1Ale Moše odpověděl a řekl: „Přesto mi neuvěří a nebudou mne poslouchat, poněvadž řeknou, to nebyl Hospodin, kdo se ti zjevil!“ 2A Hospodin mu řekl: „Co máš v ruce?“, a on řekl: „Hůl.“ 3Pravil: „Hoď ji na zem,“ a když ji hodil na zem, byla hadem a Moše před ním utekl. 4Hospodin řekl Mošemu: „Natáhni ruku a chop ho za ocas!“, a když natáhl ruku a uchopil ho, stal se v jeho ruce holí. 5„To aby uvěřili, že se ti zjevil Hospodin, Bůh jejich otců, Bůh Avrahamův, Bůh Jicchakův a Bůh Jaakovův!“ 6A Hospodin mu ještě řekl: „Vlož, prosím, svou ruku do záňadří!“, a když vložil ruku do záňadří a vytáhl ji, hle, byla jeho ruka malomocná, bílá jako sníh. 7Řekl: „Vrať svou ruku do záňadří!“, a když ji pak ze svého záňadří vytáhl, byla znovu jako ostatní tělo. 8„A jestliže ti neuvěří a neuposlechnou hlasu prvního znamení, uposlechnou hlasu znamení následujícího. 9Kdyby však neuposlechli obou znamení, vezmi vodu z Řeky, vylij ji na souš, a voda, kterou jsi vzal z Řeky, bude na souši krví.“ 10A Moše řekl Hospodinovi: „Podívej se na mne, Pane, nebyl jsem výřečný muž včera ani předevčírem a nestal jsem se jím ani poté, co jsi se svým služebníkem začal mluvit, poněvadž já jsem člověk těžkých úst a těžkého jazyka!“ 11Ale Hospodin mu řekl: „Kdo dal člověku ústa nebo kdo určuje, že je člověk němý či hluchý, vidoucí nebo slepý, copak to nejsem já, Hospodin? 12Teď jdi, a já budu s tebou a s tvými ústy a poučím tě, co máš mluvit!“ 13On však řekl: „Prosím tě, Pane, pošli přece toho, koho bys měl vyslat!“ 14Tu na Mošeho vzplanul Hospodinův hněv a on řekl: „Ne snad tvého bratra Aharona, Levitu? Věděl jsem ovšem, že bude mluvit, a také ti už jde naproti a zaraduje se ve svém srdci, až tě spatří. 15Ale ty budeš mluvit k němu a vložíš svá slova do jeho úst, a já budu s tvými ústy i s jeho ústy a poučím vás, co máte dělat! 16Ať za tebe hovoří k lidu, on ti bude ústy a ty mu budeš za Boha! 17A tuhle hůl vezmi do ruky, abys s ní udělal ta znamení!“ 18(Šestý volaný) Moše odešel, vrátil se k svému tchánu Jitrovi a řekl mu: „Dovol mi odejít, vrátím se ke svým bratřím, kteří jsou v Micrajim, a podívám se, jsou-li ještě živí!“, načež Jitro Mošemu pravil: „Ubírej se k míru.“ 19Hospodin řekl Mošemu v Midjánu: „Jdi, vrať se do Micrajim, neboť všichni ti muži, žádající si tvého života, zemřeli.“ 20A Moše vzal svou ženu a své syny, vysadil je na osla a vracel se do země Micrajim, a do ruky vzal Moše Boží hůl. 21A Hospodin řekl Mošemu: „Jdeš-li se vrátit do Micrajim, věz, že při všech těch divech, které jsem vložil do tvé ruky a které budeš dělat před faraonem, budu zatvrzovat jeho srdce a on ten lid nepropustí. 22Proto řekneš faraonovi: Takto pravil Hospodin: Jisrael je můj prvorozený syn. 23A tobě říká: Propusť mého syna, ať mi slouží, a kdyby ses zdráhal jej propustit, zabiji já tvého prvorozeného syna!“ 24Cestou v hostinci se stalo, že ho Hospodin navštívil a hrozil jej usmrtit. 25Cipora však popadla nůž, uřízla předkožku svého syna, hodila ji k jeho nohám a řekla: „Buď mi ženichem vykoupeným krví!“ 26A když se od něj odtáhl, pravila: „Ženichem vykoupeným krví při obřízce!“ 27A Hospodin řekl Aharonovi: „Jdi do pouště vstříc Mošemu!“, a on šel a potkal se s ním na Boží hoře a políbil ho. 28Moše pak vypověděl Aharonovi všechna Hospodinova slova, s nimiž jej vyslal, a všechna ta znamení, která mu přikázal. 29A Moše a Aharon šli a shromáždili všechny starší synů Jisraele. 30A Aharon pověděl všechna ta slova, která Hospodin řekl Mošemu, a učinil před očima lidu ta znamení. 31A lid uvěřil, a slyšíce, že Hospodin zaznamenal syny Jisraele a viděl jejich bídu, padli na kolena a klaněli se k zemi.
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.