Exodus 4:20

And 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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֜ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
took	וַיִּקַּ֨ח vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wife	אִשְׁתּ֣וֹ 'ish.To	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sons	בָּנָ֗יו ba.Nav	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
set	וַיַּרְכִּבֵם֙ vai.yar.ki.Vem	H7392	to ride (on an animal or in a vehicle) · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
ass	הַחֲמֹ֔ר ha.cha.Mor	H2543	a male ass (from its dun red) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
returned	וַיָּ֖שָׁב vai.Ya.shov	H7725	to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
land	אַ֣רְצָה 'Ar.tzah	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct + directional suffix
Egypt	מִצְרָ֑יִם mitz.Ra.yim	H4714	Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
Moses	מֹשֶׁ֛ה mo.Sheh	H4872	Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
took	וַיִּקַּ֥ח vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
rod	מַטֵּ֥ה ma.Teh	H4294	a branch (as extending) · noun, common masculine singular construct
God	הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים ha.'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
hand	בְּיָדֽוֹ be.ya.Do	H3027	a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 17:9 And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of…
Numbers 20:8-9 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall…
Exodus 4:2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
Exodus 18:3-4 And her two sons; of which the name of the one was Gershom; for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land:
Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and t…
Exodus 4:17 And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Here, I. Moses obtains leave of his father-in-law to return into Egypt, Exo 4:18. His father-in-law had been kind to him when he was a stranger, and therefore he would not be so uncivil as to leave his family, nor so unjust as to leave his service, without giving him notice. Note, The honour of being admitted into communion with God, and of being employed for him, does not exempt us from the duties of our relations and callings in this world. Moses said nothing to his father-in-law (for aught that appears) of the glorious manifestation of God to him; such favours we are to be thankful for to God, but not to boast of before men. II. He receives from God further encouragements and directions i…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:20

Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass--Septuagint, "asses." Those animals are not now used in the desert of Sinai except by the Arabs for short distances. returned--entered on his journey towards Egypt. he took the rod of God--so called from its being appropriated to His service, and because whatever miracles it might be employed in performing would be wrought not by its inherent properties, but by a divine power following on its use. (Compare Act 3:12).

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:20

His wife and his sons - Both Gershom and Eliezer, though the birth of the latter has not yet been mentioned in the Hebrew text. See Clarke's note on Exo 2:22. Set them upon an ass - The Septuagint reads the word in the plural, εκι τα ὑποζυγια, upon asses, as it certainly required more than one to carry Zipporah, Gershom, and Eliezer. The rod of God - The sign of sovereign power, by which he was to perform all his miracles; once the badge of his shepherd's office, and now that by which he is to feed, rule, and protect his people Israel.

John Gill on Exodus 4:20

And Moses took his wife, and his sons,.... Gershom and Eliezer; by which it appears that he intended to stay in Egypt, and that he believed that God would work deliverance by him: and set them upon an ass: which though with us a mean creature, yet in those times and countries were rode upon by great personages; and these, as Aben Ezra says, were reckoned in Egypt more honourable than mules. It may be the singular is put for the plural, and that each of them was set upon an ass, with servants to take care of them: and he returned to the land of Egypt; that is, he set forward to go thither; for before he got thither, various things are related which befell him: and Moses took the rod of God…

The Church Fathers

What was said above, that Moses placed his wife and his children on carts so that he might go with them into Egypt, but afterwards his father-in-law Jethro met him with them [in his company], after Moses had led the people out of Egypt, one can ask how both assertions can be true. One should realize that after the killing of Moses or of the child that the angel was going to carry out, his wife returned with the children. For some interpreters thought that the angel threatened them to keep a woman from accompanying Moses and thus forming an obstacle to the ministry that God had imposed on him.
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON EXODUS 12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ass — Frequently mentioned throughout Scripture. Of the domesticated species we read of, (1.) The she ass (Heb. ‘athon), so named from its slowness (Gen. 12:16; 45:23; Num. 22:23; 1 Sam. 9:3). (2.) The…
Moses · in Egypt — in Egypt

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Exodus 4:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:20

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:20

John Gill on Exodus 4:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 4:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 4:18-23

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 4:20

Adam Clarke on Exodus 4:20

John Gill on Exodus 4:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 4:18-23

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 4:19–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 4:20

Rashi on Exodus 4:20