Exodus 3:17
in Exodus 3And I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites—a land flowing with milk and honey.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
KJV
And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
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This verse in Exodus 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Go, and gather the elders of Israel together
on Exodus 3:16-17
Israel has elders while it is still in slavery, and that body is the first Moses is sent to. The message he carries, I have surely visited you, picks up the last words of Genesis, where Joseph told his brothers God will surely visit you at 50:24 and took an oath about his bones at 50:25. The elders are handed the sentence their fathers were left holding, and the land named in verse 17 is the land Joseph named.
This site's exposition
I have promised to bring you up
This is the message the elders are to hear, that God has promised to bring them up from their affliction into the land of the six peoples of Canaan. The verse repeats the promise of verse 8 almost word for word, so the elders receive what Moses received at the bush. Adam Clarke, on verse 16, notes that this visit fulfils Joseph's words in Genesis 50:24.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
: " I have said, I will bring you up; that is enough to satisfy them, I have said it: " hath he spoken, and will he not make it good? With us saying and doing are two things, but they are not so with God, for he is in one mind and who can turn him?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And I have said,.... Within himself, resolved in his own mind, and had declared it to Moses: I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt: with which they were afflicted in Egypt, and by the Egyptians; this he both purposed and promised to bring them out of: unto the land of the Canaanites, &c. then in the possession of the Canaanites, and others after named; See Gill on Exo 3:8.
He must repeat to them what God had said to him, as a faithful ambassador. Note, That which ministers have received of the Lord they must deliver to his people, and keep back nothing that is profitable.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfully met and removed--and the happy issue of his labors was minutely described.
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וָאֹמַ֗ר | vaomar | and I have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַעֲלֶ֣ה | ʾaaleh | I will bring up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֶתְכֶם֮ | ʾetkhem | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵעֳנִ֣י | meoni | from [the] affliction of | H6040 → | 36 times |
| מִצְרַיִם֒ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֤רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ | hakenaani | the Canaanite[s] | H3669 → | 73 times |
| וְהַ֣חִתִּ֔י | vehachiti | and the Hittite[s] | H2850 → | 48 times |
| וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ | vehaemori | and the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י | vehapperizi | and the Perizzite[s] | H6522 → | 23 times |
| וְהַחִוִּ֖י | vehachivi | and the Hivite[s] | H2340 → | 25 times |
| וְהַיְבוּסִ֑י | vehayvusi | and the Jebusite[s] | H2983 → | 41 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֛רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| זָבַ֥ת | zavat | flowing of | H2100 → | 42 times |
| חָלָ֖ב | chalav | milk | H2461 → | 44 times |
| וּדְבָֽשׁ׃ | udevash | and honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
וָאֹמַ֗רand I have said
vaomarH559 →5305 times
אַעֲלֶ֣הI will bring up
ʾaalehH5927 →890 times
אֶתְכֶם֮<obj.> you
ʾetkhemH853 →10935 times
מֵעֳנִ֣יfrom [the] affliction of
meoniH6040 →36 times
מִצְרַיִם֒Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֤רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙the Canaanite[s]
hakenaaniH3669 →73 times
וְהַ֣חִתִּ֔יand the Hittite[s]
vehachitiH2850 →48 times
וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙and the Amorite[s]
vehaemoriH567 →87 times
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔יand the Perizzite[s]
vehapperiziH6522 →23 times
וְהַחִוִּ֖יand the Hivite[s]
vehachiviH2340 →25 times
וְהַיְבוּסִ֑יand the Jebusite[s]
vehayvusiH2983 →41 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֛רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
זָבַ֥תflowing of
zavatH2100 →42 times
חָלָ֖בmilk
chalavH2461 →44 times
וּדְבָֽשׁ׃and honey
udevashH1706 →54 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 50:24Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely visit you and bring you up from this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac,…
it leads to
- Exodus 3:16–17
Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you…
- Genesis 26:3
Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath…
- Genesis 35:12
The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I will give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.”
- Genesis 46:4
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will surely bring you back. And Joseph’s own hands will close your eyes.”
- Genesis 48:21
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
- Exodus 3:16–17
Through
Joshua 24:11After this, you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The people of Jericho fought against you, as did the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I delivered them into your…
it leads to
- Joshua 3:14–17
So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carried the ark of the covenant ahead of them.
- Joshua 4:10–12
Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until the people had completed everything the LORD had commanded Joshua to tell them, just as Moses had directed…
- Acts 7:45
And our fathers who received it brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations God drove out before them. It remained until the time of David,
- Joshua 3:14–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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On this verse
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.