Bible Strands
Exodus 4:24
Now at a lodging place along the way, the LORD met Moses and was about to kill him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God confronts Moses at a lodging place during his journey to Egypt, immediately following the warning about Pharaoh’s firstborn. This occurs while Moses is traveling with his family, just before Zipporah’s intervention.
The words — The Hebrew וַ/יְבַקֵּ֖שׁ (va/y.va.Kesh) means "he sought," combined with הֲמִיתֽ/וֹ (ha.mi.T/o), "to kill him," describing Yahweh’s intent to put Moses to death. The event takes place at a lodging place (בַּ/מָּל֑וֹן) along the journey (בַ/דֶּ֖רֶךְ).
The thread — The lethal consequence for covenant neglect aligns with Genesis 17:14, where uncircumcised males are cut off from the people. Comparable divine opposition during travel appears in Numbers 22:22, where an angel stands in the road to oppose Balaam.
Why it lands — The passage requires acknowledgment that covenant markers are binding even on the messenger himself. It demands immediate compliance with circumcision before the divine commission can continue.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass by the way in the inn, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him.
Cross-references
- Genesis 17:14 But if any male is not circumcised, he will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
- Numbers 22:22 Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the LORD stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.
- Exodus 3:18 The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’
- Leviticus 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: ‘To those who come near Me I will show My holiness, and in the sight of all the people I will reveal My glory.’” But Aaron remained silent.
- 1 Chronicles 21:16 When David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem, David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell facedown.
- Hosea 13:8 Like a bear robbed of her cubs I will attack them, and I will tear open their chests. There I will devour them like a lion, like a wild beast tearing them apart.
- Genesis 42:27 At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of the sack.
- 1 Kings 13:24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.