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Read the Bible
La Bible Ostervald
Exode 4:25
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedParallel Translations
Et S�phora prit une pierre tranchante et coupa le pr�puce de son fils, et le jeta � ses pieds, et dit: Certes tu m'es un �poux de sang!
S�phora prit une pierre aigu�, coupa le pr�puce de son fils, et le jeta aux pieds de Mo�se, en disant: Tu es pour moi un �poux de sang!
Et S�phora prit un couteau tranchant, et en coupa le pr�puce de son fils, et le jeta � ses pieds, et dit : certes tu m'[es] un �poux de sang.
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
a sharp stone: or, knife, Joshua 5:2, Joshua 5:3
cast it: Heb. made it touch.
a bloody: 2 Samuel 16:7
Reciprocal: Genesis 17:10 - Every Genesis 17:11 - the flesh Exodus 18:2 - Zipporah
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son,.... Perceiving that it was the neglect of circumcising her son was the cause of the divine displeasure against her husband; and he being either so ill through the disease upon him, or so terrified with the appearance of the Lord to him, in the manner it was, that he could not perform this rite himself, she undertook it; and, according to the Jewish canons b, a woman may circumcise; and having with her no instrument more proper to do it with, took a sharp stone, very probably a flint, of which there was great plenty in Arabia Petraea, where she was, and did it; and so the Jewish writers say c, they circumcise with a flint stone, with glass, or anything that will cut; and such like actions have been performed with sharp stones among the Heathens d: and cast it at his feet; not at the feet of the infant Eliezer, as R. Samuel in Aben Ezra; the blood of the circumcision running down to his feet, as Lyra interprets it; and so touched his feet e, as some render the words; not cast at the feet of the destroying angel, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, in order to pacify him; but at the feet of Moses, as the Jerusalem Talmud f; and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:
and said, surely a bloody husband art thou to me; those who think it was at the feet of the child the foreskin was cast, take these words to be spoken of that, and observe that it is usual for women, at the circumcision of a child, to call it a bridegroom or husband, because it is then espoused unto, and reckoned among the people of God; but this is not well supported; it is a custom of too late a date to give any countenance to such a sense of the words, which seem plain enough to be spoken to and of Moses; but not in an angry upbraiding way, as if he was a bloody cruel man to oblige her to do such an action, but rather in a congratulatory way, as being thankful and rejoicing, that by this means, through the blood of the circumcision, she had saved her husband's life; and as it were in that way had bought him, and afresh espoused him to herself as her husband; or otherwise it would have been all over with him, but now to her great joy he was delivered from the threatened destruction, and restored to her; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the next verse,
"then Zipporah gave praise, and said, how amiable is the blood of circumcision, which hath delivered my husband from the hand of the destroying angel.''
b Maimon. Hilchot Milah, c. 2. sect. 1. Shulchan Aruch, par. 2. Yore Dea, Hilchot Milah, c. 264. sect. 1. c Maimon. ib. Shulchan ib. sect. 2. d "Mollia qui rupta secuit genitalia testa." Juvenal Satyr 6. "Devolvit ipse acuto sibi pondera silice." Catullus. e ותגע לרגליו "tetigitque pedes ejus", V. L. f T. Hieros. Nedarim, fol. 38. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Sharp stone - Not “knife,” as in the margin. Zipporah used a piece of flint, in accordance with the usage of the patriarchs. The Egyptians never used bronze or steel in the preparation of mummies because stone was regarded as a purer and more sacred material than metal.
Cast it at his feet - Showing at once her abhorrence of the rite, and her feeling that by it she had saved her husband’s life.
A bloody husband - Literally, “a husband of blood,” or “bloods.” The meaning is: The marriage bond between us is now sealed by blood. By performing the rite, Zipporah had recovered her husband; his life was purchased for her by the blood of her child.
