Exodus 4:6

6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.

Exodus 4:6 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 4:6

And the Lord said furthermore unto him
Continued his discourse, and gave him another sign: put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom;
within his coat, under that part of the garment next to his breast: and when he took it out, behold, his hand [was] leprous as snow;
that is, white as snow, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, through the leprosy that was upon it; it was a leprosy of the white sort, and which is reckoned the worst and most difficult to be cured, see ( Leviticus 13:3 Leviticus 13:4 ) ( Numbers 12:10 ) . It is highly probable that this gave rise to the story told by several Heathen writers, as Manetho F13, Lysimachus {n}, Trogus F15, and Tacitus F16, that Moses and the Israelites were drove out of Egypt by the advice of an oracle, because they had the leprosy, itch, and other impure diseases upon them.


FOOTNOTES:

F13 Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 26.
F14 Apud. ib. c. 34.
F15 Justin e Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
F16 Hist. l. 5. c. 3.

Exodus 4:6 In-Context

4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
The King James Version is in the public domain.