And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
- BSB The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.
- NKJV So the Lord said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
- NASB Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
- NLT Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet.
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 makes Moses 'as God' to Pharaoh and appoints Aaron as his prophet. This gives Moses divine authority to confront Egypt's king.
Overview
By making Moses 'as God to Pharaoh,' the Lord assigns him an authority that represents God Himself before the throne of Egypt, with Aaron speaking on his behalf as a prophet relays a master's word. This answers Moses' fear about his speech by reframing the whole encounter as God's confrontation, not Moses' own. The relationship pictures how God's word comes through appointed messengers, supremely through the Son who perfectly reveals the Father.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 4:15–16And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
- Ps 82:6I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
- John 10:35–36If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
- Jer 1:10See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
- 1 Kgs 17:23And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.
- 2 Kgs 6:32But Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man from before him: but ere the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer hath sent to take away mine head? look, when the messenger cometh, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door: is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?
- Gen 19:21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken.
- Exod 16:29See, for that the LORD hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
- Eccl 1:10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
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 7:1 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
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