Is something missing from Exodus 4?

2007-07-13
By

Exodus Chapter 4 is a very interesting but baffling part of the Bible. It begins with the Lord showing Moses how Moses will be able to convince people that he speaks for the Lord. Miracles will make Moses believable and the Lord proceeds to perform them, turning a rod into a snake and back into a rod, turning Moses’ hand “leprous as snow” and then back to normal.

Later in the chapter, the Lord orders Moses to return to Egypt and tell the Pharaoh to let “my son go.” In the next verse, Ch. 4:24, we are told, “And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.”

This is a verse to give one pause. The “him” in question appears to be Moses yet no reason has been given for the Lord’s homicidal attempt on Moses. The Lord had just calmly instructed the man to travel to Egypt. Why would the Lord then try to kill Moses?

“Sought to kill him” is also a phrase that begs explanation. Most Jews and Christians believe that the Lord of the Old Testament is an omnipotent, meaning all-powerful, Deity. So how could he have “sought” to do something and not done it? If the Lord seeks to do something but does not accomplish it, he would appear to be a Deity who operates within limitations.

Verse 25 seems to suggest that Moses’ quick-thinking wife, Zipporah, saved the day: “Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.”

The following verse: “So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.”

It would appear that the Lord was angry at Moses because his and Zipporah’s son was uncircumcised. However, why is there no verse before 25 telling the reader this? Why didn’t the Lord give Moses a chance to remove the child’s foreskin before seeking to kill Moses? These questions ache for answers.

Did Zipporah cast the foreskin at her husband’s feet or at the Lord’s “feet”?

“So he let him go” seems to be the Lord letting go of Moses. However, we are never told why the Lord would take hold of him in the first place.

What do you think, readers? Is something missing from Exodus 4?

And does this chapter depict a God of what is often called limited theism?

10 views

  • Joi

    1917 Scofield Reference Bible Notes
    Ex 4:24
    3 kill him
    (Cf) Ge 17:14 The context (Ge 4:25) interprets v. 25. Moses was forgetful of the very foundation sign of Israel’s covenant relation to Jehovah. On the eve of delivering Israel he was thus reminded that without circumcision an Israelite was cut off from the covenant. Jos 5:3-9.

    ————

    Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
    Ex 4:24
    In the inn – Or “resting place.” See Ge 42:27 note.

    Met him, and sought to kill him – Moses was attacked by a sudden and dangerous illness, which he knew was inflicted by God. The word “sought to kill” implies that the sickness, whatever might be its nature, was one which threatened death had it not been averted by a timely act. Zipporah believed that the illness of Moses was due to his having neglected the duty of an Israelite, and to his not having circumcised his own son; the delay was probably owing to her own not unnatural repugnance to a rite, which though practiced by the Egyptians, was not adopted generally in the East, even by the descendants of Abraham and Keturah. Moses appears to have been utterly prostrate and unable to perform the rite himself.

    ————

    Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
    Ex 4:25
    Sharp stone – Not “knife,” as in the margin. Zipporah used a piece of flint, in accordance with the usage of the patriarchs. The Egyptians never used bronze or steel in the preparation of mummies because stone was regarded as a purer and more sacred material than metal.

    Cast it at his feet – Showing at once her abhorrence of the rite, and her feeling that by it she had saved her husband’s life.

    A bloody husband – Literally, “a husband of blood,” or “bloods.” The meaning is: The marriage bond between us is now sealed by blood. By performing the rite, Zipporah had recovered her husband; his life was purchased for her by the blood of her child.

  • jackal1994

    I have a friend who read a book supposedly detailing purged books from the Old Testament because they weren’t to the church’s liking.

    According to this friend there is a story where Jesus meets a giant who helps him across a raging river. It was implied that it was a true giant much larger than a man.

    This could cast new meaning on David and Goliath.

    Also, there was supposedly purged stories of jesus as a child blinding people who got in his way before he assumed his mantle of saintliness.

  • Joi

    Regarding jackal1994 #2 post.

    You mean the Apocryphal books…. not purged.

    In Christianity, the Apocryphal, or what is also sometimes called the hidden or deuterocanonical books, are mainly a collection of ancient Jewish writings (written somewhere around 200 years before Christ’s birth) that were translated into the LXX (70 or Septuagint) and the Latin Vulgate. The word Apocrypha which is used to describe these writings, was actually coined by the 5th-century scholar named Jerome. These books were not a part of the Masoretic Text (which are copies of the collection of God inspired Hebrew text that the Jews themselves considered canonical), and thus their designation by Jerome as being ‘obscure or hidden’ books. i.e., Hidden or unseen by their absence, or uncommon use by God’s Covenant People. They were Deutero-canonical, or outside of Holy canon.

    The problem of course is, why would God keep hidden or apocryphal the very words which were presumably to instruct the Old Testament Jewish congregation? The obvious answer is, He wouldn’t. The Jewish canon does not contain the Apocrypha.

  • http://mensnewsdaily.com/author/denise-noe/ Denise Noe

    Thank you, joi, for your references. You appear to be very up on the Bible. Although I’m a non-believer, I’m finding my project of reading straight through the Bible to be a wonderfully informative adventure.

  • Joi

    You are VERY welcome Denise… If you’d like to even study further you can download Sword Searcher and it has the ability to search the bible for items, key terms, and also has other study books in the program.

    http://www.swordsearcher.com

  • anti armchair generals

    Denise Noe or Joi
    While sitting in an office several years ago, I happen to pick Newsweek and in it read excerpt from Joshua Hammer’s book “Chosen by God”.
    What chance do rest of the people have who lived thousnds of years ago separated from the Promised Land? Also, if the books predictions describe future accurately, what will the future bring?

    http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-God-Brothers-Joshua-Hammer/dp/0786886013






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