And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him.
Parallel translations
- WEB On the way at a lodging place, Yahweh met Moses and wanted to kill him.
- BSB Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about 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 17:14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
- Num 22:22–23And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
- Hos 13:8I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
- Lev 10:3Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace.
- Exod 3:18And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.
- 1 Chr 21:16And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the LORD stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces.
- Gen 42:27And as one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, he espied his money; for, behold, it was in his sack’s mouth.
- 1 Kgs 13:24And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.
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.