Exodus 3
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Summary
While in Midian, Moses is met by God, who appears to him through the burning bush. God commands Moses to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage.
| KJV | JST |
|---|---|
| (2) And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. | (2) And again the presence of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire, in the midst of a bush. And he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. |
| (3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. | (3) And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed. |
Commentary
Bible Central Commentary
These free resources were developed for use in the free ScripturePlus app. Many of the contributors are professors of religion and ancient scripture at Brigham Young University.
Wally Breitenstein, “Exodus 1–6,” in Exodus, Old Testament Minute Commentary Series, ed. Taylor Halverson (Springville, UT: Book of Mormon Central, 2021).
Historical Commentaries
Many of the commentaries below are in the public domain and were authored over 100 years ago. In many cases, they do not reflect the findings of modern scholarship, but they may be helpful for understanding the history of biblical scholarship.
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Historical Settings
Time
*All Dates Are Approximate, according to the narrative of the Bible. These dates may reflect literary significance as opposed to the precise dates of history.
See Biblical Chronology- 1446 BC*
Further Reading
Book of Mormon Central, “Why is Lehi Depicted as Similar to Moses? (2 Nephi 3:9-10)” KnoWhy 268 (January 30, 2017).
S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” BYU Studies 30, no. 3 (1990): 111–126.
S. Kent Brown, “Trust in the Lord: Exodus and Faith,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Old Testament, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2005), 154–163.
John Gee, “‘Put Off Thy Shoes from Off Thy Feet’: Sandals and Sacred Space,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 45 (2021): 205–216.
Amy B Hardison, “Theophany on Sinai,” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University 2013), 218–231.
Hoskisson, Paul Y. “The Plan of Salvation in the First Six Books of the Old Testament.” In The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, The 38th Annual BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium, 48–66. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009.
Morales, L. Michael “The Tabernacle: Mountain of God in the Cultus of Israel,” in Ancient Temple Worship: Proceedings of The Expound Symposium 14 May 2011, ed. Matthew B. Brown, Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, Stephen D. Ricks, and John S. Thompson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation; Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2014), 27–70.
Muhlestein, Kerry. “Darkness, Light, and the Lord: Elements of Israelite Theophanies.” in Ascending the Mountain of the Lord: Temple, Praise, and Worship in the Old Testament (2013 Sperry Symposium), ed. Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Matthew J. Grey, and David Rolph Seely, 232–54. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2013.
Parry, Donald W. “Sinai as Sanctuary and Mountain of God.” In By Study and Also by Faith, ed. John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, 2 vols., 1:482-500. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company; Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1990.
Welch, John W. and Greg Welch. 1 Nephi and the Exodus. Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999.
Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
Matthew Henry (1706)
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Adam Clarke (1831)
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Thomas Constable
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Rashi (Shlomo Yitzchaki)
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Albert Barnes (1834)
Exposition of the Entire Bible
John Gill (1746–63)
Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament
Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch (1857–78)
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible
John Wesley (1754–65)