And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”
- BSB And the LORD asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
- NKJV So the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”
- NASB The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.”
- NLT Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.
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
God asks Moses what is in his hand—an ordinary shepherd's staff—about to become the instrument of His power. It matters because God works His deliverance through what we already hold when surrendered to Him.
Overview
As Moses raises objections, God meets him not with abstract assurance but with a question pointing to the rod in his hand. This common tool, used to tend Jethro's flock, will become the visible sign of God's authority before Pharaoh and Israel. The episode shows that God equips His servants with what is already in their grasp, foreshadowing how He later uses lowly means—a cross, ordinary bread and wine—to accomplish redemption.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 4:17And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.
- Exod 4:20And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
- Isa 11:4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
- Ps 110:2The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
- Lev 27:32And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
- Gen 30:37And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.
- Mic 7:14Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
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 4:2 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.