EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Exodus 3:5
5God said to Moses, ‘Do not come nearer! Remove your shoes from your feet. The ground that you are standing on is holy.’
Exodus 3:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
- New International Version (NIV)“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”
Context of Exodus 3:5
3Moses said to himself, ‘I will go nearer and see this strange thing. I want to see why the bush is not completely burned.’ 4The Lord saw that Moses came near to look at the bush. God spoke to Moses from inside the bush. He said, ‘Moses! Moses!’ Moses answered, ‘Here I am.’ God said to Moses, ‘Do not come nearer! Remove your shoes from your feet. The ground that you are standing on is holy.’ 6Then God said, ‘I am the God that your father worshipped. I am also the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Then Moses covered his face. He was afraid to look at God. 7The Lord said, ‘I have certainly seen the troubles of my people in Egypt. I have heard them when they cry for help because of their cruel masters. I know that they are very sad.
Read all of Exodus 3Exodus 3:5 word by word
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אַל־תִּקְרַ֣ב הֲלֹ֑ם שַׁל־נְעָלֶ֙יךָ֙ מֵעַ֣ל רַגְלֶ֔יךָ כִּ֣י הַמָּק֗וֹם אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתָּה֙ עוֹמֵ֣ד עָלָ֔יו אַדְמַת־קֹ֖דֶשׁ הֽוּא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Draw not nighקָרַבqârab · to present: comeH7126
- hitherהֲלֹםhălôm · hereH1988
- put offנָשַׁלnâshal · to slipH5394
- thy shoesנַ֫עַלna‛al na‛ălâh · sandalH5275
- from off thy feetרֶ֫גֶלregel · footH7272
- for the placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
- whereonאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
- thou standestעָמַד‛âmad · to stand: standH5975
- holyקֹ֫דֶשׁqôdesh · holinessH6944
- groundאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
Cross-references for Exodus 3:5
- Exodus 19:12Make a line round the edge of the mountain so that the people do not cross it. Say to them, “Be careful! Do not go up the mountain or even touch the edge of it. If any people or animals touch the mountain, they must die.
- Leviticus 10:3Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord said, “People may come near to me. But those people must see that I am holy. All the people must give honour to me.” ’ Aaron did not reply.
- Hebrews 12:20They were very afraid of what God had told them. God had said, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, you must kill it with stones.’
- Genesis 28:16Jacob woke from his sleep. He thought, ‘The Lord is in this place and I did not know it.’
- Joshua 5:15The captain of the Lord's army said, ‘Remove your shoes from your feet. You are standing on holy ground.’ Joshua did that.
- Ecclesiastes 5:1When you go to God's temple, be careful what you do. Listen carefully when you come near to God. Do not offer sacrifices in the way that foolish people do. They do not even know that they are doing something bad.
- Acts 7:33Then the Lord God said to Moses, “Remove your shoes from your feet, because you are standing in a very special place. This is my own place.
Commentaries on Exodus 3:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5Put off thy shoes - It is likely that from this circumstance all the eastern nations have agreed to perform all the acts of their religious worship barefooted. All the Mohammedans, Brahmins, and Parsees do so still. The Jews were remarked for this in the time of Juvenal; hence he speaks of their performing their sacred rites barefooted; Sat. vi., ver. 158: Observant ubi festa mero pede sabbata reges. The ancient Greeks did the same. Jamblichus, in the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Put off thy shoes - The reverence due to holy places thus rests upon God‘s own command. The custom itself is well known from the observances of the temple, it was almost universally adopted by the ancients, and is retained in the East. Holy ground - This passage is almost conclusive against the assumption that the place was previously a sanctuary. Moses knew nothing of its holiness after some 40 years spent on the Peninsula. It became holy by the presence…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The soil around the bush was holy, while the soil on the sandals of Moses was common. The common cannot touch the holy without being transformed or destroyed (see “Clean, Unclean, and Holy” Theme Note). At the start of the exodus, God made it clear that he is completely different from his creation. This is important for a proper relationship between God and humans. The word holy appears only a few times in the Bible before Exodus 3:5. It then becomes the…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. put off thy shoes--The direction was in conformity with a usage which was well known to Moses, for the Egyptian priests observed it in their temples, and it is observed in all Eastern countries where the people take off their shoes or sandals, as we do our hats. But the Eastern idea is not precisely the same as the Western. With us, the removal of the hat is an expression of reverence for the place we enter, or rather of Him who is worshipped there…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 3:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 3
- 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
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