Exodus 4:25

Exodus 4:25

Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.

a. ASV: Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said, Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.

b. YLT: And Zipporah taketh a flint, and cutteth off the foreskin of her son, and causeth it to touch his feet, and saith, 'Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me;'

c. Amplified Bible Classic: [Now apparently he had failed to circumcise one of his sons, his wife being opposed to it; but seeing his life in such danger] Zipporah took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it to touch [Moses’] feet, and said, Surely a husband of blood you are to me!

1). Note in Amplified Bible: He who is on his way to liberate the people of the circumcision has in Midian even neglected to circumcise his second son Eliezer (J.P. Lange, A Commentary). It was necessary that at this stage of Moses’ experience he should learn that God is in earnest when He speaks, and will assuredly perform all that He has threatened (J.G. Murphy, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus).

d. Septuagint: And Sepphora having taken a stone cut off the foreskin of her son, and fell at his feet and said, The blood of the circumcision of my son is staunched:

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: So Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and touched it to his feet; and she said. “You caused my bridegroom’s bloodshed!”

1. “Then Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son…”

a. [Then] Zipporah [Strong: 6855 Tsippôrâh, tsip-po-raw'; feminine of H6833; bird; Tsipporah, Moses’ wife:—Zipporah.]

b. took [Strong: 3947 lâqach, law-kakh'; a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):—accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.]

c. [a] sharp stone [Strong: 6864  tsôr, tsore; from H6696; a stone (as if pressed hard or to a point); (by implication, of use) a knife:—flint, sharp stone.]

d. [and] cut off [Strong: 3772 kârath, kaw-rath'; a primitive root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by implication, to destroy or consume; specifically, to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, originally by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):—be chewed, be con-(feder-) ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league (covenant), × lose, perish, × utterly, × want.]

e. [the] foreskin [Strong: 6190 ʻorlâh, or-law'; feminine of H6189; the prepuce:—foreskin, uncircumcised.]

f. [of her] son [Strong: 1121 bên, bane; from H1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.):—afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-) ite, (anoint-) ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-) ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, × came up in, child, colt, × common, × corn, daughter, × of first, firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, × in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, +mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, rebel, + robber, × servant born, × soldier, son, +spark, steward, + stranger, × surely, them of, + tumultuous one, valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.]

1). Stone Edition of the Chumash Commentary: Moses set out for Egypt with his family, including his newborn son, who had not yet been circumcised, and, because he was unconcerned about performing the circumcision in time, an angel was about to kill him. R’ Yose taught: Heaven forfend that moses did not care about the circumcision, He was faced with a dilemma. Should he perform the circumcision before he went, and then take the child with him? But the infant would be in danger for the first three days after the circumcision! Should he perform the circumcision and delay the trip for three days? But God had commanded him to go! He decided to travel immediately [since God knew about the baby when he commanded him to go]; nevertheless, he was held culpable because, when they arrived at an inn, he began making arrangements for his lodging instead of performing the circumcision without delay (Rashi from Nedarim 31b-32a). Even though he would  have had to resume his trip to Egypt after the circumcision, thus putting the infant into new danger and justifying further delay, the inn was close enough to Egypt that the short trip would not endanger the child’s health. (Ran. ibid.) An angel grasped Moses in such a way as to make Zipporah understand that the danger had been caused by Moses’ failure to circumcise the baby. Seeing that her husband was about to die because of the sin of omission, Zipporah circumcised the child, saving Moses’ life.

2. “...and cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to me.”

a. [and] cast [it] [Strong: 5060  nâgaʻ, naw-gah'; a primitive root; properly, to touch, i.e. lay the hand upon (for any purpose; euphemistically, to lie with a woman); by implication, to reach (figuratively, to arrive, acquire); violently, to strike (punish, defeat, destroy, etc.):—beat, (× be able to) bring (down), cast, come (nigh), draw near (nigh), get up, happen, join, near, plague, reach (up), smite, strike, touch.]

b. [at his] feet [Strong: 7272 regel, reh'-gel; from H7270; a foot (as used in walking); by implication, a step; by euphemistically the pudenda:—× be able to endure, × according as, × after, ×coming, × follow, (broken-)foot(-ed, -stool), × great toe, × haunt, × journey, leg, piss, possession, time.]

c. [and] said [Strong: 559  ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, ×expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

d. surely [Strong: 3588  kiy kee a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:--and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-)as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al- )though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

e. bloody [Strong: 1818 dâm, dawm; from H1826 (compare H119); blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animal; by analogy, the juice of the grape; figuratively (especially in the plural) bloodshed (i.e. drops of blood):—blood(-y, -guiltiness), (-thirsty), + innocent.]

f. husband [Strong: 2860 châthân, khaw-thawn'; from H2859; a relative by marriage (especially through the bride); figuratively, a circumcised child (as a species of religious espousal):—bridegroom, husband, son in law.]

g. you [are to me] [Strong: 859 'attah at-taw' or (shortened); aatta {at-taw'}; or wath {ath}; feminine (irregular) sometimes nattiy {at-tee'}; plural masculine attem {at- tem'}; feminine atten {at-ten'}; or oattenah {at-tay'naw}; or fattennah {at-tane'-naw}; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you:--thee, thou, ye, you.]