Exodus 4:24

In the inn] RV 'lodging-place,' not necessarily a building. Sought to kill him] This probably means no more than that Moses was struck with some grievous sickness and was in danger of death. It is another example of the Eastern way of attributing whatever happens to the direct interposition of God, referred to in the note on Exodus 4:21. It would appear from this mysterious incident that Moses had neglected to circumcise his youngest son, on account perhaps of the mother's objection to the rite. Circumcision was not peculiar to the Israelites, but they alone circumcised infants. What Zipporah objected to, therefore, may not have been the rite itself, but its performance at such an early age. But now seeing the danger her husband was in, and recognising that his sickness was the chastisement of disobedience, she overcame her reluctance and performed the ceremony herself, with the result that Moses' life was spared (Exodus 4:26). The incident is designed to show the importance of circumcision as the sign of the covenant between God and His people and the sin and danger of neglecting it.