Daniel P. Barron

Exodus 3

Thursday, November 3, 2022 

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro i his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he drove the flock behind the wilderness, and came to the mountain of the Gods, ii to Horeb. iii 2 And messenger iv of Yehovah v appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. vi And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. vii 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside now and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

4 And Yehvah saw that he turned aside to look, so Gods, he called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses.” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 And he said, “Do not come near here, remove viii your sandals from upon your feet, for the place that you are standing upon is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am Gods of your father, Gods of Abraham, Gods of Isaac, and Gods of Jacob.” ix And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid from looking x at the Gods.

7 And Yehvah said, “I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry from before their xi taskmasters, for I know their xii pains. 8 So I have come down xiii to deliver them xiv from the hand of Egypt, and to bring them xv up from that land to a good and spacious xvi land, to a land flowing milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and also I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress xvii them. 10 So now, come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and bring out xviii my people the sons of Israel from Egypt.”

11 And Moses said to the Gods, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?” xix 12 And he said, “Surely, I will be with you. And this will be a sign for you, when I send you, when you bring out the people from Egypt, you xx shall serve the Gods upon this mountain.” 13 And Moses said to the Gods, “Behold, when I come to the sons of Israel and I say to them, ‘Gods of your fathers, he has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And Gods, he said to Moses, “I am who I am.” xxi And he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I am xxii has sent me to you.’”

15 And Gods, he said again to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yehvah, Gods of your fathers, Gods of Abraham, Gods of Isaac, and Gods of Jacob has sent me to you.’ This is my name to eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to generation. 16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘Yehvah Gods of your fathers, he has appeared to me, Gods of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, “I have surely observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 And I have said, ‘I will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites to a land flowing milk and honey.’” 18 And they will listen to your voice and you will come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you xxiii will say to him, ‘Yehvah Gods of the Hebrews, he has met with us. So now, please let us go a three days journey into the wilderness and let us sacrifice to Yehvah our Gods.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, not even by a strong hand. 20 And I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt in all my wonders which I will do in its midst, and after that he will send you away. 21 And I will give this people grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, and it shall be, when you go, you will not go empty. 22 But each woman shall ask from her neighbor and from the sojourner in her house, articles of silver, and articles of gold and clothing, and you shall put them upon your sons and your daughters; and you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

Exodus 2 - Exodus 4

Translated by Darwin Fish. See original pdf. xxiv

  1. יִתְרוֹ (yithro) - Here he is called Jethro, but in the previous chapter he is called Reuel (רְעוּאֵל [re`u'êl]). See the footnote for Exodus 2:18. ^
  2. הַר הָאֱלֹהִים (har hâ'elohiym) - “the mountain of God” - Horeb is called the mountain of God (Exodus 4:27; 18:5; 24:13; 1 Kings 19:8) and “mountain of Yehvah” הַר יְהוָה (har-yehvâh, Numbers 10:33). Bashan, “A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan” הַר־אֱלֹהִים הַר־בָּשָׁן (har-elohiym har- bâshân, Psalm 68:15[H16] see also vs 16[H17]), and Zion “the mountain of Yehvah” הַר־יְהוָֹה (har-yehvâh, Isaiah 2:3; 30:29; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 8:3). There is also the “holy mountain of God” הַר קֹדֶשׁ אֱלֹהִים (har qodesh 'elohiym) in Ezekiel 28:14, 16. ^
  3. חֹרֵב (chorêv) - Horeb is the same location as Mount Sinai. Compare Exodus 3:1-2 with Acts 7:30 and compare Exodus 19:1-2, 11, 18, 20, 23 (and context, including chapter 20) with Deuteronomy 4:10, 15; 5:2 (and context) and Psalm 106:19 (see also Malachi 4:4). Also compare Exodus 24:12-18; 31:18; chapter 32 and Deuteronomy 9:8-21. ^
  4. For other occurrences of the messenger of Yehvah, see also Genesis 16:13; 21:17; 22:11-12; Exodus 23:20-22; Numbers 22:31-35; Judges 2:1-4; 6:11-24; 13:22; 1 Kings 19:7; 2 Kings 1:3-4, 15; 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21; Zechariah 12:8. ^
  5. יְהוָֹה (Yehovah) "Yehovah" ^
  6. הַסְּנֶה (hasseneh) - used also in verse 3-4 and Deuteronomy 33:16. This bush is mentioned in the NT in Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 7:30, and 35. ^
  7. Our God, who is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), did not consume this bush. Note also He is called everlasting burnings (Isaiah 33:14-15). For more on God being fire, see footnote for Deuteronomy 4:24. ^
  8. שַׁל (shal) “remove” - used also in Deuteronomy 19:5 where an axe head “slips” from the handle, and in Deuteronomy 28:40 where olives “drop” off the tree. It is also used in Deuteronomy 7:1 (NKJV “cast out”) and verse 22 (NKJV “drive out”) and 2 Kings 16:6 (NKJV “drove”) for the removal of people. In Joshua 5:15 it is used in the same way as in Exodus 3:5. ^
  9. See Matthew 22:23-32. Even though these men had been dead for hundreds of years, Jesus revealed, speaking in the context of the resurrection, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were not dead, but alive. ^
  10. מֵהַבִּיט (mêhabbiyt) - “from looking” - This is an infinitive construct with the prepositional prefix “from.” The context fits this more literal translation, because Moses had been looking at God (Exodus 3:2-3); and now he was afraid to look. ^
  11. נֹגְשָׂין (nogesâyv) - This is more literally, “his taskmasters.” ^
  12. מַכְאֹבָין (makh'ovâyv) - This is more literally, “his pains.” ^
  13. This is an act of humility, Psalm 113:4-6. ^
  14. לְהַצִּילוֹ (lehatsiylo) - This is more literally, “to deliver him.” ^
  15. לְהַעֲלֹתוֹ (leha`aloto) - This is more literally, “to bring him up.” ^
  16. רְחָבָה (rechâvâh) - This same word (same spelling) is used in Job 11:9 for “broader” (NKJV), and Psalm 119:96 for “broad” (NKJV). ^
  17. And who made them do so? God, Psalm 105:23-25. ^
  18. הוֹצֵא (hotsê') - “bring out” - This is an imperative making it a command. ^
  19. See Numbers 12:3. Acts 7:23-25 shows Moses was quite ready to be used by God to deliver the Hebrews. But here, forty years later, this verse and Exodus 4:13 indicates Moses had aborted the idea. ^
  20. תַּעַבְדוּן (ta`avdun) - The “you” here is masculine plural. ^
  21. אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה ('ehyeh 'asher 'ehyeh) - This can also be translated, “I will be who I will be,” as the same Hebrew word (אֶהְיֶה, 'ehyeh) is translated “I will be” in Exodus 3:12; 4:12 and 15. God needs no introduction. He is who He is, and we had all better fear! The song of Moses is quite apropos, Revelation 15:3-4. ^
  22. אֶהְיֶה ('ehyeh) - Jesus noted Himself as “I am” in John 8:24, 58. ^
  23. אֲמַרְתֶּם ('amartem) - This “you” is plural. ^
  24. Mirrored here. ^

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