Exodus 4:26

Exodus 4:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)So he let him go: then she said, A bloody husband thou art, because of the circumcision.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So he let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So He let him go. Then she said, “You are a husband of blood!”—because of the circumcision.
• New Living Translation (NLT)(When she said “a bridegroom of blood,” she was referring to the circumcision.) After that, the Lord left him alone.

Context of Exodus 4:26

24At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.) 27The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him. 28Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.

Exodus 4:26 word by word

וַיִּ֖רֶף מִמֶּ֑נּוּ אָ֚ז אָֽמְרָ֔ה חֲתַ֥ן דָּמִ֖ים לַמּוּלֹֽת׃ פRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• So he let him goרָפָהrâphâh · to slackenH7503
• then she saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• A bloodyדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
• husbandחָתָןchâthân · son-in-lawH2860
• because of the circumcisionמוּלָהmûlâh · circumcisionH4139

Commentaries on Exodus 4:26

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26So he let him go - i. e. God withdrew His visitation from Moses. Moses sent Zipporah and her children back to Jethro before he went to Egypt, Exodus 18:2. The journey would have been delayed had he waited for the healing of the child.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-31Verses 24-31 God met Moses in anger. The Lord threatened him with death or sent sickness upon him, as the punishment of his having neglected to circumcise his son. When God discovers to us what is amiss in our lives, we must give all diligence to amend it speedily. This is the voice of every rod; it calls us to return to Him that smites us. God sent Aaron to meet Moses. The more they saw of God's bringing them together, the more pleasant their interview…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 24-26This incident is mysterious. Zipporah immediately circumcising her son suggests she and Moses had previously discussed it and decided it was unnecessary. Why would having an uncircumcised son make God want to kill the rescuer he had prepared and called? It would seem strange for Moses to arrive in Egypt claiming to represent the God of the Israelites' ancestors, but would not do what God commanded them (Genesis 17:10). This might cause the people to be…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. So he let him go--Moses recovered; but the remembrance of this critical period in his life would stimulate the Hebrew legislator to enforce a faithful attention to the rite of circumcision when it was established as a divine ordinance in Israel, and made their peculiar distinction as a people.Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 4:26

• Family
• Moses
• Women
• Zipporah

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Dead
• Leprous
• Slow
• Spokesman
• Zipporah
• Bloody
• Crime; Crimes
• 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