Exodus 4:20

World English Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." ¹⁹ Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return into Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead." ²⁰ Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. Moses took God's rod in his hand. ²¹ Yahweh said to Moses, "When you go back into Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand, but I will harden his heart and he will not let the people go. ²² You shall tell Pharaoh, 'Thus says Yahweh, Israel is my son, my firstborn, ²³ and I have said to you, "Let my son go, that he may serve me;" and you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the rod of God: Exodus 4:2, Exodus 4:17, Exodus 17:9, Numbers 20:8, Numbers 20:9

Reciprocal: Exodus 2:21 - Zipporah Exodus 7:9 - Take Exodus 14:16 - lift Numbers 18:20 - General 2 Kings 4:24 - Then she 1 Chronicles 23:15 - Gershom Acts 7:29 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 4:2
Again she gave birth, to Cain's brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Genesis 4:4
Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering,

Genesis 4:5
but he didn't respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.

Genesis 4:9
Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?"

Genesis 4:10
Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.

Genesis 4:11
Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

Genesis 4:12
From now on, when you till the ground, it won't yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth."

Genesis 4:21
His brother's name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe.

Genesis 25:27
The boys grew. Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field. Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents.

John 8:44
You are of your Father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn't stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Moses took his wife, and his sons,.... Gershom and Eliezer; by which it appears that he intended to stay in Egypt, and that he believed that God would work deliverance by him:

and set them upon an ass: which though with us a mean creature, yet in those times and countries were rode upon by great personages; and these, as Aben Ezra says, were reckoned in Egypt more honourable than mules. It may be the singular is put for the plural, and that each of them was set upon an ass, with servants to take care of them:

and he returned to the land of Egypt; that is, he set forward to go thither; for before he got thither, various things are related which befell him:

and Moses took the rod of God in his hand: his shepherd's staff, so called, because God ordered him to take it; and besides, he had wrought signs and wonders by it already, and would do many more.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An ass - Literally, “the ass,” which, according to Hebrew idiom, means that he set them upon asses. This is the first notice of other sons besides Gershom.

The rod of God - The staff of Moses was consecrated by the miracle Exodus 4:2 and became “the rod of God.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 4:20. His wife and his sons — Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. Exodus 2:22.

Set them upon an ass — The Septuagint reads the word in the plural, εκι τα ὑποζυγια, upon asses, as it certainly required more than one to carry Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer.

The rod of God — The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd's office, and now that by which he is to feed, rule, and protect his people Israel.