He shall be thy spokesman - Literally, He shall speak for thee (or in thy stead) to the people. He shall be to thee instead of a mouth - He shall convey every message to the people; and thou shalt be to him instead of God - thou shalt deliver to him what I communicate to thee. read more
Thou shalt take this rod - From the story of Moses's rod the heathens have invented the fables of the thyrsus of Bacchus, and the caduceus of Mercury. Cicero reckons five Bacchuses, one of which, according to Orpheus, was born of the river Nile; but, according to the common opinion, he was born on the banks of that river. Bacchus is expressly said to have been exposed on the river Nile, hence he is called Nilus, both by Diodorus and Macrobius; and in the hymns of Orpheus he is named Myses,... read more
Let me go, I pray thee, and return unto my brethren - Moses, having received his commission from God, and directions how to execute it, returned to his father-in-law, and asked permission to visit his family and brethren in Egypt, without giving him any intimation of the great errand on which he was going. His keeping this secret has been attributed to his singular modesty: but however true it might be that Moses was a truly humble and modest man, yet his prudence alone was sufficient to... read more
In Midian - This was a new revelation, and appears to have taken place after Moses returned to his father-in-law previous to his departure for Egypt. read more
His wife and his sons - Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. See Clarke's note on Exodus 2:22 . Set them upon an ass - The Septuagint reads the word in the plural, εκι τα ὑποζυγια , upon asses, as it certainly required more than one to carry Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer. The rod of God - The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd's office, and now... read more
But I will harden his heart - The case of Pharaoh has given rise to many fierce controversies, and to several strange and conflicting opinions. Would men but look at the whole account without the medium of their respective creeds, they would find little difficulty to apprehend the truth. If we take up the subject in a theological point of view, all sober Christians will allow the truth of this proposition of St. Augustine, when the subject in question is a person who has hardened his own... read more
Israel is my son, even my firstborn - That is, The Hebrew people are unutterably dear to me. read more
Let my son go, that he may serve me - Which they could not do in Goshen, consistently with the policy and religious worship of the Egyptians; because the most essential part of an Israelite's worship consisted in sacrifice, and the animals which they offered to God were sacred among the Egyptians. Moses gives Pharaoh this reason Exodus 8:26 . I will slay thy son, even thy first-born - Which, on Pharaoh's utter refusal to let the people go, was accordingly done; see Exodus 12:29 . read more
By the way in the inn - See Clarke's note on Genesis 42:27 . The account in this and the following verse is very obscure. Some suppose that the Exodus 4:23 ; is not a part of the message to Pharaoh, but was spoken by the Lord to Moses; and that the whole may be thus paraphrased: "And I have said unto thee, (Moses), Send forth שלח shallach , my son, (Gershom, by circumcising him), that he may serve me, (which he cannot do till entered into the covenant by circumcision), but thou hast... read more
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Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 4:15
I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth - Ye shall be both, in all things which I appoint you to do in this business, under the continual inspiration of the Most High. read more