Exodus 4:11

 Exodus 4:11

And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

a. ASV: And Jehovah said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh a man dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Jehovah? [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

b. YLT: And Jehovah saith unto him, 'Who appointed a mouth for man? or who appointeth the dumb, or deaf, or open, or blind? is it not I, Jehovah? [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: And the Lord said to him, Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Is it not I, the Lord? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. NLT: Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Then HASHEM said to him, “Who makes a mouth for man, or who makes one dumb or deaf, or sighted or blind? Is it not I, HASHEM?[The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

f. Torah, Judaism and Jewish information on the web: www.chabad.org; Online English Translation of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible): But the Lord said to him, "Who gave man a mouth, or who makes [one] dumb or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? [English Translation, Ⓒ Copyright The Judaica Press All rights reserved.]

1. “And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth?...”

a. [And the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

b. said [Strong: 559 'amar 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, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.]

c. unto [him] [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

d. Who [Strong: 4310 miy me an interrogative pronoun of persons, as 4100 is of things, who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix:--any (man), X he, X him, + O that! what, which, who(-m, -se, -soever), + would to God.]

e. [hath] made [Strong: 7760 suwm soom or siym {seem}; a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):--X any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, + disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, + name, X on, ordain, order, + paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), + regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, + stedfastly, take, X tell, + tread down, ((over-))turn, X wholly, work.]

f. man’s [Strong: 120 'adam aw-dawm' from 119; ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.):--X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.]

g. mouth [Strong: 6310 peh peh from 6284; the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech); specifically edge, portion or side; adverbially (with preposition) according to:--accord(-ing as, -ing to), after, appointment, assent, collar, command(-ment), X eat, edge, end, entry, + file, hole, X in, mind, mouth, part, portion, X (should) say(-ing), sentence, skirt, sound, speech, X spoken, talk, tenor, X to, + two-edged, wish, word.]

2. “...or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?”

a. or [Strong: 176 'ow o presumed to be the "constructive" or genitival form of -av {av}; short for 185; desire (and so probably in Prov. 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if:--also, and, either, if, at the least, X nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.]

b. who [Strong: 4310 miy me an interrogative pronoun of persons, as 4100 is of things, who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix:--any (man), X he, X him, + O that! what, which, who(-m, -se, -soever), + would to God.]

c. maketh [Strong: 7760 suwm soom or siym {seem}; a primitive root; to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically):--X any wise, appoint, bring, call (a name), care, cast in, change, charge, commit, consider, convey, determine, + disguise, dispose, do, get, give, heap up, hold, impute, lay (down, up), leave, look, make (out), mark, + name, X on, ordain, order, + paint, place, preserve, purpose, put (on), + regard, rehearse, reward, (cause to) set (on, up), shew, + stedfastly, take, X tell, + tread down, ((over-))turn, X wholly, work.]

d. [the] dumb [Strong: 483 'illem il-lame' from 481; speechless:--dumb (man).]

e. or [Strong: 176 'ow o presumed to be the "constructive" or genitival form of -av {av}; short for 185; desire (and so probably in Prov. 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if:--also, and, either, if, at the least, X nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.]

f. deaf [Strong: 2795 cheresh khay-rashe' from 2790; deaf (whether literally or spir.):--deaf.]

g. or [Strong: 176 'ow o presumed to be the "constructive" or genitival form of -av {av}; short for 185; desire (and so probably in Prov. 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if:--also, and, either, if, at the least, X nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.]

h. [the] seeing [Strong: 6493 piqqeach pik-kay'-akh from 6491; clear-sighted; figuratively, intelligent:--seeing, wise.]

i. or [Strong: 176 'ow o presumed to be the "constructive" or genitival form of -av {av}; short for 185; desire (and so probably in Prov. 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if:--also, and, either, if, at the least, X nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.]

j. [the] blind [Strong: 5787 `ivver iv-vare' intensive from 5786; blind (literally or figuratively):--blind (men, people).]

k. [have] not [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

l. I [Strong: 595 'anokiy aw-no-kee' sometimes {aw-no'-kee}; a primitive pro.; I:--I, me, X which.]

m. [the] LORD [Strong: 3068 Yhovah yeh-ho-vaw' from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

1). Troy Edwards, The Permissive Sense: There are some passages that explicitly state that God creates people with severe handicaps. Yet, in another place Satan and his demonic forces are blamed for these very same handicaps:

a). Exodus 4:10, 11 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

2). Troy Edwards, The Permissive Sense: In Exodus 4:11 we are told without any exceptions that God created people with handicaps. This Scripture has been used by many theologians to teach complete predestination of all that happens. Yet anyone who has seen people suffer in this way would have to count God as cruel and unjust to intentionally create them in this manner. Nonetheless, we read in Matthew 12:22-29 that these severe handicaps are the work of Satan and his demonic forces…we conclude that Matthew 12:22-29 interprets Exodus 4:10, 11 and the latter should be understood from the permissive sense.

a). Matthew 12:22-28 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

12:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David?

12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

12:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

12:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

3). Troy Edwards, God Is Said to do That Which He Only Permits: Part of the blame for erroneous ideas about God’s character may be due to the neglect of a very important Bible interpretation principle. Too often God has been blamed for the evil that is in this world. He has been blamed for sickness, crime, natural disasters, tragedies, accidents, death and even sin itself. Someone might say, “but there are a lot of Bible verses that say He does all of that.” It is true that many places in the Bible it appears to be teaching that God causes these things, but that is because our Bible interpreters, theologians, and ministers neglected to apply the Ancient Near EasternHebrew idiom of permission. 19th century theologian George Bush said, “God is often said to do that which he merely commands, causes, or permits to be done.” Failure to recognize this truth have caused many to wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction and the destruction of so many people…In his excellent book,Figures of Speech Used in the Bible, E.W. Bullinger says that an idiom is “the peculiar usage of words and phrases”. Bullinger also states that it is , “The language peculiar to one nation or tribe, as opposed to other languages or dialects.” Bullinger lists a number of idioms unique to Ancient Israel and their surrounding culture. One of those is the fact that “Active verbs were used by the Hebrews to express, not the doing of the thing but the permission of the thing which the agent is said to do.” Bullinger then proceeds to give a number of Scriptural examples in which God, in our translations, is said to be the author of a sinful act and then demonstrates how this should be understood in a permissive sense.