Exodus 3:1-12 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:1-6

The years of the life of Moses are remarkably divided into three forties: the first forty he spent as a prince in Pharaoh's court, the second a shepherd in Midian, the third a king in Jeshurun; so changeable is the life of men, especially the life of good men. He had now finished his second forty, when he received his commission to bring Israel out of Egypt. Note, Sometimes it is long before God calls his servants out of that work which of old he designed them for, and has been graciously... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:7-10

Now that Moses had put off his shoes (for, no doubt, he observed the orders given him, Exod. 3:5), and covered his face, God enters upon the particular business that was now to be concerted, which was the bringing of Israel out of Egypt. Now, after forty years of Israel's bondage and Moses's banishment, when we may suppose both he and they began to despair, they of being delivered and he of delivering them, at length, the time has come, even the year of the redeemed. Note, God often comes for... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:11-15

God, having spoken to Moses, allows him also a liberty of speech, which he here improves; and, I. He objects his own insufficiency for the service he was called to (Exod. 3:11): Who am I? He thinks himself unworthy of the honour, and not par negotio?equal to the task. He thinks he wants courage, and therefore cannot go to Pharaoh, to make a demand which might cost the demandant his head: he thinks he wants skill, and therefore cannot bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt; they are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:1

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian ,.... Who was either the same with Reuel or Raguel, spoken of in the preceding chapter; or, as others think, a son of his, the father being now dead; seeing it was now forty years since Moses came into Midian, Acts 7:30 . Demetrius F3 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 29. p. 439. , an Heathen writer, expressly says that Jothor a son of Raguel, and Zipporah or Sepphora, as he calls her, was his daughter,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:2

And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him ,.... Not a created angel, but the Angel of God's presence and covenant, the eternal Word and Son of God; since he is afterwards expressly called Jehovah, and calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which a created angel would never do: the appearance was: in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush ; not in a tall, lofty, spreading oak or cedar, but in a low thorny bramble bush, which it might have been thought would have been... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:3

And Moses said, I will now turn aside ,.... From the place where he was, and the flock he was feeding, and get nearer to the bush, which seems to have been on one side of him and not directly before him: and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt ; inquire into, and find out, if he could, the reason of this strange and amazing sight; how it could be that a bush should be on fire and yet not burnt up, which might have been expected would have been destroyed at once; for what is a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:4

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see ,.... Who is before called the Angel of the Lord, here Jehovah, the omniscient and omnipresent Being, who observing Moses turning aside and going onward to gratify his curiosity, by examining more narrowly this strange phenomenon: God called unto him out of the midst of the bush ; with an articulate voice, being the eternal Word: and said, Moses, Moses ; for the Lord knows his people distinctly, and can call them by name; and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:5

And he said, draw not nigh hither ,.... Keep a proper distance: put off thy shoes from off thy feet ; dust and dirt cleaving to shoes, and these being ordered to be put off from the feet, the instrument of walking, show that those that draw nigh to God, and are worshippers of him, ought to be of pure and holy lives and conversations: for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground ; not that there was any inherent holiness in this spot of ground more than in any other, which... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:6

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy fathers ,.... Of every one of his fathers next mentioned: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ; with whom the covenant respecting the land of Canaan, and the promise of the blessed seed the Messiah, was made: this again shows that the Angel of the Lord that now appeared was God himself, Jehovah the Son of God. Our Lord makes use of this text to prove the resurrection of the dead against the Sadducees, God being not the God of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:7

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt ,.... Or, "in seeing I have seen", which not only denotes the certainty of it, as we express it; but the clear, distinct, and full sight he had of it, with sympathy towards them, an affectionate concern for them, and a fixed, settled, determination in his mind to deliver them; he had long took notice of, and had thoroughly observed their affliction, and was afflicted with them in it, and was bent upon their... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:1-6

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:7-10

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 3:11-15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:3

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 3:7

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