Exodus 4:25
in Exodus 4But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched it to Moses’ feet. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.
KJV
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.
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This verse in Exodus 4
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Sharp stone - Not “knife,” as in the margin. Zipporah used a piece of flint, in accordance with the usage of the patriarchs. The Egyptians never used bronze or steel in the preparation of mummies because stone was regarded as a purer and more sacred material than metal. Cast it at his feet - Showing at once her abhorrence of the rite, and her feeling that by it she had saved her husband’s life. A bloody husband - Literally, “a husband of blood,” or “bloods.” The meaning is: The marriage bond between us is now sealed by blood.
This site's exposition
at a lodging place along the way
on Exodus 4:24-26
The Hebrew pronouns carry no names, so readers divide over whether the LORD sought Moses or the son. Matthew Henry and John Gill take it of Moses, and Keil and Delitzsch of the uncircumcised boy.
This site's exposition
took a flint knife
Zipporah's words, bridegroom of blood, are hard to interpret. Albert Barnes reads the act as distaste for the rite and relief at her husband's rescue. He takes the phrase as a marriage now sealed in blood.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Why, therefore, was it commanded him that he should circumcise every male child in order on the eighth day, though it could not yet believe with the heart, that it should be counted unto it for righteousness, because the sacrament in itself was of great avail? And this was made manifest by the message of an angel in the case of Moses' son; for when he was carried by his mother, being yet uncircumcised, it was required, by manifest present peril, that he should be circumcised, and when this was done, the danger of death was removed. As therefore in Abraham the justification of faith came first, and circumcision was added afterwards as the seal of faith; so in Cornelius the spiritual sanctification came first in the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the sacrament of regeneration was added afterwards in the laver of baptism.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoON THE GRACE OF CHRIST AND ORIGINAL SIN 2.31.36 · Written before 430.
proposed
Now there was a forecast of His coming undoubtedly contained not only in other sacred institutions of the ancient Jews, but also in their circumcision of the foreskin. For the eighth day, in the recurrence of weeks, became the Lord's day, on which the Lord arose from the dead; and Christ was the rock whence was formed the stony blade for the circumcision; and the flesh of the foreskin was the body of sin.
At the place where they were spending the night, the Lord came upon Moses and wanted to kill him, because he had discontinued circumcision in Midian for one of his sons who had not been circumcised. From the day [the Lord] spoke with him on …
If I had been a Jew in the times of the ancient people, when there was nothing better to be, I would surely have accepted circumcision. That "seal of the justice of the faith" had so much power at that time, before it was rendered void by the coming of the Lord, that the angel would have strangled the infant son of Moses if his mother had not taken up a stone and circumcised the child and thus by this sacrament warded off his imminent destruction. This sacrament even tamed the river Jordan and reduced it to a brook. The Lord himself received this sacrament after birth, although on the cross he made it void.
As regards Moses, it is clear that he would have been in peril at the inn, if Zipporah, which is by interpretation "a bird," had not circumcised her son and cut off the foreskin of marriage with the knife which prefigured the gospel.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son,....
Note, (1.) Omissions are sins, and must come into judgment, and particularly the contempt and neglect of the seals of the covenant; for it is a sign that we undervalue the promises of the covenant, and are displeased with the conditions of it.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּקַּ֨ח | vatikach | and she took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| צִפֹּרָ֜ה | tziporah | Zipporah | H6855 → | 3 times |
| צֹ֗ר | tzor | a flint | H6864 → | |
| וַתִּכְרֹת֙ | vatikhrot | and she cut off | H3772 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עָרְלַ֣ת | ʾarelat | [the] foreskin of | H6190 → | |
| בְּנָ֔הּ | benah | son her | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| וַתַּגַּ֖ע | vataga' | and she made [it] touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| לְרַגְלָ֑יו | leraglav | <to> feet his | H7272 → | 247 times |
| וַתֹּ֕אמֶר | vatomer | and she said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כִּ֧י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חֲתַן־ | chatan- | [are] a bridegroom of | H2860 → | |
| דָּמִ֛ים | damim | blood<s> | H1818 → | 360 times |
| אַתָּ֖ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to <the> me |
וַתִּקַּ֨חand she took
vatikachH3947 →966 times
צִפֹּרָ֜הZipporah
tziporahH6855 →3 times
צֹ֗רa flint
tzorH6864 →
וַתִּכְרֹת֙and she cut off
vatikhrotH3772 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עָרְלַ֣ת[the] foreskin of
ʾarelatH6190 →
בְּנָ֔הּson her
benahH1121 →4930 times
וַתַּגַּ֖עand she made [it] touch
vataga'H5060 →150 times
לְרַגְלָ֑יו<to> feet his
leraglavH7272 →247 times
וַתֹּ֕אמֶרand she said
vatomerH559 →5305 times
כִּ֧יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
חֲתַן־[are] a bridegroom of
chatan-H2860 →
דָּמִ֛יםblood<s>
damimH1818 →360 times
אַתָּ֖הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
לִֽי׃to <the> me
li
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
Genesis 17:14But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
it leads to
- Exodus 4:24–26
Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
- Numbers 15:30–31
But the person who sins defiantly, whether a native or foreigner, blasphemes the LORD. That person shall be cut off from among his people.
- Exodus 12:19
For seven days there must be no leaven found in your houses. If anyone eats something leavened, that person, whether a foreigner or native of the land, must be cut off from the congregation…
- Exodus 4:24–26
Through
2 Samuel 16:7And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:10
But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify, ‘You have cursed both God and the king!’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”
- 1 Samuel 25:17
Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
- Deuteronomy 13:13
that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” (which you have not known),
- 2 Samuel 11:15–17
In the letter he wrote: “Put Uriah at the front of the fiercest battle; then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and killed.”
- 2 Samuel 3:37
So on that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the murder of Abner son of Ner.
- 1 Kings 21:10
Where this verse is studied
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Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Augustine of Hippo, ON BAPTISM 4.24.32; Augustine of Hippo, ON THE GRACE OF CHRIST AND ORIGINAL SIN 2.31.36; Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 23; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON EXODUS 4.4.1-3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, AGAINST JOVINIAN 1.20; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.