Exodus 4:12
in Exodus 4Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt speak.
KJV
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.
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This verse in Exodus 4
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThe Lord also said to the Apostles, opening their mouths, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whereby He declared that He is the same Who said to Moses, I will open thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. Wherefore this wisdom, divine, unspeakable, unadulterated and incorruptible, pours her grace into the minds of her saints, and discloses to them knowledge that they may behold her glory.
This site's exposition
I am not eloquent
on Exodus 4:10-12
The next objection is his own mouth, and the Hebrew idiom behind slow of speech reads as heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue. God's answer moves off the mouth and onto its maker, naming the dumb and the deaf and the blind as his own doing, then promising to be with the mouth and to teach it what to say. Acts 7:22 says Moses was mighty in words and in deeds, and readers have long set that beside this verse without settling how the two fit together.
This site's exposition
I will help you as you speak
Having answered the objection, the LORD gives the command to go. The promise matches the fear, since the God who made the mouth will help Moses speak and teach him what to say. Adam Clarke notes that the ancient Aramaic paraphrase called the Chaldee speaks here of God's Word being with Moses' mouth.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
It is clear that not only the instruction that comes from his mouth but also its being opened pertains to the will and grace of God. For God does not say, "You open your mouth, and I will instruct you," but promised both: "I shall open, and I shall instruct." Elsewhere he says in a psalm, "Open your mouth, and I shall fill it." There it signifies the will in man to receive what God gives to one who is willing, so that "open your mouth" pertains to the initiative of the will and "I shall fill it" to the grace of God. But here the sense is "I shall both open your mouth and instruct you."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born slave? "No, Israel is my son, my firstborn, precious in my sight, honourable, and dear to me, not to be thus insulted and abused." (3.) He must demand a discharge for them: " Let my son go; not only my servant whom thou hast no right to detain, but my son whose liberty and honour I am very jealous for.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth,.... And put words into it, and cause it to speak readily and powerfully; and so it appears that he was mighty in words, as well as in deeds, Act 7:22, and teach thee what thou shalt say; to Pharaoh, to the Israelites, and to Aaron, that was to speak for him, as is hereafter observed.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
I will be with thy mouth - The Chaldee translates, My Word, meimeri, shall be with thy mouth. And Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases, I and my Word will be with the speech of thy mouth. See Clarke on Gen 15:1 (note), and Lev 25:10 (note).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I am not eloquent--It is supposed that Moses labored 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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Compare with this our Lord’s promise to His Apostles; Mat 10:19; Mar 13:11.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Behold, God did not now. As our verse may be taken to imply. promise Moses that He would remove the slowness of his tongue.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
“This means by the hand of him whom You are accustomed to send, and that is Aaron.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֖ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| לֵ֑ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְאָנֹכִי֙ | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| אֶֽהְיֶ֣ה | ʾehyeh | I will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| פִּ֔יךָ | pikha | mouth your | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וְהוֹרֵיתִ֖יךָ | vehoreitikha | and I will teach you | H3384 → | 80 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| תְּדַבֵּֽר׃ | tedaber | you will say | H1696 → | 1141 times |
וְעַתָּ֖הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
לֵ֑ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
וְאָנֹכִי֙and I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
אֶֽהְיֶ֣הI will be
ʾehyehH1961 →3559 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
פִּ֔יךָmouth your
pikhaH6310 →498 times
וְהוֹרֵיתִ֖יךָand I will teach you
vehoreitikhaH3384 →80 times
אֲשֶׁ֥ר[that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
תְּדַבֵּֽר׃you will say
tedaberH1696 →1141 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
Jeremiah 1:9Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
it leads to
- Luke 21:15
For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
- Exodus 4:11–12
And the LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes the mute or the deaf, the sighted or the blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
- Luke 12:12
For at that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say.”
- Isaiah 51:16
I have put My words in your mouth, and covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”
- Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
- Luke 21:15
Through
Mark 13:11But when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand what to say. Instead, speak whatever you are given at that time, for it will not be you speaking, but the…
it leads to
- Luke 21:14–15
So make up your mind not to worry beforehand how to defend yourselves.
- Luke 12:11–12
When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say.
- Matthew 10:19–21
But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to respond or what to say. In that hour you will be given what to say.
- Luke 21:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, Letter 65.4; Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON EXODUS 9; 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.