Exodus 4

Introduction

Exodus 4 continues the dialogue between God and Moses at the burning bush that began in Exodus 3. Having received his commission to deliver Israel, Moses now raises a series of objections: the people will not believe him, he is not eloquent, and finally he simply begs God to send someone else. In response, God gives Moses three miraculous signs — a staff that becomes a serpent, a hand struck with leprosy and restored, and water from the Nile turned to blood — and then appoints Aaron as Moses' spokesman. The chapter thus reveals both the patience of God in equipping a reluctant servant and the limits of that patience, as God's anger flares at Moses' final refusal.

The second half of the chapter shifts from dialogue to action. Moses takes leave of Jethro and sets out for Egypt with his wife Zipporah and their sons. On the way, God delivers a stunning speech declaring Israel to be his firstborn son and threatening Pharaoh's firstborn — a declaration that foreshadows the tenth plague and the entire Passover narrative. Then comes one of the most enigmatic passages in all of Scripture: at a lodging place on the road, the LORD meets Moses and seeks to kill him, and Zipporah saves him by circumcising their son and touching Moses' feet with the foreskin, calling him a "bridegroom of blood." The chapter concludes with Aaron meeting Moses in the wilderness, the two of them gathering the elders of Israel, and the people believing and worshiping when they hear that God has seen their affliction.

Three Signs for Moses (vv. 1-9)

Notes

• וְ/הֵן לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ לִי ("But look — they will not believe me") — Moses' first objection shifts the problem from himself to the people. In Exodus 3:13 he asked what to say; now he assumes the people will reject him outright. The verb אָמַן (Hiphil: "to believe, trust") is the root from which "amen" derives. Moses fears the people will not put their trust in him as God's messenger.

• מַטֶּה ("staff") — The ordinary shepherd's staff that Moses carried in Midian becomes the instrument of divine power. This same staff will later be called מַטֵּה הָאֱלֹהִים ("the staff of God," v. 20) and will be used to part the Sea of Reeds (Exodus 14:16), strike the rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:5-6), and signal victory over the Amalekites (Exodus 17:9). God takes what is common and ordinary — a stick in a shepherd's hand — and transforms it into a vehicle of his power.

• נָחָשׁ ("serpent") — The BSB footnote observes that the word here is נָחָשׁ (the common word for snake), whereas in Exodus 7:9-10, when Aaron's staff becomes a serpent before Pharaoh, the word used is תַּנִּין ("great serpent" or "dragon/sea monster"). The distinction may be significant: the sign at the bush uses the everyday word for snake, while the sign before Pharaoh uses the word associated with chaos monsters and Egyptian religious imagery — a deliberate escalation when confronting Pharaoh on his own symbolic turf.

• בִּזְנָבוֹ ("by the tail") — God tells Moses to grab the serpent by the tail, which is the most dangerous way to pick up a snake (since it can still strike). This detail emphasizes that Moses must act in faith, trusting God's word against his instincts. The fact that it becomes a staff בְּכַפּוֹ ("in his hand/palm") reverses the transformation completely.

• מְצֹרַעַת כַּשָּׁלֶג ("diseased/leprous, white as snow") — The Hebrew word צָרַעַת refers to a range of skin diseases, not only modern leprosy (Hansen's disease). In Leviticus 13-14, it covers various conditions that rendered a person ritually unclean. The sign demonstrates God's power over the human body — to inflict and to heal — and may foreshadow the plagues that will afflict Egypt. The phrase בְּחֵיקוֹ ("into his bosom/cloak") uses a word that literally means "bosom" or "lap," the intimate fold of one's garment against the chest.

• קוֹל הָאֹת ("the voice of the sign") — A striking expression. Signs do not literally have voices, but the Hebrew קוֹל can mean "sound, voice, witness, message." The idea is that each sign carries its own testimony, its own persuasive "speech." God provides an escalating sequence: if the first sign fails, the second may succeed; if both fail, the third — turning Nile water to blood — previews the first plague. The Nile, worshiped by the Egyptians, will become a witness against them.

Moses' Objection About Speech and Aaron's Appointment (vv. 10-17)

Notes

• לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים אָנֹכִי ("I am not a man of words") — Moses describes himself as lacking verbal ability. The phrase אִישׁ דְּבָרִים literally means "a man of words/things." The word דָּבָר can mean both "word" and "thing/matter," so Moses is saying he is neither eloquent nor effective in speech. He reinforces the point with a threefold temporal denial: "not from yesterday, not from the day before, not even since you began speaking to your servant" — meaning his inability is neither recent nor corrected by the divine encounter.

• כְבַד פֶּה וּכְבַד לָשׁוֹן ("heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue") — The adjective כָּבֵד ("heavy, weighty") is the same root used later for the "hardening" of Pharaoh's heart (Exodus 7:14; כָּבֵד לֵב פַּרְעֹה, "Pharaoh's heart is heavy"). The verbal echo creates an ironic parallel: Moses says his mouth is "heavy" and cannot speak; Pharaoh's heart will be "heavy" and will not listen. The same root כ-ב-ד also means "glory" (כָּבוֹד), adding further resonance. Some scholars have speculated that Moses had a speech impediment or stutter, but the text does not specify the nature of his difficulty. Stephen describes Moses as "mighty in words and deeds" (Acts 7:22), suggesting the problem may have been perceived inadequacy rather than actual disability.

• מִי שָׂם פֶּה לָאָדָם ("Who placed a mouth on man?") — God's response is not a promise to heal Moses but a theological assertion of sovereignty. The God who made the human mouth — who makes people mute, deaf, seeing, or blind — can certainly empower Moses to speak. The rhetorical question assumes a theology of creation in which every human faculty is a gift from God. The implication is devastating: if God is the author of all speech, then Moses' perceived disability is no obstacle.

• אֶהְיֶה עִם פִּיךָ ("I will be with your mouth") — The verb אֶהְיֶה ("I will be") is the same word God used to reveal his name in Exodus 3:14 ("I AM WHO I AM," אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה). The echo is deliberate: the God whose very name is "I Will Be" now promises "I will be with your mouth." His presence is his name in action.

• שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח ("Send, please, by the hand of whomever you will send") — Moses' final objection strips away all pretense. He is not asking for help or clarification — he is simply refusing the call. The phrase is deliberately vague and deferential, but its meaning is unmistakable: "Send anyone but me." Some commentators see this as humble self-awareness; others see it as faithless resistance to a clear divine command. God's response suggests the latter.

• וַיִּחַר אַף יְהוָה ("the anger of the LORD burned") — The idiom literally means "the nose of the LORD became hot" — אַף means "nose" and by extension "anger" (the image is of nostrils flaring in fury). This is one of very few times in Scripture where God's anger is directed at one of his chosen servants during a commissioning. Despite his anger, God accommodates Moses by providing Aaron as a spokesman — a concession that also becomes a complication, since Aaron will later lead the people into idolatry with the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-6).

• וְאַתָּה תִּהְיֶה לּוֹ לֵאלֹהִים ("you will be as God to him") — Moses will function as the divine source of the message; Aaron will function as the prophetic mouthpiece. This relationship is made even more explicit in Exodus 7:1: "See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet." The analogy clarifies the nature of prophetic speech in Israel: the prophet does not originate the message but receives it from a higher source and delivers it to the people.

Moses Departs for Egypt (vv. 18-23)

Notes

• יֶתֶר / יִתְרוֹ — Moses' father-in-law is called "Jether" (v. 18) and "Jethro" (v. 18b). The two names appear to be variants of the same person, who is also called Reuel (Exodus 2:18) and Hobab (Judges 4:11). The name Jethro may be an honorific form. Moses does not tell Jethro the full reason for his return — he says he wants to "see if they are still alive," a diplomatic understatement of a divine commission to overthrow the most powerful empire on earth.

• מַטֵּה הָאֱלֹהִים ("the staff of God") — The shepherd's staff from v. 2 now receives a new title. It has been transformed by the encounter with God. The phrase signals that the ordinary object has become a sacramental instrument — still a stick, but now charged with divine purpose.

• אֲחַזֵּק אֶת לִבּוֹ ("I will strengthen/harden his heart") — The verb חָזַק means "to strengthen, make firm, harden." This is the first explicit statement of divine hardening of Pharaoh's heart, and it comes before Moses has even arrived in Egypt. Three different Hebrew verbs are used for the hardening throughout the Exodus narrative: חָזַק ("to strengthen," used here), כָּבֵד ("to make heavy"), and קָשָׁה ("to make stubborn/hard"). In some passages Pharaoh hardens his own heart; in others God hardens it. The interplay between divine sovereignty and human responsibility is one of the central theological tensions of the Exodus narrative.

• בְּנִי בְכֹרִי יִשְׂרָאֵל ("My son, my firstborn, Israel") — This is one of the most theologically important declarations in the Old Testament. God identifies the entire nation of Israel as his son and his firstborn. The designation בְּכוֹר ("firstborn") carries immense weight: the firstborn held the primary inheritance rights and a special status of honor. By calling Israel his firstborn, God claims Israel as his own in a way that parallels — and supersedes — Pharaoh's claim over them as slaves. The statement also sets up the devastating symmetry of the tenth plague: because Pharaoh will not release God's firstborn (Israel), God will take Pharaoh's firstborn. Hosea later echoes this language: "Out of Egypt I called my son" (Hosea 11:1), which Matthew applies typologically to Jesus (Matthew 2:15).

• הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי הֹרֵג אֶת בִּנְךָ בְּכֹרֶךָ ("Behold, I am about to kill your son, your firstborn") — The structure mirrors the declaration about Israel: "my son, my firstborn" is answered by "your son, your firstborn." The literary parallelism is precise and chilling. The threat, announced here before any of the ten plagues, reveals that the final plague was not an afterthought but the intended climax from the beginning.

Interpretations

The hardening of Pharaoh's heart (v. 21) is one of the most debated theological questions in the Exodus narrative:

• Reformed/Calvinist tradition emphasizes that God's hardening is the primary cause, demonstrating his absolute sovereignty over human hearts. God hardened Pharaoh's heart to display his power and glory through the plagues (Romans 9:17-18). Pharaoh's resistance was ordained by God for a redemptive purpose.

• Arminian/Wesleyan tradition notes that in the early plagues, Pharaoh hardens his own heart (e.g., Exodus 8:15, Exodus 8:32) before God actively hardens it (beginning explicitly at Exodus 9:12). On this reading, God's hardening is a judicial response to Pharaoh's prior, freely chosen resistance — God confirms Pharaoh in the direction Pharaoh had already chosen.

• Jewish interpretive tradition (Maimonides and others) argues that God's hardening preserved Pharaoh's freedom by preventing him from capitulating merely out of fear of the plagues. Without the hardening, Pharaoh would have let Israel go not out of genuine repentance but out of self-preservation, and the hardening ensured that Pharaoh's refusal was a genuine expression of his own will.

All traditions agree that Pharaoh was morally culpable for his refusal and that God's purposes in the exodus were redemptive.

The Bridegroom of Blood (vv. 24-26)

Notes

This is widely recognized as one of the most difficult and enigmatic passages in the entire Old Testament. The pronouns are ambiguous, the motivation is unclear, and the phrase "bridegroom of blood" has no obvious parallel elsewhere in Scripture. What follows represents the best efforts of scholarship to make sense of the passage.

• וַיִּפְגְּשֵׁהוּ יְהוָה וַיְבַקֵּשׁ הֲמִיתוֹ ("the LORD encountered him and sought to put him to death") — The verb פָּגַשׁ means "to meet, encounter, confront" — it implies a sudden, unexpected meeting with hostile intent. The subject "the LORD" is explicit, but the object "him" (הוּ) is ambiguous. Most interpreters take "him" to refer to Moses, since Moses is the main character, but some have argued it refers to Moses' son. The phrase וַיְבַקֵּשׁ הֲמִיתוֹ ("sought to kill him") uses the same verb (בִּקֵּשׁ, "to seek") used of Pharaoh seeking to kill Moses in Exodus 2:15 — creating a disturbing parallel between Pharaoh and God.

• צֹר ("flint") — Zipporah uses a flint knife rather than a metal blade, suggesting an ancient ritual practice. Joshua also used flint knives for the circumcision at Gilgal (Joshua 5:2-3). Flint knives were associated with sacred rites long after metal tools became common.

• עָרְלַת בְּנָהּ ("the foreskin of her son") — The text says "her son" rather than "their son," emphasizing Zipporah's agency. It appears that Moses had not circumcised his son — possibly because Zipporah, a Midianite, objected to the practice, or because Moses had neglected the covenant sign during his years in Midian. The irony is stark: Moses is about to demand that Pharaoh release God's "firstborn son" (Israel), yet he has failed to mark his own son with the covenant sign that defines membership in Israel.

• וַתַּגַּע לְרַגְלָיו ("and she made it touch his feet") — The word רַגְלָיִם ("feet") is sometimes used as a euphemism for genitals in Hebrew (cf. Isaiah 7:20, Ruth 3:7). If "feet" is euphemistic here, Zipporah may have touched the foreskin to Moses' genitals — a symbolic transfer of the circumcision, as though vicariously circumcising Moses himself through his son. Alternatively, if "feet" is literal, the act may be a symbolic blood-application similar to later priestly rites. The ambiguity of whose "feet" (Moses' or God's, as the angel of the LORD) adds further layers of uncertainty.

• חֲתַן דָּמִים ("bridegroom of blood") — The phrase is unique in the Bible. The word חָתָן means "bridegroom" or "son-in-law" — it denotes a male relative by marriage. דָּמִים is the plural of דָּם ("blood"), often used for bloodshed or blood-guilt. Zipporah's declaration may mean: "You are bound to me by blood" — that is, the blood of circumcision has sealed or renewed the marriage bond. Alternatively, it may be an exclamation of disgust or horror: "You are a blood-husband to me" — meaning the marriage has cost blood. The narrator's editorial note in v. 26 — "she said 'bridegroom of blood' on account of the circumcision" — confirms that the phrase is specifically linked to the circumcision act, but it does not fully resolve the meaning.

• לַמּוּלֹת ("on account of the circumcision") — This word appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It is related to מוּל ("to circumcise") and serves as the narrator's explanatory gloss. The fact that the narrator felt the need to explain the phrase "bridegroom of blood" suggests that even the ancient audience found it puzzling.

• The theological logic of the passage may be this: God has just declared Israel to be his firstborn son (v. 22) and has commanded Moses to demand Israel's release. Circumcision is the covenant sign given to Abraham (Genesis 17:10-14), and God explicitly warned that any uncircumcised male "shall be cut off from his people — he has broken my covenant" (Genesis 17:14). Moses cannot serve as the agent of the covenant God while his own household is in violation of the covenant sign. The near-fatal encounter forces the issue: the blood of circumcision must be shed before Moses can represent the God who will shed the blood of Egypt's firstborn.

Interpretations

• Many Protestant commentators see the passage as emphasizing the absolute seriousness of the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision. Moses had apparently neglected to circumcise his son, and God would not allow his chosen deliverer to proceed in disobedience. The lesson is that God holds his servants to strict account.

• Some scholars propose that the passage reflects a pre-Israelite tradition of a "demon at the threshold" or a dangerous nocturnal deity, which was later integrated into the Yahwistic narrative. On this reading, the passage preserves very ancient material that was reshaped by the biblical editors.

• Typological interpreters see a foreshadowing of the Passover: just as the blood of circumcision averts death from Moses' household, so the blood of the Passover lamb will avert death from Israel's households in Exodus 12. Blood applied to the body (here, Moses' feet) corresponds to blood applied to the doorposts. In both cases, the LORD "passes over" and releases those marked by blood.

Aaron Meets Moses and the People Believe (vv. 27-31)

Notes

• הַר הָאֱלֹהִים ("the mountain of God") — This is Mount Horeb/Sinai, where Moses encountered the burning bush (Exodus 3:1). Aaron travels from Egypt into the wilderness to meet Moses at the very place where God appeared. The fact that God directs Aaron to go and meet Moses confirms that the appointment of Aaron was not merely a concession to Moses' weakness but part of God's plan: Aaron was already on his way (v. 14).

• וַיִּשַּׁק לוֹ ("and he kissed him") — The kiss is a standard greeting between relatives in the ancient Near East (cf. Genesis 29:13, Genesis 33:4). After forty years of separation, the reunion of the brothers is marked by affection. The brief notice carries emotional weight: Moses left Egypt as a fugitive; he returns with a divine commission and a brother who will stand beside him.

• וַיַּאֲמֵן הָעָם ("and the people believed") — The same verb אָמַן from Moses' fear in v. 1 ("they will not believe me") now appears in the affirmative. Moses' objection is answered: they do believe. The signs accomplish their purpose. The word פָּקַד ("visited/attended to") is theologically rich — it means to visit with intent to act, to take notice and intervene. It is the same verb used in Genesis 50:24-25 when Joseph prophesied that God would surely "visit" Israel and bring them up from Egypt. Joseph's dying promise is now being fulfilled.

• וַיִּקְּדוּ וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ ("they bowed their heads and worshiped") — Two distinct acts: קָדַד is to bow the head or incline the body, while שָׁחָה (Hishtaphel) is full prostration in worship. The response of the people is not merely intellectual assent but physical worship. They heard that God had seen their עָנְיָם ("affliction," the same word from Exodus 3:7), and their response was to fall on their faces. The chapter that began with Moses doubting the people's faith ends with the people worshiping the God who has remembered them.

• The chapter forms a complete narrative arc: it opens with Moses' doubt that the people will believe (v. 1) and closes with the people believing and worshiping (v. 31). Between these bookends, God has equipped his reluctant servant with signs, a partner, a message, and even — through the terrifying encounter on the road — a renewed commitment to the covenant. Everything is now in place for the confrontation with Pharaoh that begins in Exodus 5.