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"But Moses answered, 'No, Lord, please send someone else.'"
- 4: 13, Good News Translation , see link below.
1 Paraphrase:
Moses asks what if they don't believe him or listen to him and doubt if YHWH appeared to him.
2
So said to him "YHWH" "mah zeh" (what's that) 'in your' "yad" (hand)? He said "matteh" (staff (walking stick / shepherd's staff)).
3
"way yomer" (and He said), "shalak" (throw) onto "erets" (ground / earth) "hayah" (became / to be) a "nachash" (serpent / snake (same word as described 'Eve's friend', no species is indicated) and "nus" (ran / retreated) Moses from it (implying it may have been venomous).
4
says "YHWH" to Moses, "shalach" (reach out / etc) you hand and "achaz" (grasp / seize) it by its "zanab" (tail / rear)....
he grabs the snake and it turns back into his walking stick.
5
"maan" (in order that / for the sake of / so that / etc) "aman" (believe / trust / support ("amen" is a derivative if the root, and means the same thing)) that apeared to you "YHWH 'Elohim" of their fathers....
6 Paraphrase and discussion:
and said YHWH to him, put your hand inside your robe. When he brings it back out it is covered with advanced Leprosy. The Hebrew word here is "tsara" (distress / affliction / scourge), and is the first use of the word in the OT.
a look at some Mycobacterium
Pathologically speaking, Leprosy (Hansen's disease) is a long term bacterial infection by either, or both, strains of a form of related bacteria from the same larger family, "mycobacterium", that includes the germ that causes tuberculosis. However, Leprosy is not nearly as transmittable as its 'cousin', and requires prolonged or repeated contact to spread with a person, or animal, that has the bacteria present. It also has an incubation period of from one to five years, to up to twenty years, from initial infection to noticeable effects of the disease, such as the discolored lesions on Moses's hand, which could eventually result in the loss of his hand as the bacteria took over the cells and eventually caused their deaths. Overall, the person could live with the disease as it slowly progressed for thirty or forty years, or even longer.
While the disease itself causes physical disfigurement and nerve damage, by itself it is not usually fatal except in extremely advanced cases due to primary organ (liver / kidney) failure. If untreated, however, as damage to the body continues to spread, secondary opportunistic infections can occur and death can result from pneumonia, sepsis, or from other widespread infection or infestation.
While it wasn't always a death sentence, it was an immediate and near total exclusion from the rest of society, including family, usually for life. And we know that both leprosy and tuberculosis have been with us since even before the Biblical period as ancient human remains, in Egypt, the Far East, and the New World, have been discovered with signs of the infections. As humanity spread throughout the world, so did they.
If YHWH had not cured Moses of the infection, see next verse, he would never have been able to go home to either his Midianite wife and children, or to Egypt, ever again, and would have ended up in whatever local leper colony was around, for the rest of his life.
end look
7 Paraphrase:
HE tells Moses to put his hand back inside his robe, and when he withdraws it, it is clear.
a "PS" to 'the look'
Today, leprosy can be cured, even once it has begun to damage the body. There are modern stories of people who had been diagnosed with the disease, then treated (which we'll come back to) who then went on to live, and are still living, a normal, productive, and in the case we'll mention, successful life in a medium you wouldn't expect from one who had the illness.
The actress named Dimple Kapadia (born 1957 (yes, that is her first name)) had been diagnosed with the disease when she was twelve years old. The treatment then, as now, involves Months of antibiotics, and can run for up to a year. She recovered. Was then discovered by a movie agent, and was cast in a film in 1968. Over the years she has won several awards for movies in India. She is still acting and in 2020 was in the Hollywood movie "Tenet".
The treatments for the disease are still long term affairs, but are usually quite successful. With Ms Kapadia, she only had a small patch on one arm. But the treatment still involved her entire body. And as with Moses in Exodus, the stigma, and fear, attached to it could involve the entire family being cast out of their town. There are also vaccines that can prevent, or reduce the severity of the case if the person gets the disease. It is interesting to note that in many cases the same vaccine also prevents TB, leprosy's more lethal cousin.
Ms Kapadia has since used her stardom to combat that stigma in India and beyond. You can read more about her, and the disease, at the links below.
end PS
8 Summary:
God tells Moses that if they don't believe the first sign, the snake, they may believe the second.
9 Summary and analysis:
Then God tells him that if they don't believe either of those and won't listen, to do something else....
you will "laqach" (take) "mayim" (water) from the Nile and "shaphak" (pour / spill) it on "yabbashah" (dry ground) and the water from the river will "hayah" (become / to be) "dam" (blood) on the dry ground.
Of course we see this later when not only does a cup of water become blood but... well, we'll see it later.
Moses has another objection. At least he speaks up instead of mumbling to himself on his way home.
10 Summary:
Moses says to YHWH "biy" (alas) "Adonay" (Lord / Master) I'm not "dabarim" (form of 'dabar': word / speech / command / etc (being 'good at it' is implied)) man, "gam" (also) "temol" (yesterday / formerly), "gam" "shilshowm" ((literally) 'the day before yesterday' / previously), "gam" "az" ('at this time' / now) You "dabar" (speak) to "ebed" ('Your' servant / slave) - "ki" (but) "kabed" (burden / thick / slow) "peh" (mouth / speech) and "kabed" "lashon" (tongue / language).
Moses may be 'slow of speech' but he is pretty good at making speeches about how he's no good at making speeches.
11
Said YHWH to him, who "sum / sim" (put / place / make /etc) "peh" (mouth) of man? Or who "sum / sim" (make / place / etc) "illem" (mute / silent / speechless) or "cheresh" (deaf) or ""piqqeach" ('open eyed' / 'clear sighted) or "ivver" (blind)? "lo" (no / cannot) YHWH?
12
"aattah" (now) " go, 'and' "anoki" (I) "hayah" (be / exist / happen) "im" (with) your "peh" (mouth / speech), 'and I will' "yarah" (instruct / direct) "aser" (what) you "dabar" (speak / say).
God tells him to go, and He will 'put words in his mouth'.
But Moses isn't done objecting.
13
"way yomer" (and he said) "bi" (alas) "'adonay" (Lord / Master) 'you will' "selah" (send) "na" (pray / now (includes idea of 'please')) "yad" (hand) "shalach" (send).
While the English translation here is a bit rough, and the word for word in the Hebrew is even rougher- It becomes clear from God's reaction in the next verse that Moses doesn't want to go, and while The Almighty could 'make him go', that isn't what HE wants to do.
14
so "charah" (to burn / become / kindle) "aph" (anger / ire) YHWH against Moses, and He said, "lo" (isn't) "Aharon" (Aaron) "ach" (brother) the "Leviyyi" (Levite)? I know 'he speaks well'....
Then YHWH gives Moses an 'oh, by the way'. That Aaron is coming, and will be glad in his heart to see him, and that there's a job for him, and thusly Moses's last objection goes away.
Keep this passage in the back of your mind when we get to chapter 5. There's a possible anachronistic (timeline) problem here, it doesn't change anything in the overall story, but it is interesting.
We know all about Moses's older sister, but this is the first mention of a brother in this text. We also don't know how Aaron got permission to leave Egypt to come see Moses. However, we have a pretty good idea who his Travel Agent was.
15 - 17 Summary:
God tells Moses that Aaron will speak for him to the people as his mouth, and HE will be with both of them.... and with 'this staff' he'll perform the signs. We'll talk about that walking stick in a minute.
There is one curious passage at the end of our verse 16:
.... and "attah" (you) "hayah" (become / be / etc) "low" ('to him') "'Elohim".
It appears the God is telling Moses that his brother won't either be able to tell the difference, or that it won't matter, because GOD is telling both of them what to say.
18 Summary:
Moses goes to his father-in-law, still going by the name of Jethro that he needs to go back home. Jethro tells him to go in peace.
19 Summary and comment:
God gives Moses a bit of news. That those in Egypt who wanted to kill him are dead.
This is the exact opposite of the situation when in the New Testament Joseph took his wife and child to Egypt. Then God told Joseph that those in Judah who wanted to kill the child were dead so it was safe to leave for home, Matthew 2 : 19.
20 Summary and comment:
Moses packs up his wife and his sons (the term is plural although the birth of another child is not recorded) on a donkey, and returns to Egypt.
... and "laqach" (take / bring / etc) Moses the "matteh" (staff...) of "'Elohim" in his hand.
The text specifies that what had been his shepherd's staff, or a simple walking stick, was now the "Staff of God". There are some that say that God gave Moses a special 'rod', which is the origin of the idea of a Magic Wand, it isn't (those are much older), see link below. But Moses already had a stick with him when he went up on the mountain, and God asked him to throw it on the ground, and that was the staff that became the snake.
21 Summary:
And said YHWH to Moses, when you get in Egypt, "raah" (see / look / appear) "kol" (all / every) the "mopheth" (signs / wonders / miracles) I've put in your hand, that you "asah" (make / do / accomplish) before Pharaoh.
That's what the first half of the verse says. It reads like Moses is supposed to practice the signs and wonders before he goes to see the king. Which makes sense when you think about it. Now the second half of the verse.
I will "chazaq" (to be strong / hard / prevail (implies 'control with power')) his "leb" (heart / mind / will) so he will not let the people go.
22
you shall say to Pharaoh, "koh" (thus / so) says YHWH, My "ben" (son), My "bekor" (firstborn), is "Yisrael" (Israel).
If you remember back to the Genesis study when Jacob and Esau were born (chapter 25), that isn't technically accurate. Except Esau gave up his right to the inheritance, but that's going back a book, let's move on.
23
So I say to you, "shalach" (send / depart / etc) my son that he may serve me. If you "maen" (refuse) to "shalach" (send / depart...), "hinneh" (behold / see / lo) I "harag" (to kill / slay) your son, your firstborn.
24 - 26 Paraphrase / summary / analysis / comment / observation / (this passage is strange):
Along the way at a camp, God met him and sought to kill him. Zipporah takes a sharp stone and circumcises their son and throws the foreskin at his feet, and says he is a 'bridegroom of blood'. "So He let go him then". Then she repeats the statement.
We don't know who the first 'him' is. Three individuals are unquestionably identified. God, Zipporah, and her son. Moses is not mentioned, it is assumed the bloody bridegroom is Moses, and several of the translations read that way. But that's not specified in the text. Also, we don't know who God was going to kill, unless it was the son because he was uncircumcised, so she may have thrown the evidence of the act at Him.
Moses knew the boy should have been circumcised... but it was usually the father that did it, and so on. Why is this section here? We don't know anything other than what it says, and that it is strange. But it does give us a bit of insight into Moses's wife.
27 - 28 Summary and analysis:
God tells Aaron to go meet Moses in the wilderness. So he goes and meets him on the Mountain of God. Moses tells him about what God told him and showed him the signs.
This appears to be out of chronological order in the original text. The story reads like Aaron had already shown up in verse 14. Maybe that was just a look at what was going to happen. But it doesn't change the overall message.
29 - 30 Summary:
Moses and Aaron gather the elders of the people. Aaron speaks to them about the message from God, and Moses performs the signs for them.
31
"aman" (believed / trusted) the people when they "shama" (heard) that had "pawad" (visited / appointed) YHWH the sons of Israel, and that He "raah" (had seen / looked upon) their "oniy" (misery / affliction) they "qadad" (bow down) and "shachah" (prostrated / worshipped)
End Chapter 4
Selected Resources:
All links will open in a new tab/window, all were working as of original date of posting:
Interlinear English / Hebrew: Chapter 4 https://biblehub.com/interlinear/exodus/4.htm
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611_Exodus-Chapter-4/
Good News Translation https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%204&version=GNT
World Health Organization: Leprosy Fact Sheet https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/leprosy
And more information: https://www.who.int/health-topics/leprosy#tab=tab_2
"As early as the second millennium before Christ, traces of leprosy were found in exhumed bodies in China and in mummies from ancient Egypt. A detailed description of the symptoms can be found in the Old Testament Leviticus. Described in the Holy Bible, leprosy occurred with epidemic character in outbreaks in the early Middle Ages." National Institutes of Health https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10705852/
About the Award Winning Actress that had beaten the disease:
Dimple Kapadia https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/dimple-kapadia-reveals-raj-kapoor-meet-her-because-she-was-suffering-from-leprosy-6230214
"THIS actress battled leprosy as a child, delivered Bollywood biggest romantic hit, married a superstar twice her age, and ended it at 27."
- The Times of India https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/this-actress-battled-leprosy-as-a-child-delivered-bollywoods-biggest-romantic-hit-married-a-superstar-twice-her-age-and-ended-it-at-27/articleshow/123239333.cms
Egyptian magic wands https://archaeology.org/issues/may-june-2022/collection/egypt-demon-wands/the-world-of-egyptian-demons/
NOTE: The Bible Study Lesson presented above is posted as a reference document to begin a conversation of the topic. And that's it. Please accept it at such.
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