¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

biblegateway Exo 4:1

Then Moses said, "What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say? For they may say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’"

Then Moses answered, "What if they won't believe me and will not obey me but say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"

"They will never believe me or listen to me!" Moses protested. "They will say, ‘The LORD didn’t appear to you.’"

biblegateway Exo 4:1

Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?"

Then Moses answered, "But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, 'The LORD did not appear to you.'"

bibleoremus Exo 4:1

Then Moses answered, "But suppose they do not believe me or listen to me, but say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you.’"

“But they will never believe me or listen to what I say,” Moses protested; “they will say that it is untrue that the LORD appeared to me.”

biblegateway Exo 4:1

Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The LORD has not appeared to you.’"

And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.

biblegateway Exo 4:1

¹ Moses answered again, ²  “And if ³  they do not believe me or pay attention to me, ⁴  but say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’?”

¹ sn In chap. 3, the first part of this extensive call, Yahweh promises to deliver his people. At the hesitancy of Moses, God guarantees his presence will be with him, and that assures the success of the mission. But with chap. 4, the second half of the call, the tone changes sharply. Now Moses protests his inadequacies in view of the nature of the task. In many ways, these verses address the question, “Who is sufficient for these things?” There are three basic movements in the passage. The first nine verses tell how God gave Moses signs in case Israel did not believe him (4:1-9). The second section records how God dealt with the speech problem of Moses (4:10-12). And finally, the last section records God’s provision of a helper, someone who could talk well (4:13-17). See also J. E. Hamlin, “The Liberator’s Ordeal: A Study of Exodus 4:1-9,” Rhetorical Criticism [PTMS], 33-42.

² tn Heb “and Moses answered and said.”

³ tn Or “What if.” The use of הֵן (hen) is unusual here, introducing a conditional idea in the question without a following consequence clause (see Exod 8:22 HT [8:26 ET]; Jer 2:10; 2 Chr 7:13). The Greek has “if not” but adds the clause “what shall I say to them?”

⁴ tn Heb “listen to my voice,” so as to respond positively.