Exodus 4:11

Exodus 4:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Then the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
• New King James Version (NKJV)So the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?

Context of Exodus 4:11

9And if they don’t believe even these two signs or listen to what you say, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the Nile will become blood on the ground.” 10But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent — either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant — because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.” The Lord said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go! I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.” 13Moses said, “Please, Lord, send someone else.”

Exodus 4:11 word by word

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה אֵלָ֗יו מִ֣י שָׂ֣ם פֶּה֮ לָֽאָדָם֒ א֚וֹ מִֽי־יָשׂ֣וּם אִלֵּ֔ם א֣וֹ חֵרֵ֔שׁ א֥וֹ פִקֵּ֖חַ א֣וֹ עִוֵּ֑ר הֲלֹ֥א אָנֹכִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto him, Who hath madeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• man’sאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
• mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• the dumbאִלֵּם'illêm · muteH483
• or deafחֵרֵשׁchêrêsh · deafH2795
• or the seeingפִּקֵּחַpiqqêach · seeingH6493
• or the blindעִוֵּר‛ivvêr · blindH5787

Cross-references for Exodus 4:11

• Genesis 18:14Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
• Psalms 51:15Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
• Psalms 94:9Can the one who shaped the ear not hear, the one who formed the eye not see?
• Psalms 146:8The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are oppressed. The Lord loves the righteous.
• Isaiah 6:7He touched my mouth with it and said: Now that this has touched your lips, your iniquity is removed and your sin is atoned for.
• Isaiah 35:5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
• Isaiah 42:7in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
• Jeremiah 1:6But I protested, “Oh no, Lord God! Look, I don’t know how to speak since I am only a youth.”
• Ezekiel 3:26I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, and you will be mute and unable to be a mediator for them, for they are a rebellious house.
• Ezekiel 33:22Now the hand of the Lord had been on me the evening before the fugitive arrived, and he opened my mouth before the man came to me in the morning. So my mouth was opened and I was no longer mute.
• Amos 3:6If a ram’s horn is blown in a city, aren’t people afraid? If a disaster occurs in a city, hasn’t the Lord done it?

Commentaries on Exodus 4:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Who hath made man's mouth? etc. - Cannot he who formed the mouth, the whole organs of speech, and hath given the gift of speech also, cannot he give utterance? God can take away those gifts and restore them again. Do not provoke him: he who created the eye, the ear, and the mouth, hath also made the blind, the deaf, and the dumb.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-17Verses 10-17 Moses continued backward to the work God designed him for; there was much of cowardice, slothfulness, and unbelief in him. We must not judge of men by the readiness of their discourse. A great deal of wisdom and true worth may be with a slow tongue. God sometimes makes choice of those as his messengers, who have the least of the advantages of art or nature, that his grace in them may appear the more glorious. Christ's disciples were no…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11God created the organs of speech. These include the mouth, tongue, and lips. He has also decided each person’s abilities in speaking. God can use the abilities he has given. He is able to work through what he has created and chosen.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-1310-13. 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.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 4:11

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Call
• Communion
• Condescension of God
• Deafness
• Dumb (Deafness, Mute)
• Excuses
• Faith
• God
• Israel
• Moses
• Preaching
• Reasoning
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Dead
• Dumb
• Leprous
• Slow
• Spokesman
• Blindness
• Deaf
• Egypt
• Exodus, the

Commentaries on Exodus 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings