1A Mojžiš odpovedal a riekol: Ale hľa, neuveria mi, a neposlúchnu môjho hlasu, pretože povedia: Neukázal sa ti JeHoVaH. 2A JeHoVaH mu riekol: Čo je to v tvojej ruke? A on odpovedal: Palica. 3A riekol: Hoď ju na zem! A keď ju hodil na zem, obrátila sa na hada. A Mojžiš utekal pred ním. 4Ale JeHoVaH riekol Mojžišovi: Vystri svoju ruku a chyť ho za chvost. A vystrel svoju ruku a lapil ho. A obrátil sa v jeho ruke na palicu. 5Aby vraj vraveli, že sa ti ukázal JeHoVaH, Bôh ich otcov, Bôh Abrahámov, Bôh Izákov a Bôh Jakobov. 6A ešte mu riekol JeHoVaH: Nože vlož svoju ruku za svoje ňádra! A vložil svoju ruku za svoje ňádra. A keď ju vyňal, tu hľa, jeho ruka bola malomocná, biela jako sneh. 7A riekol: Daj zase svoju ruku do svojich ňáder! A zase dal svoju ruku do svojich ňáder. A keď ju vyňal zo svojich ňáder, tu hľa, bola zase zdravá jako iné jeho telo. 8A bude, ak by ti neuverili a neposlúchli na hlas prvého znamenia, uveria na hlas druhého znamenia. 9A bude, ak by neuverili ani obom týmto znameniam a neposlúchli na tvoj hlas, vtedy naberieš vody z rieky a vyleješ na suchú zem. A voda, ktorú vezmeš z rieky, sa premení a obráti sa na suchej zemi na krv. 10A Mojžiš povedal JeHoVaHovi: Pozri, prosím, Pane! Ja nie som výmluvný človek ani pred týmto ani odvtedy, odkedy hovoríš so svojím služobníkom, lebo ja som ťažkých úst a ťažkého jazyka. 11Na to mu riekol JeHoVaH: Ktože dal ústa človekovi alebo kto môže učiniť nemým alebo hluchým alebo vidiacim alebo slepým? Či azda nie ja JeHoVaH? 12A tak teraz iď, a ja budem s tvojimi ústami a vyučím ťa, čo máš hovoriť. 13A Mojžiš povedal: Pozri, prosím, Pane; pošli, prosím, toho, koho máš poslať. 14Vtedy sa zanietil hnev JeHoVaHov na Mojžiša, a riekol: Či nie je Áron, Levita, tvoj brat? Viem, že on istotne bude hovoriť a tiež hľa, ide ti vústrety a keď ťa uvidí, bude sa radovať vo svojom srdci. 15Budeš jemu hovoriť a vložíš slová do jeho úst, a ja budem s tvojimi ústami a s jeho ústami a naučím vás, čo máte robiť. 16A on bude za teba hovoriť ľudu, a bude tak, že on ti bude ústami a ty mu budeš Bohom. 17A túto palicu si vezmeš do svojej ruky, ktorou budeš činiť tie znamenia. 18Vtedy išiel Mojžiš a navrátil sa k Jetrovi, svojmu svokrovi, a povedal mu: Nech, prosím, idem a navrátim sa ku svojim bratom, ktorí sú v Egypte, a pozriem, či ešte žijú. A Jetro povedal Mojžišovi: Iď v pokoji. 19A JeHoVaH riekol Mojžišovi v Madiansku: Idi, navráť sa do Egypta, lebo už pomreli všetci tí mužovia, ktorí hľadali tvoju dušu. 20A Mojžiš vzal svoju ženu i svojich synov, posadil ich na osla a vrátil sa do Egyptskej zeme. A Mojžiš vzal palicu Božiu do svojej ruky. 21Potom riekol JeHoVaH Mojžišovi: Keď ideš, aby si sa vrátil do Egypta, hľaď, aby si všetky tie zázraky, ktoré som položil do tvojej ruky, učinil pred faraonom, a ja zatvrdím jeho srdce, a neprepustí ľudu. 22A povieš faraonovi: Takto hovorí JeHoVaH: Môj syn, môj prvorodený, je Izrael. 23Povedal som ti: Prepusti môjho syna, aby mi slúžil. Ale si odoprel a nechcel si ho prepustiť. Preto hľa, zabijem tvojho syna, tvojho prvorodeného. 24A stalo sa na ceste, v nocľažišti, že sa s ním stretol JeHoVaH a hľadal ho zabiť. 25Vtedy vzala Cippora nôž, obrezala neobriezku svojho syna a vrhla ju k jeho nohám a riekla: Je isté, že si mi ženíchom krvi! 26A upustil od neho. Vtedy riekla: Ženích krvi, pre obriezky. 27A JeHoVaH riekol Áronovi: Idi v ústrety Mojžišovi na púšť! A išiel a stretol sa s ním na vrchu Božom a bozkal ho. 28A Mojžiš vyrozprával Áronovi všetky slová JeHoVaHove, ktorý ho poslal, aj o všetkých znameniach, ktoré mu prikázal činiť. 29A tak išiel Mojžiš a Áron, a shromaždili všetkých starších zo synov Izraelových. 30A Áron hovoril všetky slová, ktoré hovoril JeHoVaH Mojžišovi, a činil znamenia pred očami ľudu. 31A ľud uveril. A keď počuli, že JeHoVaH navštívil synov Izraelových a že videl ich trápenie, sklonili svoje hlavy a klaňali sa.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 MIRACULOUS CHANGE OF THE ROD, &c. (Exo. 4:1-31)
But, behold--Hebrew, "If," "perhaps," "they will not believe me."--What evidence can I produce of my divine mission? There was still a want of full confidence, not in the character and divine power of his employer, but in His presence and power always accompanying him. He insinuated that his communication might be rejected and he himself treated as an impostor.
2 the Lord said, . . . What is that in thine hand?--The question was put not to elicit information which God required, but to draw the particular attention of Moses.
A rod--probably the shepherd's crook--among the Arabs, a long staff, with a curved head, varying from three to six feet in length.
6 Put now thine hand into thy bosom--the open part of his outer robe, worn about the girdle.
9 take of the water of the river--Nile. Those miracles, two of which were wrought then, and the third to be performed on his arrival in Goshen, were at first designed to encourage him as satisfactory proofs of his divine mission, and to be repeated for the special confirmation of his embassy before the Israelites.
10 I am not eloquent--It is supposed that Moses labored under a natural defect of utterance or had a difficulty in the free and fluent expression of his ideas in the Egyptian language, which he had long disused. This new objection was also overruled, but still Moses, who foresaw the manifold difficulties of the undertaking, was anxious to be freed from the responsibility.
14 the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses--The Divine Being is not subject to ebullitions of passion; but His displeasure was manifested by transferring the honor of the priesthood, which would otherwise have been bestowed on Moses, to Aaron, who was from this time destined to be the head of the house of Levi (
1Chr 23:13). Marvellous had been His condescension and patience in dealing with Moses; and now every remaining scruple was removed by the unexpected and welcome intelligence that his brother Aaron was to be his colleague. God knew from the beginning what Moses would do, but He reserves this motive to the last as the strongest to rouse his languid heart, and Moses now fully and cordially complied with the call. If we are surprised at his backwardness amidst all the signs and promises that were given him, we must admire his candor and honesty in recording it.
18 Moses . . . returned to Jethro--Being in his service, it was right to obtain his consent, but Moses evinced piety, humility, and prudence, in not divulging the special object of his journey.
19 all the men are dead which sought thy life--The death of the Egyptian monarch took place in the four hundred and twenty-ninth year of the Hebrew sojourn in that land, and that event, according to the law of Egypt, took off his proscription of Moses, if it had been publicly issued.
20 Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass--Septuagint, "asses." Those animals are not now used in the desert of Sinai except by the Arabs for short distances.
returned--entered on his journey towards Egypt.
he took the rod of God--so called from its being appropriated to His service, and because whatever miracles it might be employed in performing would be wrought not by its inherent properties, but by a divine power following on its use. (Compare
Acts 3:12).
24 inn--Hebrew, "a halting place for the night."
the Lord met him, and sought to kill him--that is, he was either overwhelmed with mental distress or overtaken by a sudden and dangerous malady. The narrative is obscure, but the meaning seems to be, that, led during his illness to a strict self-examination, he was deeply pained and grieved at the thought of having, to please his wife, postponed or neglected the circumcision of one of his sons, probably the younger. To dishonor that sign and seal of the covenant was criminal in any Hebrew, peculiarly so in one destined to be the leader and deliverer of the Hebrews; and he seems to have felt his sickness as a merited chastisement for his sinful omission. Concerned for her husband's safety, Zipporah overcomes her maternal feelings of aversion to the painful rite, performs herself, by means of one of the sharp flints with which that part of the desert abounds, an operation which her husband, on whom the duty devolved, was unable to do, and having brought the bloody evidence, exclaimed in the painful excitement of her feelings that from love to him she had risked the life of her child [CALVIN, BULLINGER, ROSENMULLER].
26 So he let him go--Moses recovered; but the remembrance of this critical period in his life would stimulate the Hebrew legislator to enforce a faithful attention to the rite of circumcision when it was established as a divine ordinance in Israel, and made their peculiar distinction as a people.
27 Aaron met him in the mount of God, and kissed him--After a separation of forty years, their meeting would be mutually happy. Similar are the salutations of Arab friends when they meet in the desert still; conspicuous is the kiss on each side of the head.
29 Moses and Aaron went--towards Egypt, Zipporah and her sons having been sent back. (Compare
Exod 18:2).
gathered . . . all the elders--Aaron was spokesman, and Moses performed the appointed miracles--through which "the people" (that is, the elders) believed (
1Kgs 17:24;
Josh 3:2) and received the joyful tidings of the errand on which Moses had come with devout thanksgiving. Formerly they had slighted the message and rejected the messenger. Formerly Moses had gone in his own strength; now he goes leaning on God, and strong only through faith in Him who had sent him. Israel also had been taught a useful lesson, and it was good for both that they had been afflicted.