Exodus 3

Exodus 3:1 At that time Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the open country[1] and came to Horeb, God’s mountain.

Exodus 3:2 And the agent[2] of Yahveh[3] appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and noticed the bush was burning, but it was not consumed.

Exodus 3:3 And Moses said, “I will go over to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

Exodus 3:4 When Yahveh saw that he went over to see, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Notice me.”

Exodus 3:5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, because the place on which you are standing is sacred[4] ground.”

Exodus 3:6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Exodus 3:7 Then Yahveh said, “I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their slavedrivers.[5] I know their sufferings,

Exodus 3:8 and I have come down to strip them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and extensive land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place now possessed by Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 3:9 And now, notice, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

Exodus 3:10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may rescue my people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt.”

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and rescue the sons of Israel from Egypt?”

Exodus 3:12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have rescued the people from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Notice, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”

Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, Yahveh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my permanent[6] name, and this is how I am to be remembered for all generations.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, “Yahveh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, and this is what he said, “I have seen you and what has been done to you in Egypt,

Exodus 3:17 and I promise that I will bring you up from the trouble of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘

Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the open country, so that we may sacrifice to Yahveh our God.’

Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless forced by a mighty hand.

Exodus 3:20 So I will stretch out my hand and hit Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.

Exodus 3:21 And I will give this people favor[7] in the eyes of the Egyptians; and when you go, you will not go empty,

Exodus 3:22 but each woman will ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives as a guest in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You will put them on your sons and on your daughters. This is how you will strip the Egyptians.”

[1] מִדְבָּר = open country. Exodus 3:1, 18; 4:27; 5:1, 3; 7:16; 8:27, 28; 13:18, 20; 14:3, 11, 12; 15:22; 16:1, 2, 3, 10, 14, 32; 17:1; 18:5; 19:1, 2; 23:31.

[2] מַלְאָךְ = agent. Exodus 3:2; 14:19; 23:20, 23; 32:34; 33:2.

[3] יָהְוֶה = Yahveh. Exodus 3:2, 4, 7, 15, 16, 18; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 30, 31; 5:1, 2, 3, 17, 21, 22; 6:1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 26, 28, 29, 30; 7:1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25; 8:1, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; 9:1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 35; 10:1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27; 11:1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10; 12:1, 11, 12, 14, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 41, 42, 43, 48, 50, 51; 13:1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 21; 14:1, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31; 15:1, 3, 6, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26; 16:3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 23, 25, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34; 17:1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 16; 18:1, 8, 9, 10, 11; 19:3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; 20:2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 22; 22:11, 20; 23:17, 19, 25; 24:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 16, 17; 25:1; 27:21; 28:12, 29, 30, 35, 36, 38; 29:11, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 41, 42, 46; 30:8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 34, 37; 31:1, 12, 13, 15, 17; 32:5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35; 33:1, 5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 19, 21; 34:1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34; 35:1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30; 36:1, 2, 5; 38:22; 39:1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 42, 43; 40:1, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32, 34, 35, 38.

[4] קֹדֶשׁ = sacred. Exodus 3:5; 12:16; 15:11, 13; 16:23; 22:31; 26:33, 34; 28:2, 4, 29, 35, 36, 38, 43; 29:6, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37; 30:10, 13, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37; 31:10, 11, 14, 15; 35:2, 19, 21; 36:1, 3, 4, 6; 37:29; 38:24, 25, 26, 27; 39:1, 30, 41; 40:9, 10, 13.

[5] נָגָשׂ = slavedriver. Exodus 3:7; 5:6, 10, 13, 14.

[6] עוֹלָם = permanent, permanently. Exodus 3:15; 12:14, 17, 24; 14:13; 15:18; 19:9; 21:6; 27:21; 28:43; 29:9, 28; 30:21; 31:16, 17; 32:13; 40:15.

[7] חֵן = favor. Exodus 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; 33:12, 13, 16, 17; 34:9.

Exodus 3 quotes:

“The practice of removing the sandals on entering sacred places, and even houses on visits of courtesy, has ever been, and still is, general in the East.”

Alford Henry. The Book of Genesis and Part of the Book of Exodus : A Revised Version with Marginal References and an Explanatory Commentary. Strahan 1872. p. 229.

“Thus ‘I am that I am,’ God is an ultimate fact ; He cannot be explained by anything else, but only by Himself. And, again, ‘ I am — always — that which I am — now, and always have been,’ as in the New Testament, ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’

Then. I am, because I am,’ there is no cause for God’s existence outside of Himself.

Then, too, ‘ I am who am,’ God is pure and essential being.

And, again, ‘I will be that I will be,’ or ‘I become that which I will, or choose to, become’; God is lord of His own destiny.”

Bennett, W. H. Exodus: Introduction. New York: H. Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1908. p. 58.

“The third chapter of Exodus is filled with revelation and interaction. It includes a theophany (the appearing of God) and the story of Moses’ call. Moses meets God for the first time in the burning bush, where God calls him to go back to Egypt. We are reminded of the oppression there and hear the first two of Moses’ five objections to God’s call. Exodus 3 gives the name of the Lord, repeats the promise of land to Abraham’s family, and predicts Pharaoh’s resistance. Finally, God promises to do “wonders” until the Egyptians let the people go and send them away with silver, gold, and clothing.”

Bruckner James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster 2008. p. 39.