Exodus 4:27
in Exodus 4Meanwhile, the LORD had said to Aaron, “Go and meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.
KJV
And the Lord said to Aaron, Go into the wilderness to meet Moses. And he went, and met him in the mount of God, and kissed him.
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This verse in Exodus 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Aaron met him in the mount of God, and kissed him--After a separation of forty years, their meeting would be mutually happy. Similar are the salutations of Arab friends when they meet in the desert still; conspicuous is the kiss on each side of the head.
This site's exposition
Go into the wilderness to meet Moses
on Exodus 4:27-28
God had been speaking to Aaron as well, and the two lines of instruction meet in the mount of God, which is the Horeb of Exodus 3:1 where the bush burned. The reunion of two brothers parted forty years is given one word, that he kissed him. Moses hands over everything he was given, the words and the signs together, so Aaron goes in to the elders knowing what Moses knows.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And the Lord said unto Aaron,....
God sent Aaron to meet him, and directed him where to find him, in the wilderness that lay towards Midian. Note, The providence of God is to be acknowledged in the comfortable meeting of relations and friends.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
The Lord said to Aaron - See Exo 4:14. By some secret but powerful movement on Aaron’s mind, or by some voice or angelic ministry, he was now directed to go and meet his brother Moses; and so correctly was the information given to both, that they arrived at the same time on the sacred mountain.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶֽל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַהֲרֹ֔ן | ʾaharon | Aaron | H175 → | 347 times |
| לֵ֛ךְ | lekh | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לִקְרַ֥את | likrat | to meet | H7122 → | 139 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֖ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| הַמִּדְבָּ֑רָה | hamidbarah | the wilderness towards | H4057 → | 270 times |
| וַיֵּ֗לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וַֽיִּפְגְּשֵׁ֛הוּ | vaiyifgeshehu | and he met him | H6298 → | |
| בְּהַ֥ר | behar | at [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַיִּשַּׁק־ | vaiyishak- | and he kissed | H5401 → | |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | <to> <the> him |
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָה֙Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶֽל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַהֲרֹ֔ןAaron
ʾaharonH175 →347 times
לֵ֛ךְgo
lekhH1980 →1546 times
לִקְרַ֥אתto meet
likratH7122 →139 times
מֹשֶׁ֖הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
הַמִּדְבָּ֑רָהthe wilderness towards
hamidbarahH4057 →270 times
וַיֵּ֗לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
וַֽיִּפְגְּשֵׁ֛הוּand he met him
vaiyifgeshehuH6298 →
בְּהַ֥רat [the] mountain of
beharH2022 →546 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
וַיִּשַּׁק־and he kissed
vaiyishak-H5401 →
לֽוֹ׃<to> <the> him
lo
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
Exodus 3:1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:8
So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Psalms 78:70–72
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
- Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
- Numbers 10:29
Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us,…
- 1 Kings 19:8
Through
Exodus 20:18When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sounding of the ram’s horn, and the mountain enveloped in smoke, they trembled and stood at a distance.
it leads to
- Exodus 19:16–18
On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the…
- Exodus 19:16–18
Through
1 Kings 19:8So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:18
Then I fell down before the LORD for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time. I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you…
- Exodus 34:28
So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
- Exodus 3:1
Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Deuteronomy 9:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
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About Exodus

Who and where
2 names 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.
