Exodus 4:10 BSB — MannaFest

Exodus 4:10

“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

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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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Commentary

3 voices

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 5:3 (253)

Moses 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.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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:

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

25 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
מֹשֶׁ֣ה	mo.Sheh	Moses	H4872 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
יְהוָה֮	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
בִּ֣י	bi	pardon me	H994 →
אֲדֹנָי֒	'a.do.Nai	O Lord	H136 →
לֹא֩	lo'	not	H3808 →
אִ֨ישׁ	'ish	[am] a man of	H376 →
דְּבָרִ֜ים	de.va.Rim	words	H1697 →
אָנֹ֗כִי	'a.No.khi	I	H595 →
גַּ֤ם	gam	neither	H1571 →
מִתְּמוֹל֙	mi.te.mOl	from yesterday	H8543 →
גַּ֣ם	gam	nor	H1571 →
מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם	mi.shil.Shom	from three days ago	H8032 →
גַּ֛ם	gam	nor	H1571 →
מֵאָ֥ז	me.'Az	from then	H227 →
דַּבֶּרְךָ	da.ber.kha	speaking you	H1696 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ	'av.De.kha	servant your	H5650 →
כִּ֧י	ki	for	H3588 →
כְבַד־	khe.vad-	[am] heavy of	H3515 →
פֶּ֛ה	peh	mouth	H6310 →
וּכְבַ֥ד	u.khe.Vad	and heavy of	H3515 →
לָשׁ֖וֹן	la.Shon	tongue	H3956 →
אָנֹֽכִי׃	'a.No.khi	I	H595 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Jeremiah 1:6
“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
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.
Through
2 Corinthians 11:6
Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.
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…