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English Standard Version

Exodus 4:2

The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Call;   Communion;   Condescension of God;   Israel;   Miracles;   Moses;   Sign;   Token;   Thompson Chain Reference - Instrumentalities, Weak;   Moses' Rod;   Power;   Rod;   Small Things God Uses;   Weak;   Weakness-Power;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Miracles;   Prophets;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Aaron;   Sinai;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Moses;   Snake;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Rod;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Prophecy, Prophets;   Rod, Staff;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Exodus;   Moses;   Prayer;   Rod;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Miracles;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Moses;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Exodus, the;   Moses, the Man of God;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Moses;   Rod;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aaron's Rod;   Miracle;   Moses;   Staff;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 9;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
King James Version
And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Lexham English Bible
And Yahweh said to him, "What is this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
New Century Version
The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses answered, "It is my walking stick."
New English Translation
The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."
Amplified Bible
And the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
New American Standard Bible
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Lord said vnto him, What is that in thine hande? And he answered, A rod.
Legacy Standard Bible
And Yahweh said to him, "What is this in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."
Contemporary English Version
The Lord answered, "What's that in your hand?" "A walking stick," Moses replied.
Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai answered him, "What is that in your hand?" and he said, "A staff."
Darby Translation
And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff.
Easy-to-Read Version
But the Lord said to Moses, "What is that you have in your hand?" Moses answered, "It is my walking stick."
George Lamsa Translation
And the LORD said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A staff.
Good News Translation
So the Lord asked him, "What are you holding?" "A walking stick," he answered.
Christian Standard Bible®
The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”
Literal Translation
And Jehovah said to him, What is this in your hand? And he said, A staff.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The LORDE sayde vnto him: What is yt, that thou hast in thine hande? He saide a staff.
American Standard Version
And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.
Bible in Basic English
And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the Lorde sayde vnto him: What is that [which is] in thine hande? He aunswered: a rodde.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the LORD said unto him: 'What is that in thy hand?' And he said: 'A rod.'
King James Version (1611)
And the Lord said vnto him, What is that in thine hand? and hee said, A rod.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in thine hand? and he said, A rod.
English Revised Version
And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Berean Standard Bible
And the LORD asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the Lord seide to hym, What is this that thou holdist in thin hond? Moises answeride, A yerde.
Young's Literal Translation
And Jehovah saith unto him, `What [is] this in thy hand?' and he saith, `A rod;'
Update Bible Version
And Yahweh said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.
Webster's Bible Translation
And the LORD said to him, What [is] that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.
World English Bible
Yahweh said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
New King James Version
So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
New Living Translation
Then the Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A shepherd's staff," Moses replied.
New Life Bible
The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" Moses said, "A stick."
New Revised Standard
The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And Yahweh said unto him - What is this in thy hand? And he said - A staff.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rod.
Revised Standard Version
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."
THE MESSAGE
So God said, "What's that in your hand?" "A staff."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."

Contextual Overview

1 Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.'" 2 The Lord said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff." 3 And he said, "Throw it on the ground." So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, "Put out your hand and catch it by the tail"—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 "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." 6 Again, the Lord said to him, "Put your hand inside your cloak." And he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow. 7 Then God said, "Put your hand back inside your cloak." So he put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 "If they will not believe you," God said, "or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you shall take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a rod: Exodus 4:17, Exodus 4:20, Genesis 30:37, Leviticus 27:32, Psalms 110:2, Isaiah 11:4, Micah 7:14

Reciprocal: Exodus 4:30 - did the Exodus 7:9 - Take Exodus 7:15 - the rod Exodus 14:16 - lift Exodus 17:9 - the rod Numbers 17:2 - twelve rods Numbers 20:8 - the rod Numbers 22:9 - What men 2 Kings 13:17 - The arrow

Cross-References

Genesis 3:23
therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
Genesis 4:25
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth, for she said, "God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him."
Genesis 4:26
To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord .
Genesis 9:20
Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.
Genesis 37:13
And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." And he said to him, "Here I am."
Genesis 47:3
Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, as our fathers were."
Exodus 3:1
Now 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 wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
Psalms 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord , the fruit of the womb a reward.
Amos 7:15
But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'
Luke 11:51
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the Lord said unto him,.... Not reproving him for contradicting him, or showing any diffidence of what he had said; but rather as approving the hint he gave of having some sign or miracle wrought, to command from the Israelites an assent unto him, as commissioned of God to deliver them:

what [is] that in thine hand? which question is put, not as being ignorant of what it was, but to lead on to what he had further to say, and to the working of the miracle:

and he said, a rod; or staff, such as shepherds use in the management of their flocks, for Moses was now feeding the flock of his father-in-law; but Aben Ezra seems rather to think it was a walking staff, such as ancient men lean upon, since Moses did not go to Pharaoh after the manner of a shepherd; yea, it may be added, he went with the authority of a prince or ruler of Israel, and even with the authority of the ambassador of the King of kings.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A rod - The word seems to denote the long staff which on Egyptian monuments is borne by men in positions of authority. It was usually made of acacia wood.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 4:2. A rod. — מתה matteh, a staff, probably his shepherd's crook; see Leviticus 27:32. As it was made the instrument of working many miracles, it was afterwards called the rod of God; see Exodus 4:20.


 
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