Tree of Life Version
Exodus 4:10
10But Moses said to Adonai, “Adonai, I am not a man of words—not yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant—because I have a slow mouth and a heavy tongue.”
Exodus 4:10 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.
- New International Version (NIV)Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But Moses said to the Lord, "Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then Moses said to the Lord, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Context of Exodus 4:10
8Then He said, “If they do not believe you, or listen to the voice of the first sign, they will believe the message of the latter sign. 9But if they do not believe even these two signs nor listen to your voice, you are to take the water of the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the ground.” But Moses said to Adonai, “Adonai, I am not a man of words—not yesterday, nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant—because I have a slow mouth and a heavy tongue.” 11So Adonai said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Or who makes a man mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, Adonai? 12Now go! I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”
Read all of Exodus 4Exodus 4:10 word by word
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֣ה אֶל־יְהוָה֮ בִּ֣י אֲדֹנָי֒ לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי גַּ֤ם מִתְּמוֹל֙ גַּ֣ם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם גַּ֛ם מֵאָ֥ז דַּבֶּרְךָ אֶל־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
- saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- Oבִּיbîy · pleaseH994
- my Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
- Iאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- not eloquentדָּבָרdâbâr · word: speakingH1697
- neither heretoforeתְּמוֹלtemôl temôl · yesterdayH8543
- neither heretoforeשִׁלְשֹׁםshilshôm shilshôm · three days agoH8032
- nor sinceמֵאָז'âz · the pastH227
- thou hast spokenדָבַרdâbar · to speak: speakH1696
- unto thy servantעֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- slowכָּבֵדkâbêd · heavyH3515
- of speechפֶּהpeh · lip: wordH6310
- tongueלָשׁוֹןlâshôn lâshôn leshônâh · tongueH3956
Cross-references for Exodus 4:10
- Exodus 4:1Then Moses said, “But look, they will not believe me or listen to my voice. They will say, ‘Adonai has not appeared to you.’”
- Job 12:2“Without a doubt you are the people and wisdom will die with you!
- 1 Corinthians 2:1When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with excellence of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God.
- 2 Corinthians 10:10for they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his presence in person is weak and his speech of no account.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:6Even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge. No, in every way we have made this clear to you in all things.
- Exodus 6:12But Moses said to Adonai, “Bnei-Yisrael have not listened to me. So how would Pharaoh listen to me—I, who have uncircumcised lips?”
- Jeremiah 1:6Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim! Look, I don’t know how to speak! For I’m still a boy!”
- Acts 7:22Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was powerful in his words and deeds.
Commentaries on Exodus 4:10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10I am not eloquent - דברים איש לא lo ish debarim, I am not a man of words; a periphrasis common in the Scriptures. So Job 11:2, שפתים איש ish sephathayim, a man of lips, signifies one that is talkative. Psalm 140:11, לשון איש ish lashon, a man of tongue, signifies a prattler. But how could it be said that Moses was not eloquent, when St. Stephen asserts, Acts 7:22, that he was mighty in words as well as in deeds? There are three ways of solving this…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10Eloquent - See the margin. The double expression “slow of speech (Ezekiel 3:5 margin) and of a slow tongue” seems to imply a difficulty both in finding words and in giving them utterance, a very natural result of so long a period of a shepherd‘s life, passed in a foreign land. Since thou hast spoken - This expression seems to imply that some short time had intervened between this address and the first communication of the divine purpose to Moses.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. 10-17The fourth and final protest of Moses was that he could not speak well. He seemed desperate to avoid this difficult task. God was becoming angry at Moses for refusing to accept the truth. The outcome did not depend on the ability of Moses. Instead, it depended on his willingness to let God's power work through him.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 4:10
In the dictionaries
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
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