Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth ,.... And put words into it, and cause it to speak readily and powerfully; and so it appears that he was mighty in words, as well as in deeds, Acts 7:22 , and teach thee what thou shalt say ; to Pharaoh, to the Israelites, and to Aaron, that was to speak for him, as is hereafter observed. read more
And he said, O my Lord ,.... Acknowledging his dominion, his sovereignty, his power to do the above things: or "on me, O Lord" F21 בי אדני "in me", Oleaster. , be the blame for making such objections; or on me let this work be devolved, since it is thy pleasure: send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send . Many of the ancient Christian fathers understand it of the Messiah that was to be sent, and as if Moses thought this was a fit time for the sending of him:... read more
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses ,.... For the objections, excuses, and delays he made with respect to his mission. In what way this anger was expressed is not easy to say, whether by not removing the impediment of his speech, or not giving him the priesthood, which Jarchi thinks he otherwise would have had, and Aaron been only a Levite, as he is called in the next clause; or whether it was by joining Aaron to him, and so lessening his honour in this embassy, though that... read more
I will be with thy mouth - The Chaldee translates, My Word, meimeri , shall be with thy mouth. And Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases, I and my Word will be with the speech of thy mouth. See Clarke on Genesis 15:1 ; (note), and Leviticus 25:10 ; (note). read more
Send - by the hand of him whom thou wilt send - Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have thought that Moses prays here for the immediate mission of the Messiah; as if he had said: "Lord, thou hast purposed to send this glorious person at some time or other, I beseech thee send him now, for who can be sufficient to deliver and rule this people but himself alone?" The Hebrew תשלח ביד נא שלח shelach na beyad tishlach literally translated is, Send now (or, I beseech thee) by the hand... read more
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses - Surely this would not have been the case had he only in modesty, and from a deep sense of his own unfitness, desired that the Messiah should be preferred before him. But the whole connection shows that this interpretation is unfounded. Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? - Houbigant endeavors to prove from this that Moses, in Exodus 4:13 , did pray for the immediate mission of the Messiah, and that God gives him here a reason why... read more
Verse 13 13.Send, I pray thee, by the hand. Those who interpret this passage as alluding to Christ, (53) as though Moses said, that His power was needed to accomplish so mighty a task, introduce a forced and far-fetched sense, which is contradicted by the context, for God would not have been so aroused to anger by such a prayer. I see not why others should suppose it to be spoken of Aaron; (54) for there is no weight in their conjecture, that Moses preferred his brother to himself. The third... read more
Verse 14 14.And the anger of the Lord was kindled. This passage confirms, by opposition, that expression, that there is no better sacrifice than to obey the voice of the Lord, (1 Samuel 15:22,) since God is so grievously offended with the hesitation of Moses, in spite of his specious excuses. But nothing is more pleasing to God than to maintain the authority of his word, and that men should suffer themselves to be guided by this rein. God had pardoned His servant’s slowness and unwillingness to... read more
The reluctance of Moses to undertake the part of leader, indicated by his first reply at his first calling, "Who am I that I should go?" etc. ( Exodus 3:11 ), was not yet overcome. God had promised that he would succeed; but he did not see how he could succeed, either with the people or with Pharaoh. It was not enough for him that God had declared, "They (the people) shall hearken unto thy voice" ( Exodus 3:18 ); he does not, cannot believe this, and replies: "Behold, they will not... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 4:10-17
Moses still continues backward to the service for which God had designed him, even to a fault; for now we can no longer impute it to his humility and modesty, but must own that here was too much of cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in it. Observe here, I. How Moses endeavours to excuse himself from the work. 1. He pleads that he was no good spokesman: O my Lord! I am not eloquent, Exod. 4:10. He was a great philosopher, statesman, and divine, and yet no orator; a man of a clear head, great... read more