Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
Parallel translations
- WEB On the way at a lodging place, Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him.
- KJV And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
- NKJV And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him.
- NASB But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met Moses, and sought to put him to death.
- NLT On the way to Egypt, at a place where Moses and his family had stopped for the night, the Lord confronted him and was about to kill him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
On the journey God meets Moses and seeks to kill him, a startling and debated episode. It underscores that even God's chosen servant must not neglect God's covenant requirements.
Overview
This brief, difficult passage records God confronting Moses at a lodging place with deadly seriousness, most likely over the uncircumcised state of his son. Faithful interpreters differ on the exact details, but the thrust is clear: covenant obligations cannot be neglected, even by the deliverer. The scene sobers us with God's holiness and prepares for Zipporah's decisive act in the verses that follow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gen 17:14But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- Num 22:22–23Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
- Hos 13:8Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast would tear them apart.
- Lev 10:3Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.
- Exod 3:18The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
- 1 Chr 21:16When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
- Gen 42:27At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.
- 1 Kgs 13:24As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 4:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.