Exodus 4:10
in Exodus 4“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
KJV
And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
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This verse in Exodus 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseMoses himself once said: "I am alogos"("wordless"). The Latin version uses a different expression, but we can translate the word alogos exactly as "without words and reason." After he said this, he received reason and speech, which he admitted that he did not have before. When the people of Israel were in Egypt, before they had received the law, they too were without words and reason and thus in a sense mute. Then they received the Word; Moses was the image of it.
This site's exposition
I have never been eloquent
on Exodus 4:10-12
The Hebrew behind "slow of speech and tongue" reads as heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue. God answers as the maker of mouths and promises to teach him what to say. Acts 7:22 calls Moses "powerful in speech and action".
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Clement of RomeClement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 17 · Written before 99.
proposed
Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins [Hebrews 11:37] went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture]. Abraham was specially honoured, and was called the friend of God; yet he, earnestly regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, "I am but dust and ashes." [Genesis 18:27] Moreover, it is thus written of Job, "Job was a righteous man, and blameless, truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil." [Job 1:1] But bringing an accusation against himself, he said, "No man is free from defilement, even if his life be but of one day." [Job 14:4-5] Moses was called faithful in all God's house; and through his instrumentality, God punished Egypt with plagues and tortures. Yet he, though thus greatly honoured, did not adopt lofty language, but said, when the divine oracle came to him out of the bush, "Who am I, that Thou sendest me? I am a man of a feeble voice and a slow tongue." [Exodus 4:10] And again he said, "I am but as the smoke of a pot."
[Moses] believes that by God's will he can suddenly become eloquent when he says, "or since the time you began to speak to your servant." He shows that it could happen that one who was not eloquent the day before, or the day before that, could suddenly become eloquent, from the time when the Lord began to speak to him.
But I shall also bring forth still another passage for you which you cannot contradict. In Exodus where we have written in the codices of the church Moses responding to the Lord and saying, "Provide, Lord, another whom you will send. For I am feeble in voice and slow in tongue," you have in the Hebrew copies, "But I am uncircumcised in lips." Behold, you have a circumcision of lips according to your copies, which you say to be more accurate. If therefore according to you Moses still says that he is unworthy because he has not been circumcised in his lips, he certainly indicates this, that he would be worthier and holier who is circumcised in his lips. Therefore apply the pruning hook also to your lips and cut off the covering of your mouth since indeed such an understanding pleases you in the divine letters. But if you refer circumcision of lips to allegory and say no less that circumcision of ears is allegorical and figurative, why do you not also inquire after allegory in circumcision of the foreskin?
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Moses said unto the Lord,....
A great deal of wisdom and true worth is concealed by a slow tongue. (2.) God is pleased sometimes to make choice of those as his messengers who have fewest of the advantages of art or nature, that his grace in them may appear the more glorious. Christ's disciples were no orators, till the Spirit made them such.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
I am not eloquent - לא איש דברים lo ish debarim, I am not a man of words; a periphrasis common in the Scriptures. So Job 11:2, איש שפתים ish sephathayim, a man of lips, signifies one that is talkative. Psa 140:11, איש לשון ish lashon, a man of tongue, signifies a prattler. But how could it be said that Moses was not eloquent, when St. Stephen asserts, Act 7:22, that he was mighty in words as well as in deeds? There are three ways of solving this difficulty:
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Eloquent - See the margin. The double expression “slow of speech (Eze 3:5 margin) and of a slow tongue” seems to imply a difficulty both in finding words and in giving them utterance, a very natural result of so long a period of a shepherd’s life, passed in a foreign land. Since thou hast spoken - This expression seems to imply that some short time had intervened between this address and the first communication of the divine purpose to Moses.
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֣ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָה֮ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בִּ֣י | bi | pardon me | H994 → | |
| אֲדֹנָי֒ | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| לֹא֩ | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אִ֨ישׁ | ʾish | [am] a man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| דְּבָרִ֜ים | devarim | words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| אָנֹ֗כִי | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
| גַּ֤ם | gam | neither | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מִתְּמוֹל֙ | mitemol | from yesterday | H8543 → | 23 times |
| גַּ֣ם | gam | nor | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם | mishilshom | from three days ago | H8032 → | 24 times |
| גַּ֛ם | gam | nor | H1571 → | 769 times |
| מֵאָ֥ז | meaz | from then | H227 → | 141 times |
| דַּבֶּרְךָ | daberkha | speaking you | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| כְבַד־ | khevad- | [am] heavy of | H3515 → | 41 times |
| פֶּ֛ה | peh | mouth | H6310 → | 498 times |
| וּכְבַ֥ד | ukhevad | and heavy of | H3515 → | 41 times |
| לָשׁ֖וֹן | lashon | tongue | H3956 → | |
| אָנֹֽכִי׃ | ʾanokhi | I | H595 → | 359 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֹשֶׁ֣הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָה֮Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בִּ֣יpardon me
biH994 →
אֲדֹנָי֒O Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
לֹא֩not
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אִ֨ישׁ[am] a man of
ʾishH376 →1663 times
דְּבָרִ֜יםwords
devarimH1697 →1440 times
אָנֹ֗כִיI
ʾanokhiH595 →359 times
גַּ֤םneither
gamH1571 →769 times
מִתְּמוֹל֙from yesterday
mitemolH8543 →23 times
גַּ֣םnor
gamH1571 →769 times
מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔םfrom three days ago
mishilshomH8032 →24 times
גַּ֛םnor
gamH1571 →769 times
מֵאָ֥זfrom then
meazH227 →141 times
דַּבֶּרְךָspeaking you
daberkhaH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָservant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
כִּ֧יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
כְבַד־[am] heavy of
khevad-H3515 →41 times
פֶּ֛הmouth
pehH6310 →498 times
וּכְבַ֥דand heavy of
ukhevadH3515 →41 times
לָשׁ֖וֹןtongue
lashonH3956 →
אָנֹֽכִי׃I
ʾanokhiH595 →359 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 1:6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
it leads to
- Exodus 4:10–16
“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- Exodus 6:12
But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”
- Jeremiah 32:17
“Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!
- 1 Kings 3:7–9
And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
- Exodus 4:10–16
Through
2 Corinthians 11:6Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:4
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,
- 1 Corinthians 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
- 1 Corinthians 1:21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
- 2 Corinthians 4:2
Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to…
- Ephesians 3:4
Where this verse is studied
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About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON EXODUS 7; Clement of Rome, Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 17; 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5:3 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 3:5.