Exodus 4:13
in Exodus 4But Moses replied, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Oh, Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
KJV
And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
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This verse in Exodus 4
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA 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.
This site's exposition
Please, Lord, send someone else
on Exodus 4:13-14
The last objection drops the arguments and asks God to send somebody else. The answer still gives him what he asked for, since Aaron "is now on his way to meet you". The brother was travelling before the request was made.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): "Send by any hand but mine; thou canst certainly find one much more fit." Note, An unwilling mind will take up with a sorry excuse rather than none, and is willing to devolve those services upon others that have any thing of difficulty or danger in them. How God condescends to answer all his excuses. Though the anger of the Lord was kindled against him (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
And he said, O my Lord,.... Acknowledging his dominion, his sovereignty, his power to do the above things: or "on me, O Lord" (u), be the blame for making such objections; or on me let this work be devolved, since it is thy pleasure: send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Send - by the hand of him whom thou wilt send - Many commentators, both ancient and modern, have thought that Moses prays here for the immediate mission of the Messiah; as if he had said: “Lord, thou hast purposed to send this glorious person at some time or other, I beseech thee send him now, for who can be sufficient to deliver and rule this people but himself alone?” The Hebrew שלח נא ביד תשלח shelach na beyad tishlach literally translated is, Send now (or, I beseech thee) by the hand thou wilt send; which seems to intimate, Send a person more fit for the work than I am. So the Septuagint: Προχειρισαι δυναμενον αλλον, ὁν αποστελεις· Elect another powerful person, whom thou wilt send. It is right to find out the Messiah wherever he is mentioned in the Old Testament; but to press scriptures into this service which have not an obvious tendency that way, is both improper and dangerous. I am firmly of opinion that Moses had no reference to the Messiah when he spoke these words.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And he said - The reluctance of Moses is in accordance with the inner law of man’s spiritual development, and specially with his own character; but, under the circumstances, it indicated a weakness of faith.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
“This means by the hand of him whom You are accustomed to send, and that is Aaron.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
I KNOW THAT HE [Aaron] CAN SPEAK WELL. That is to say, “It is revealed before Me that, out of his love for you, Aaron will willingly speak on your behalf even if I were not to command him.
Behold, God did not now. As our verse may be taken to imply. promise Moses that He would remove the slowness of his tongue.
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֖אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בִּ֣י | bi | pardon me | H994 → | |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| שְֽׁלַֽח־ | shelach- | send | H7971 → | 845 times |
| נָ֖א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| בְּיַד־ | beyad- | by [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| תִּשְׁלָֽח׃ | tishlach | [whoever] you will send | H7971 → | 845 times |
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
בִּ֣יpardon me
biH994 →
אֲדֹנָ֑יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
שְֽׁלַֽח־send
shelach-H7971 →845 times
נָ֖אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
בְּיַד־by [the] hand of
beyad-H3027 →1618 times
תִּשְׁלָֽח׃[whoever] you will send
tishlachH7971 →845 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
Exodus 23:20Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
it leads to
- Exodus 33:14
And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Psalms 91:11
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
- Exodus 32:34
Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
- Exodus 14:19
And the angel of God, who had gone before the camp of Israel, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from before them and stood behind them,
- Exodus 33:2
And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
- Exodus 33:14
Through
Jonah 1:3Jonah, however, got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship bound for Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went…
it leads to
- Psalms 139:7–12
Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
- Psalms 139:7–12
Through
Matthew 13:41The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness.
it leads to
- Matthew 24:31
And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
- Matthew 24:31
Through
Jonah 1:6The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
it leads to
- Jonah 3:9
Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.”
- Jonah 3:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.