Exodus 4:20

_AND MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE AND HIS SONS, AND SET THEM UPON AN ASS, AND HE RETURNED TO THE LAND OF EGYPT: AND MOSES TOOK THE ROD OF GOD IN HIS HAND._ Took ... wife, and ... sons, and set them upon an ass - Septuagint, 'asses.' Those animals are not now used in the desert of Sinai, except by the Arabs for short distances. RETURNED - entered on his journey toward Egypt. ROD OF GOD - so called from its being to be appropriated to his service, and because whatever miracles it might be employed in performing, would be done not by its inherent properties, but by a divine power following on its use (cf. Acts 3:12)....

20._And Moses took his wife. _By taking his wife and children with him, Moses clearly and freely professed, that he was returning to Egypt, to dwell there. The ass upon which he set them, is a plain proof how humble was his condition, and how slender his substance. For it is improbable that he left either money or silver vessels or precious garments with his father-in-law, so as to present himself to his people in poverty and nakedness. But as he had been content in the land of Midian with his indigence and coarse fare, he continues in the same simple estate; nor is he ashamed in his contemptible and common habit to mount the stage on which his poverty would be conspicuous, which in the Desert had been concealed. It is well known as a matter of experience, that the poor are led to crime more by the fear of shame than by hunger, cold, and other discomforts. Wherefore Moses withstood a ver...

18-23 After God had appeared in the bush, he often spake to Moses. Pharaoh had hardened his own heart against the groans and cries of the oppressed Israelites; and now God, in the way of righteous judgment, hardens his heart against the teaching of the miracles, and the terror of the plagues. But whether Pharaoh will hear, or whether he will forbear, Moses must tell him, Thus saith the Lord. He must demand a discharge for Israel, Let my son go; not only my servant, whom thou hast no right to detain, but my son. It is my son that serves me, and therefore must be spared, must be pleaded for. In case of refusal I will slay thy son, even thy first-born. As men deal with God's people, let them expect so to be dealt with....

Verse Exodus 4:20. _HIS WIFE AND HIS SONS_] Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. 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 that by which he is to _feed, rule_, and _protect_ his _people_ _Israel_....

AN ASS - Literally, “the ass,” which, according to Hebrew idiom, means that he set them upon asses. This is the first notice of other sons besides Gershom. THE ROD OF GOD - The staff of Moses was consecrated by the miracle Exodus 4:2 and became “the rod of God.”...

EXPOSITION EXODUS 4:18-2 If Moses had, as we have supposed, been accepted into the Midianitish nation, he would need permission to withdraw himself from the tribal head. This head was now Jether, or Jethro, Moses' connexion by marriage, perhaps his brother-in-law, perhaps a less near connexion. Nations and tribes were at this time anxious to keep up their numbers, and jealous of the desertion even of a single member. Jethro, however, made no opposition to the return of Moses to Egypt, even though he designed to be accompanied by his wife and sons (Exodus 4:20). Scripture gives no indications of the motives which actuated him. Perhaps the Midianites were at this time straitened for want of room. Perhaps the peculiar circumstances of Moses were held to justify his applicatio

AND MOSES TOOK HIS WIFE, AND HIS SONS,.... Gershom and Eliezer; by which it appears that he intended to stay in Egypt, and that he believed that God would work deliverance by him: AND SET THEM UPON AN ASS: which though with us a mean creature, yet in those times and countries were rode upon by great personages; and these, as Aben Ezra says, were reckoned in Egypt more honourable than mules. It may be the singular is put for the plural, and that each of them was set upon an ass, with servants to take care of them: AND HE RETURNED TO THE LAND OF EGYPT; that is, he set forward to go thither; for before he got thither, various things are related which befell him: AND MOSES TOOK THE ROD OF GOD IN HIS HAND: his shepherd's staff, so called, because God ordered him to take it; and besides, he had wrought signs and wonders by it already, and would do many more....

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 4:19 A J. MOSES IS RECALLED BY YAHWEH TO EGYPT. This piece probably originally followed Exodus 2:23_ a_, the narrative of the revelation at the bush having been antedated by the compiler, to dovetail in with E's story. The pl. sons is probably due to the editor, to fit Exodus 18:2: in J (Exodus 2:24 and Exodus 4:25) only one son is mentioned. Exodus 4:20 b E continues Exodus 4:17.

SONS. Gershom and Eliezer. See on Exodus 2:1. UPON AN ASS. Still young, So that Moses married after many years in Midian. ROD OF GOD. His own rod is now thus dignified....