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Exodus 4:2–3

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4:2The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”54:3The Lord6 said, “Throw it to the ground.” So he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake,7 and Moses ran from it.

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Footnotes

  1. 5 Or “rod” (, ); , “walking stick”; “shepherd’s staff.” The staff appears here to be the shepherd’s staff that he was holding. It now will become the instrument with which Moses will do the mighty works, for it is the medium of the display of the divine power (S. R. Driver, Exodus, ; also, L. Shalit, “How Moses Turned a Staff into a Snake and Back Again,” 9 [1983]: 72–73).
  2. 6 Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  3. 7 The details of the verse are designed to show that there was a staff that became a snake. The question is used to affirm that there truly was a staff, and then the report of Moses running from it shows it was a genuine snake. Using the serpent as a sign would have had an impact on the religious ideas of Egypt, for the sacred cobra was one of their symbols.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A staff,” he replied.

“Throw it on the ground,” he said. So Moses threw it on the ground, it became a snake, and he ran from it.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

“Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Yahweh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” And he said, “Throw it onto the ground.” And he threw it onto the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it.

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.