The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “Has Yahweh’s hand grown short? Now you will see whether my word will happen to you or not.”
- KJV And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’s hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
- NKJV And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
- NASB Then the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s power too little? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.”
- NLT Then the Lord said to Moses, “Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”
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 if the LORD's hand is too short, promising he will see God's word fulfilled. God's power is never limited by human calculation.
Overview
The LORD answers Moses' doubt with a pointed question about whether his arm is too short to act. The phrase affirms God's unlimited power against every human estimate of impossibility. Moses, and Israel, will witness that God's word always comes to pass (Isa. 59:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 59:1Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Gen 18:14Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
- Isa 50:2Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
- Matt 19:26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Ezek 12:25because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Ezek 24:14I, the LORD, have spoken; the time is coming, and I will act. I will not refrain or show pity, nor will I relent. I will judge you according to your ways and deeds,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Mic 2:7Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?
- Jer 44:28–29Those who escape the sword will return from Egypt to Judah, few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah who went to dwell in the land of Egypt will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs!
- Ps 78:41Again and again they tested God and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
- 2 Kgs 7:17–19Now the king had appointed the officer on whose arm he leaned to be in charge of the gate, but the people trampled him in the gateway, and he died, just as the man of God had foretold when the king had come to him.
- 2 Kgs 7:2But the officer on whose arm the king leaned answered the man of God, “Look, even if the LORD were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” “You will see it with your own eyes,” replied Elisha, “but you will not eat any of it.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 11:23 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.