Exodus 3:7

said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. Now that Moses had put off his shoes (for, no doubt, he observed the orders given him, v. 5), and covered his face, God enters upon the particular business that was now to be concerted, which was the bringing of Israel out of Egypt. Now, after forty years of Israel's bondage and Moses's banishment, when we may suppose both he and they began to despair, they of being delivered and he of delivering them, at length, the time has come, even the year of the redeemed. Note, God often comes for the salvation of his people when they have done looking for him. Shall he find faith? Luke xviii. 8. Here is, I.

3:7-10 God notices the afflictions of Israel. Their sorrows; even the secret sorrows of God's people are known to him. Their cry; God hears the cries of his afflicted people. The oppression they endured; the highest and greatest of their oppressors are not above him. God promises speedy deliverance by methods out of the common ways of providence. Those whom God, by his grace, delivers out of a spiritual Egypt, he will bring to a heavenly Canaan.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt,.... Or, "in seeing I have seen", which not only denotes the certainty of it, as we express it; but the clear, distinct, and full sight he had of it, with sympathy towards them, an affectionate concern for them, and a fixed, settled, determination in his mind to deliver them; he had long took notice of, and had thoroughly observed their affliction, and was afflicted with them in it, and was bent upon their deliverance out of it: and have heard their cry, by reason of their taskmasters; who were set over them to see that they did their work, and to lay heavy burdens on them, and afflict them by all manner of ways and methods they could devise; and who abused and beat them for not doing what was not to be done, which made them cry out because of their barbarous usage of them, and cry unto God for help and deliverance: for I know their sorrows; the pains of body they were put unto, and the inward grief and trouble of their minds on account of them.

(7) The Lord said. —Heb., Jehovah said. The “God” of Exodus 3:6 is “Jehovah” here, and again “God” in Exodus 3:11 . (See the Note on Exodus 3:4 .) I have surely seen.—Heb., seeing I have seen. It is not so much certainty as continued looking that is implied. (Comp. Exodus 2:25.) Taskmasters.—A different word from that similarly translated in Exodus 1:11, and one that implies cruel usage. It is sometimes rendered “oppressors” (Zechariah 9:8).

Verse 7. - I have surely seen . Literally "Seeing I have seen" - an expression implying continuance. On the force of the anthropomorphic terms "seeing, hearing, knowing," as used of God, see the comment on Exodus 2:24-25. Taskmasters . Not the general superintendents of Exodus 1:11 , but subordinate officials, who stood over the labourers and applied the rod to their backs. (See above, Exodus 2:11 .) Exodus 3:7

7 . seen the affliction ] Exodus 4:31 ; Genesis 31:42 ; Deuteronomy 26:7 al.taskmasters ] The Egyptian superintendents of the labour-gangs, or corvée (see on Exodus 1:11 ). Properly hard-pressers , rendered driver in Job 39:7 ; oppressor in Isaiah 3:12 ; Isaiah 9:4 ; Isaiah 14:2 ; and exactor in Daniel 11:20 (cf. exact for the cognate verb, Deuteronomy 15:2-3 ): LXX. here ἐργοδιωκταί . So ch. Exodus 5:6 ; Exodus 5:10 ; Exodus 5:13-14 . Not the expression used in Exodus 1:11 .

6-8. I am the God … come down to deliver—The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises. The period of Israel's journey and affliction in Egypt had been predicted (Ge 15:13), and it was during the last year of the term which had still to run that the Lord appeared in the burning bush.

Jehovah had seen the affliction of His people, had heard their cry under their taskmasters, and had come down (ירד, vid., Genesis 11:5 ) to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up to a good and broad land, to the place of the Canaanites; and He was about to send Moses to Pharaoh to bring them forth. The land to which the Israelites were to be taken up is called a "good" land, on account of its great fertility ( Deuteronomy 8:7 .), and a "broad" land, in contrast with the confinement and oppression of the Israelites in Egypt. The epithet "good" is then explained by the expression, "a land flowing with milk and honey" (זבת, a participle of זוּב in the construct state; vid., Ges. 135); a proverbial description of the extraordinary fertility and loveliness of the land of Canaan (cf. Exodus 3:17 ; Exodus 13:5 ; Exodus 16:14 , etc.). Milk and honey are the simplest and choicest productions of a land abounding in grass and flowers, and were found in Palestine in great abundance even when it was in a desolate condition ( Isaiah 7:15 , Isaiah 7:22 ; see my Comm. on Joshua 5:6 ). The epithet broad is explained by an enumeration of the six tribes inhabiting the country at that time (cf. Genesis 10:15 . and Genesis 15:20 , Genesis 15:21 ).

[Bible] 3:6. And he said: I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face: for he durst not look at God. 3:7. And the Lord said to him: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that are over the works; 3:8. And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey, to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite. 3:9. For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians. 3:10. But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. 3:11. And Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 3:12. And he said to him: I will be with thee; and this thou shalt have for a sign that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain. 3:13. Moses said to God: Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them: The God of your fathers hath sent me to you. If they shall say to me: What is his name? What shall I say to them? 3:14. God said to Moses: I AM WHO AM. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you. I am who am... That is, I am being itself, eternal, self-existent, independent, infinite; without beginning, end, or change; and the source of all other beings. 3:15. And God said again to Moses: Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you; this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.