Глава 4

1–9. Giving Moses the power to perform miracles. 10. Moses’ stubbornness and punishment by his appointment as Aaron’s assistant (reduction of power). 18–26. Epiphany to Moses in the land of Midian and on the way to Egypt. 27–31. Arrival in Egypt. Ex.4:1. And Moses answered and said: What if they do not believe me and do not listen to my voice and say: The Lord has not appeared to you? [what should I tell them?] The new, third reason for refusal on the part of Moses is the consideration that the Israelites will not recognize him as a divine messenger, but will accept him as a simple impostor: “they will say: the Lord did not appear to you.” Ex.4:2. And the Lord said to him: What is this in your hand? He answered: a rod. Ex.4:3. The Lord said: throw him to the ground. He threw it to the ground, and the rod turned into a serpent, and Moses fled from it. Ex.4:4. And the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand and take him by the tail. He stretched out his hand and took it [by the tail]; and it became a rod in his hand. Ex.4:5. This is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you. Ex.4:6. The Lord also said to him: Put your hand in your bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom, and took it out [from his bosom], and behold, his hand was as white as snow with leprosy. Ex.4:7. [Again] the Lord said [to him], “Put your hand again in your bosom.” And he put his hand into his bosom; and he took it out of his bosom, and behold, it again became the same as his body. Ex.4:8. If they do not believe you and do not listen to the voice of the first sign, then they will believe the voice of the sign of another; Ex.4:9. If they do not believe these two signs and do not listen to your voice, then take water from the river and pour it onto dry land; and the water taken from the river will become blood on the dry land. Being completely legitimate, the new reason for the refusal cannot, however, serve as an ineradicable obstacle to the fulfillment of the task entrusted to Moses. He is endowed with the power of miracles, which should convince the people that before him is not an ordinary person, much less an impostor, but a messenger of God (Exodus 4:5, 30–31). Exodus 4:10. And Moses said to the Lord: O Lord! I am not a man of speech, and I was like that both yesterday and the day before, and when You began to speak to Your servant: I speak hard and am tongue-tied. Exodus 4:11. The Lord said to [Moses], “Who gave man a mouth?” who makes one dumb, or deaf, or sighted, or blind? Am I not the Lord [God]? Exodus 4:12. therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say. Exodus 4:13. [Moses] said: Lord! send someone else whom you can send. Ex.4:14. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and He said, “Have you not a brother Aaron, the Levite?” I know that he can speak [in your place], and behold, he will come out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart; Exodus 4:15. You will speak to him and put [My] words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you should do; Ex.4:16. and he will speak for you to the people; so he will be your mouth, and you will be his God; Exodus 4:17. and take this rod [which was turned into a serpent] into your hand: with it you will do signs. The performance of three miracles that had just taken place perhaps inspired Moses with the idea that the Lord would, by a similar miracle, eliminate his natural deficiency - tongue-tiedness. The one who suffers from it “yesterday and the day before yesterday,” i.e. for a more or less long period (Dan. 13:15, 1 Mac. 9:44), Moses cannot take on the duties of the messenger of God, since with his stuttering speech (“I am not a man of speech”, Ex. 4:10)) he is not able to make the proper impression on the people and Pharaoh (Ex. 6:12, Jer. 1:6). Exodus 4:18. And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “I will go and return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive?” And Jethro said to Moses, Go in peace. [After a long time, the king of Egypt died.] The reason why Moses does not reveal to Jethro the true purpose of his journey to Egypt is either his humility, or, as some think, his not very close relationship with his father-in-law. Exodus 4:19. And the Lord said to Moses in [the land of] Midian: go, return to Egypt, for all who sought your life are dead. The determination that had matured in the soul of Moses to go to Egypt could be weakened by the thought of the possibility of persecution for the murder of an Egyptian (Ex. 2:12, 15) - fear for his own life. In view of this, strengthening him in his intention to set out on the journey, the Lord in a new appearance says that the fears that arose in his soul were in vain: “all who sought your soul have died.” Exodus 4:20. And Moses took his wife and his sons, put them on a donkey, and went to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. Exodus 4:21. And the Lord said to Moses: When you go and return to Egypt, see that you do all the miracles that I have entrusted to you before Pharaoh, and I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go. Exodus 4:22. And say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord [the God of the Hebrews]: Israel is My son, My firstborn; Ex.4:23. I say to you: let My son go, so that he may serve Me; and if you do not let him go, behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn. During the journey to Egypt itself, the third theophany falls to Moses, showing him the means and methods to implement the divine plan. Moses must support his request to release the Jews into the desert to make a sacrifice to God (Exodus 3:18) by performing before Pharaoh all those miracles, the power to perform which was given to Moses (“which I have put in your hand,” Exodus 4:21). And although these wonderful actions, not only the three described above, but also all the subsequent ones, since in Art. 23 speaks of the last plague, will not make an impression on Pharaoh - his heart, by the will of God, will harden, but Moses should not be embarrassed by such a circumstance. The demand to release the Jews will be fulfilled by Pharaoh after the last execution - the killing of his firstborn (Ex. 12:29–33); it is retribution for the unwillingness to give freedom to Israel, the firstborn of God. Israel, because of God's love for him (Hos. 11:1), is His firstborn, beloved son, and therefore it is unworthy that he, destined to serve God (Ex. 23:1, 19:6), should serve man. For non-recognition of such rights of Israel, Pharaoh will pay with the life of his eldest son: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex. 4:21). The hardness of Pharaoh's heart is attributed either to God (Ex. 7:3, 12:12, 10:1, 20, 27, 11:10, 14:4, 8, 17), or to himself (Exod. 7:13, 14:22, 8:15, 19, 32, 9:7, 34, 35, 13:15). Pharaoh himself is the culprit of this state insofar as, due to his pride and self-interest, he does not want to submit to the higher divine will recognized by himself and those around him (Ex. 8:19, 9:27): during the execution he is ready to release the Jews, but after it has passed he refuses to do so. But, on the other hand, Pharaoh’s sinful inclination would not have developed to such an extent if the divine command to release the Jews had not been addressed to him. In this regard, God is the author of the hardness of his heart. Ex.4:24. On the way, at an overnight stop, it happened that the Lord met him and wanted to kill him. Exodus 4:25. Then Zipporah, taking a stone knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and, throwing it at his feet, said: You are the bridegroom of my blood. Exodus 4:26. And the Lord departed from him. Then she said: The groom of blood is by circumcision. The previous theophany to Moses ended with a threat to punish Pharaoh for his possible failure to fulfill the divine requirement. That such a threat is not just words, Moses himself was convinced of this: “on the way to spend the night... the Lord... wanted to kill him” (Ex. 4:24). Since the active person until now was Moses, then by the one whom the Lord wanted to kill, we must understand him, Moses, but not his son, as some think. The reason for such a threatening attitude of God towards Moses can be seen from the further course of events. If the threat of death is canceled after the circumcision of one of the prophet’s sons: “Zipporah, taking a stone knife, circumcised the foreskin of her son... and the Lord departed from him” (Ex. 4:25–26), then it is self-evident that the reason for it was the uncircumcision of this son. Judging further by the fact that the circumcision is performed by Zipporah, it can be reliably assumed that she was the culprit of the uncircumcision. Following the customs of her tribe, in which, according to Josephus, circumcision of boys was performed at the age of 13, she postponed the performance of this rite until the time when her son reached the legal age, in her opinion. Moses, therefore, was not responsible for his son's uncircumcision. And if, nevertheless, he is in danger of death (Gen. 17:14), and not Zipporah, then, of course, because he is the head of the family. Having completed the circumcision, Zipporah “threw the foreskin of her son at the feet of Moses and said, “You are a bridegroom of my blood after circumcision” 3 (Ex. 4:25–26). Zipporah's action testifies to her irritation, and it is also heard in her words: marriage with Moses is for her the reason for unwanted shedding of blood, betrayal of the customs of her ancestors. From the story, chapter 18. book The outcome that Zipporah and her sons join Moses after the Jews leave Egypt (Exodus 18:2–5) undoubtedly follows that after the event described in the previous verses, she retired to her father, and Moses went to Egypt alone. Exodus 4:27. And the Lord said to Aaron: Go to meet Moses in the desert. And he went and met him at the mountain of God, and kissed him. Exodus 4:28. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded. Exodus 4:29. And Moses went with Aaron, and they gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel, Ex.4:30. and Aaron told [them] all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses; and Moses did signs in the sight of the people, Ex.4:31. and the people believed; and they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and had seen their suffering, and they bowed down and worshiped. Divine predictions are fulfilled (Exodus 4:27–28, 14:29–31, 3:18), and this supports the spirit of Moses. Slavic reading of Art. 31: “and the people believed and rejoiced” is more natural than the Russian: “and the people believed; and heard." Confidence was followed by joy at the coming of the time of liberation, and under the influence of both, “worship” before the Lord arose. Glory: “I fell at his feet and said: One hundred is the blood of the circumcision of my son. And an angel departed from him, saying, “One hundred is the blood of the circumcision of my son.” (Ed.) You might be interested in: