Moses Returns to Egypt: Exodus 4.18-4.31
Moses returns to his father-in-law Jethro and asks to return to Egypt:
Please let me go back to my kindred in Egypt and see whether they are still living.(Ex. 4.18)
Jethro allows it. The Lord then appears to Moses and says:
Go back to Egypt; for all those who were seeking your life are dead.(Ex. 4.19)
These two quotations display a refined authorship: connected by the idea of a return to Egypt, they oppose each other with the dualities of life versus death and kindred versus strangers. There is also a nice sense of justice and finality in the phrase, “those who were seeking your life are dead.”
Moses puts his wife and sons on donkeys and returns to Egypt, staff in hand. (The only son introduced is Gershom; it is likely this is from a different tradition in which Moses has multiple sons.)
God tells Moses to go before Pharaoh and perform the wonders he has been taught. God will intentionally harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will not release the Israelites. It is all part of a plan; Moses is to tell Pharaoh that Israel is the Lord’s firstborn son and should be released so he may worship God. Moses will then warn Pharaoh that God will kill Pharaoh’s firstborn son in retribution.
A Strange Occurrence
On the way, at a place where they spent the night, the Lord met him and tried to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched his* feet with it, and said, ‘Truly you are a bridegroom of blood to me!’ So he let him alone. It was then she said, ‘A bridegroom of blood by circumcision.’(Ex. 4.24-26) *Moses’ in the NRSV version, here the Hebrew text preserves ambiguity.
That was a strange passage. Who is “he,” anyway?* Is it Moses or his son? And why would God wish to kill Moses, the man he just designated to lead the Israelites? One theory posits that God attempts to kill Moses or his son because neither are circumcised, having lived outside of the Israelite culture. But does that really merit death?
“Bridegroom” would seem to indicate that it is Moses who is circumcised, but a note in the Harper Collins Study Bible points out that this term was also applied to boys undergoing circumcision. This means that either Moses is saved by the blood of his son’s circumcision or his son is saved by the blood of his own circumcision.
Zipporah does not touch the type of feet you stand on. Feet here is probably a euphemism for genitalia.
*The bible loves puns, and much to the annoyance of those who know me personally so do I. I couldn’t pass up noting that in Hebrew, hu is he. That is, the Hebrew word “hu” translates in English to “he.” Learn more Hebrew from Itche Kadoozy!
The Story Continues
The Lord tells Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness. They meet at the mountain of God (Hebron; see Ex. 4.14). Moses tells Aaron of God’s plan, and the two go to assemble the elders of the Israelites. Aaron repeats what the Lord has told Moses, performs the signs of Moses, and ends up with a group full of believers:
The people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had given heed to the Israelites and that he had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshipped.(Ex. 4.31)
Bricks Without Straw: Exodus 5.1-23
Moses and Aaron (without the elders who are supposed to accompany them according to Exodus 3.18) approach Pharaoh and say:
Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the desert.”(Ex. 5.1)
Pharaoh responds, who is this “Lord” (YHWH) guy anyway? I don’t know any Lord. They explain that YHWH, God of the Hebrews, has commanded them to make sacrifice in the wilderness. Otherwise he will deliver pestilence or death. Pharaoh tells Moses and Aaron to get back to work. The Hebrews must continue to work, because they are so numerous.
That day Pharaoh commands the taskmasters and supervisors that they should not give people straw to make bricks. Rather, the Hebrews must go to find the straw themselves – and turn out the same number of bricks. You see, says Pharaoh, “they are lazy,” and that is why they want a break to go worship their God (Ex. 5.8). Therefore their labor should be even greater.
The taskmaster have a chat with the Israelites, who fan out searching fro straw. The supervisors, who are apparently also Israelites, are beaten when the workers do not turn out the same number of bricks. The supervisors approach Pharaoh regarding the unfair working conditions. Pharaoh simply responds that they are lazy and must return to work to produce the same number of bricks. The supervisors realize they are in trouble, and rebuke Moses and Aaron: “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us” (Ex. 5.21).
Moses, in turn, asks the Lord why the Lord has mistreated the Israelites, and why the Lord sent Moses. The deal has resulted in no good at all, and God has done nothing to deliver the Israelites. It must seem strange to the Israelites. First God comes to kill Moses or his son, and then God increases the workload of the people he wishes to free. Indeed, it must be very frustrating for Moses and the people. God promises something, but does not deliver immediately. Sort of like, oh, the divine promise of land and progeny. Progeny has been adequately fulfilled, apparently, with the family of Israel. But that whole land thing is still a problem. And remember, it took Abraham years to have a son, though he was promised many descendants.
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