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Parsha[GN]
13: Sh'mot (continued)
“Names,” Exod. 1:1-6:1
B. God’s Deliverance of Isra'el (3:1-18:27)
1. The Burning Bush (3:1-4:31)
a. God calls Moshe (3:1-22)
[Midyan [MAP] • 1463 BCE]
(iv) 1 When
Moshe was tending the flock of his father-in-law Yitro, the priest of Midyan,
he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness, and came to Horev,[1] the mountain of Elohim.
2 The Angel of ADONAI[GN]
appeared to him in a fire blazing from the middle of a bush. Moshe saw
[what seemed to be] the bush
ablaze with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
3 So Moshe thought, “I must go over
and see this remarkable sight. Why isn’t the bush burning
“The Angel of ADONAI appeared to him in a fire blazing from the middle of a bush.”
4 When ADONAI saw that he had come over to look, Elohim called out to him from the middle of the bush, “Moshe! Moshe!”
He said, “Here I am.”[4]
5 “Don’t come any closer,” Elohim said. “Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” 6 Then He said, “I am the Godאֱלֹהֵ֧י (’ĕ·lō·hê) of your father, the Godאֱלֹהֵ֧י (’ĕ·lō·hê) of AvrahamAbrahan, the Godאֱלֹהֵ֧י (’ĕ·lō·hê) of Yitz’chakIsa'ac, and the Godאֱלֹהֵ֧י (’ĕ·lō·hê) of Ya‘akovJacob.”
Moshe hid his face because he was afraid to look at Elohim.
7 ADONAI said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard their cry of distress because of their taskmasters, and I know their suffering. 8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Kena‘aniCanaanite, the HittiHittite, the EmoriAmorite, the P’riziPerizzite, the HiviHivite, and the Y’vusiJebusite.[8] 9 Now hinneh,[GN] the cry of the Isra'elites[9] has come to me, and I have seen how severly the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 Therefore, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people, the Isra'elites, out of Egypt.”
11 Moshe asked Elohim, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Isra'elites out of Egypt?”
12 “I will surely be with you,” He answered. “This will be the sign to you that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will serve Elohim on this mountain.”[12]
13 Then Moshe asked Elohim, “Hinneh, when I have come to the Isra'elites and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what should I tell them?”
14 Elohim told Moshe, “Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh [I was/am/will be what I was/am/will be],””[14] and He said, “You are to tell the Isra'elites this: ‘Ehyeh [I was/am/will be what I was/am/will be] has sent me to you.’” 15 Elohim also told Moshe, “Say this to the Isra'elites: ‘ADONAI [יְהוָ֖ה][GN] — the God of your fathers, the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak, and the God of Ya‘akov — has sent me to you.’ This [יְהוָ֖ה] is My Name[GN] forever; this is My Memorial Name [זֶכֶר, zeker, memorial, remembrance; how I am to be remembered] generation after generation.
(v) 16 “Go and assemble elders of Isra'el and tell them, ‘ADONAI the God of your fathers — the God of Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya‘akov — has appeared to me, saying, “I have been watching you closely, and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 I have promised to bring you up out of your affliction in Egypt, into the land of the Kena‘aniCanaanite, the HittiHittite, the EmoriAmorite, the P’riziPerizzite, the HiviHivite, and the Y’vusiJebusite — a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 They will listen to what you say; you must go with them to the king of Egypt, and tell him, ‘ADONAI the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to ADONAI our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go unless he is compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. And after that he will let you go. 21 I will grant this people with such favor in the sight of the Egyptians, that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask her neighbor, and any woman staying in her house, for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
1. While tradition equates biblical Mt. Horeb (or Mt. Sinai) with Jebel Musa in Arabic, the Mountain of Moshe, in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula [MAP] (note the map shows two possible locations for Mt. Horeb, Jebel Musa in Sinai and Jebel al Lawz in Midian), since Moshe was tending sheep in Midian [MAP] when God appeared to him in the burning bush, is it not more reasonable to assume that Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai) is actually Jebel al Lawz or Mount Lawz [MAP] in modern Saudi Arabia? This point is important to the entire Exodus narrative, especially to the location of the giving of the Torah. [BACK]
3. The bush was not actually on fire. That alone would probably not have been a “remarkable sight.” The Angel of ADONAI appeared in the bush “like” a blazing fire. This would be the same “Pillar of Fire” that led the people of Isra'el through the wilderness, and the same “fire” the people saw on the top of the mountain when ADONAI was there in His Glory. “To the people of Isra’el the glory of Adonai looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain” (Exod 24:17). [BACK]
4. “Here I am.” The Hebrew phrase is הִנֵּֽנִי (hin·nê·nî) וַיֹּ֛אמֶר (way·yō·mer), and literally means “Look! I am here! Speak; I intend to listen and to obey what you say.” [BACK]
8. God is not capricious; He did not just arbitrarily remove those nations from their land so Isra'el could have it. They were corrupt, idolatrous, violent, evil people and being removed from their lands was just judgment for their evil. [BACK]
9. Hebrew בּנֵֽי־ (ḇə·nê-) יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל (yiś·rā·’êl), “Children of Isra'el,” may also be translated “descendants of Isra'el,” “People of Isra'el,” or “Isra'elites.” [BACK]
12. It will be on this same mountain that all Isra'el will hear the voice of God and from which He will give them His Torah. [BACK]
14. This phrase is a combination of all tenses (past, present, and future) of the verb “to be.” Thus Judaism has historically referred to Him as “the Eternal.” [BACK]
Other commentaries on Exodus 3
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
Pulpit Commentary
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
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ANXIOUSLY WATCHING FOR MASHIACH’S RETURN,
SPEEDILY AND IN OUR DAY. MARANA, TA!
