King James Version

Exodus 4:2

And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.

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Hebrew

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וַיֹּ֧אמֶרvayomerand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…אֵלָ֛יוelayvamongאֵלpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).יְהוָ֖הyehvahJehovahיְהֹוָהnoun, proper name — “Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).מזהmzhfrom the one...the otherזֶהparticle, interrogative, pronoun, demonstrative, masculine, singular — “from the one...the other”H2088the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thathe, [idiom] hence, [idiom] here, it(-self), [idiom] now, [idiom] of him, the one...the other, [idiom] than the other, ([idiom] out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, [idiom] thus,…מַהmahhowמָהparticle, interrogative — “how”H4100properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senseshow (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.זֶּ֣הzehthe one...the otherזֶהpronoun, demonstrative, masculine, singular — “the one...the other”H2088the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thathe, [idiom] hence, [idiom] here, it(-self), [idiom] now, [idiom] of him, the one...the other, [idiom] than the other, ([idiom] out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, [idiom] thus,…בְיָדֶ֑ךָveyadekhain handיָדpreposition, noun, common, both genders, singular, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, masculine, singular — “in hand”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH3027a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etc.),([phrase] be) able, [idiom] about, [phrase] armholes, at, axletree, because of, beside, border, [idiom] bounty, [phrase] broad, (broken-) handed, [idiom] by, charge, coast, [phrase] consecrate, [phrase] creditor, custody, debt, dominion, […וַיֹּ֖אמֶרvayomerand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…מַטֶּֽהmatehrodמַטֶּהnoun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “rod”, the ordinary formH4294a branch (as extending); figuratively, a tribe; also a rod, whether for chastising (figuratively, correction), ruling (a sceptre), throwing (a lance), or walking (a staff; figuratively, a support of life, e.g. bread)rod, staff, tribe.

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And the LORD said unto him: 'What is that in thy hand?' And he said: 'A rod.'

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And Jehovah said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod.

Young’s Literal Translation

And Jehovah saith unto him, 'What [is] this in thy hand?' and he saith, 'A rod;'

World English Bible

Yahweh said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.”

Darby Translation

And Jehovah said to him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A staff.

Douay-Rheims

Then he said to him: What is that thou holdest in thy hand? He answered: A rod.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

And the LORD said unto him: 'What is that in thy hand?' And he said: 'A rod.'

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the Lord said to him, What is this thing that is in thine hand? and he said, A rod.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Εἶπε δὲ αὐτῳ Κύριος, τί τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου; ὁ δὲ εἶπε, ῥάβδος.