before: and by this it appears that there was no alteration in the speech of Moses since God spoke with him at Mount Horeb. Some think Moses expected to have had this impediment removed, and tacitly hints at it here, not being so well satisfied with Aaron's being joined with him as his mouth and spokesman, which seemed to carry in it some reflection upon him.

Exodus 6:12 In-Context

10 And the Lord spake to Moses, and said,
11 Enter thou, and speak to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that he deliver the children of Israel from his land. (Go thou, and tell Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, that he must let the Israelites go out from his land.)
12 Moses answered before the Lord, Lo! the children of Israel hear not me; and how shall Pharaoh hear, mostly since I am uncircumcised in lips? (Moses answered the Lord, and said, Lo! the Israelites will not listen to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, especially since I am such a poor speaker?)
13 And the Lord spake to Moses and to Aaron, and he gave (them) behests to the sons of Israel, and to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, that they should lead out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt. (Yea, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them his commands concerning the Israelites, and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, namely, that they should lead the Israelites out of the land of Egypt.)
14 These be the princes of the houses by their families. The sons of Reuben, the first begotten of Israel (Israel's first-born); Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these be the kindreds of Reuben.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.