Exodus 4

Exodus · Chapter 4

Exodus 4:25

1And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.2And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.3And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.4And 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:5That 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.6And 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.7And 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.8And 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.9And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.10And Moses said unto the LORD, O my LORD, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.11And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?12Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.13And he said, O my LORD, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.14And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.15And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.16And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.17And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.18And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father in law, and said unto him, Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren which are in Egypt, and see whether they be yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace.19And the LORD said unto Moses in Midian, Go, return into Egypt: for all the men are dead which sought thy life.20And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.21And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.22And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:23And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.24And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.26So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.27And the LORD said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.28And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him.29And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:30And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.31And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

King James Version (1769)

Other translations

VerseKJVBSBASV
25Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.

In context

Who is speaking and to whom, what is happening, when and where, and why it matters, each with its sources. Coming with the context cards.

Original Hebrew words

EnglishHebrewSay itStrong'sMeaning
and she tookוַתִּקַּ֨חva-ti-KACHH3947G
to take: take

לָקַח (la.qach) : take 1) to take, get, fetch, lay hold of, seize, receive, acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to take, take in the hand 1a2) to take and carry along 1a3) to take from, take out of, take, carry away, take away 1a4) to take to or for a person, procure, get, take possession of, select, choose, take in marriage, receive, accept 1a5) to take up or upon, put upon 1a6) to fetch 1a7) to take, lead, conduct 1a8) to take, capture, seize 1a9) to take, carry off 1a10) to take (vengeance) 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be captured 1b2) to be taken away, be removed …

Zipporahצִפֹּרָ֜הtzi-po-RAHH6855
Zipporah

צִפֹּרָה (tsip.po.rah) A woman living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Exo.2.21; daughter of: Jethro (H3503); sister of: Eliasaph (H0460) and Hobab (H2246); married to Moses (H4872); mother of: Gershom (H1647) and Eliezer (H0461H) § Zipporah = "bird" daughter of Reuel or Jethro, wife of Moses, and mother of Gershom and Eliezer

a flintצֹ֗רTzorH6864
flint

צֹר (tsor) 1) flint, hard pebble 1a) used as a knife

and she cut offוַתִּכְרֹת֙va-tikh-ROTH3772G
to cut: cut

כָּרַת (ka.rat) : cut/fell 1) to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, cut out, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to cut off 1a1a) to cut off a body part, behead 1a2) to cut down 1a3) to hew 1a4) to cut or make a covenant 1b) (Niphal) 1b1) to be cut off 1b2) to be cut down 1b3) to be chewed 1b4) to be cut off, fail 1c) (Pual) 1c1) to be cut off 1c2) to be cut down 1d) (Hiphil) 1d1) to cut off 1d2) to cut off, destroy 1d3) to cut down, destroy 1d4) to take away 1d5) to permit to perish 1e) (Hophal) cut off

[the] foreskin ofעָרְלַ֣ת'a-re-LATH6190H
foreskin

עׇרְלָה (or.lah) foreskin, uncircumcised

son herבְּנָ֔הּbe-NAHH1121A
son: child

בֵּן (ben) : child/son

and she made [it] touchוַתַּגַּ֖עva-ta-GA'H5060
to touch

נָגַע (na.ga) 1) to touch, reach, strike 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to touch 1a2) to strike 1a3) to reach, extend to 1a4) to be stricken 1a4a) stricken (participle) 1b) (Niphal) to be stricken, be defeated 1c) (Piel) to strike 1d) (Pual) to be stricken (by disease) 1e) (Hiphil) to cause to touch, reach, approach, arrive 1e1) to cause to touch, apply 1e2) to reach, extend, attain, arrive, come 1e3) to approach (of time) 1e4) to befall (of fate)

to feet hisלְרַגְלָ֑יוle-rag-LAVH7272
foot

רְגַל (re.gal) foot Aramaic of re.gel (רֶ֫גֶל "foot" H7272)

and she saidוַתֹּ֕אמֶרva-TO-merH0559
to say

אָמַר (a.mar) 1) to say, speak, utter 1a) (Qal) to say, to answer, to say in one's heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend 1b) (Niphal) to be told, to be said, to be called 1c) (Hithpael) to boast, to act proudly 1d) (Hiphil) to avow, to avouch Aramaic equivalent: a.mar (אֲמַר "to say" H0560)

thatכִּ֧יkiH3588A
for

כִּי (ki) 1) that, for, because, when, as though, as, because that, but, then, certainly, except, surely, since 1a) that 1a1) yea, indeed 1b) when (of time) 1b1) when, if, though (with a concessive force) 1c) because, since (causal connection) 1d) but (after negative) 1e) that if, for if, indeed if, for though, but if 1f) but rather, but 1g) except that 1h) only, nevertheless 1i) surely 1j) that is 1k) but if 1l) for though 1m) forasmuch as, for therefore

[are] a bridegroom ofחֲתַן־cha-tan-H2860
son-in-law

חָתָן (cha.tan) son-in-law, daughter's husband, bridegroom, husband

bloodsדָּמִ֛יםda-MIMH1818
blood

דָּם (dam) 1) blood 1a) of wine (fig.)

youאַתָּ֖ה'a-TAHH0859A
you

אַנְתָּה (an.tah) you, thou (second pers. sing.) Aramaic of at.tah (אַתָּ֫ה "you(m.s.)" H0859A)

Words and meanings from STEPBible data (Tyndale House, Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). The capitalized syllable is the stressed one.