Exodus 4:13

_AND 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._ I am not eloquent. It is supposed that Moses laboured under a natural defect of utterance, or had a difficulty in the free and fluent expression of his ideas in the Egyptian language, which he had long disused. This new objection was also overruled; but still Moses, who foresaw the manifold difficulties of the undertaking, was anxious to be freed from the responsibility. Verse 14. THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS KINDLED. The Divine Being is not subject to ebullitions of passion; but His displeasure was manifested by transferring the honour of the priesthood, which would otherwise have been bestowed on Moses, to Aaron, who was from this time destined to be the head of the house of Levi ...

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 sense is more probable, viz., that God should stretch forth his hand to direct whomsoever he destined for the work. In that case, the relative must be in the masculine gender; but in order to avoid all ambiguity, I prefer the feminine, as I have translated it. (_Mitte per manum per quam_.)For there is no doubt but that Moses desires the task, too weighty and difficult for himself, to be tr

10-17 Moses continued backward to the work God designed him for; there was much of cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in him. We must not judge of men by the readiness of their discourse. A great deal of wisdom and true worth may be with a slow tongue. God sometimes makes choice of those as his messengers, who have the least of the advantages of art or nature, that his grace in them may appear the more glorious. Christ's disciples were no orators, till the Holy Spirit made them such. God condescends to answer the excuse of Moses. Even self-diffidence, when it hinders us from duty, or clogs us in duty, is very displeasing to the Lord. But while we blame Moses for shrinking from this dangerous service, let us ask our own hearts if we are not neglecting duties more easy, and less perilous. The tongue of Aaron, with the head and heart of Moses, would make one completely fit for this erra...

Verse Exodus 4:13. _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 שלח נא ביד תשלח _shelach na beyad tishlach_ literally translated is, Send now (or, _I beseech thee_) by the hand thou wilt send; which seems to intimate, Send a person more fit for the work than I am. So the Septuagint: Προχειρισαι δυναμενον αλλον, ὁν αποστελεις· _Elect another powerful person, whom thou wilt send_. It is right to find out the Messiah wherever he is mentioned in the Old Testament; but to press scriptures into this se...

AND HE SAID - The reluctance of Moses is in accordance with the inner law of man’s spiritual development, and specially with his own character; but, under the circumstances, it indicated a weakness of faith....

EXPOSITION EXODUS 4:1 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 believe, neither hearken unto my voice" (Exodus 4:1). This was plain want of faith; but

AND HE SAID, O MY LORD,.... Acknowledging his dominion, his sovereignty, his power to do the above things: or "on me, O Lord" u, 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: and so Cocceius is of opinion, that nothing better can be understood, than that Moses desired that God would rather send him, whom Israel expected to be sent, even the Angel that should go before them; of whose mission see Exodus 23:20, but no particular person is intended, unless himself; and the common interpretation is, that God would send a more fit and proper person than he was; and that he would rather send anyone but him, and

CHAPTER 4:1-28 MOSES' OBJECTIONS, JEHOVAH'S ANSWER AND THE RETURN TO EGYPT _ 1. The first objection (Exodus 4:1)_ 2. The two signs and Jehovah's assurance (Exodus 4:2) 3. The second objection (Exodus 4:10) 4. Jehovah's answer (Exodus 4:11) 5. Moses' request (Exodus 4:13) 6. Jehovah's anger and answer (Exodus 4:14) 7. The command to return to Egypt (Exodus 4:18

EXODUS 4:10 J. MOSES'S FOURTH DIFFICULTY slowness of speech. This is met by a promise of prophetic inspiration, the fulfilment of which not only Deuteronomy 34:10, but the whole representation of J, endorses. It is followed here by a further exhibition of unreadiness, which evokes Yahweh's wrath. The association of Aaron with Moses has been compared to Deborah's co-operation with Barak. But since Aaron may only say what Moses tells him, this arrangement is no very clear mark of Divine anger. Moreover, in J, Moses habitually acts and speaks alone, and not by the mouth of Aaron, except in Exodus 4:29 f.*, which obviously follows this passage. Perhaps, therefore, the reference to Aaron has been inserted by a somewh

Exodus 3:1 TO EXODUS 4:17. Moses commissioned by Jehovah at Horeb to deliver His people. The dialogue between Jehovah and Moses, as in other cases (cf. Delitzsch on Genesis 12:1), must be pictured, not as one audible externally, but as giving expression, in _words_which are naturally those of the narrators, to Moses" mental communings with God, through which he was gradually taught by Him that, in spite of the difficulties which he saw before him, he was nevertheless to be His appointed agent for accomplishing Israel's deliverance (cf. the dialogue in Jeremiah 14-15). See further, on the sense in which God is to be understood as -speaking" to a man, the Introduction, p. xlvii f....