Exodus 4:21-27 are the most disputed verses and translators have inserted 'Moses' in the place of 'him' in verse 24. The commentaries available are based on showing a sequential turn of events after Masha had an encounter with Elohim at the burning bush and the revealing of his name as Yahuah to Masha & the conflict he had with Elohim that he was not eloquent and that he send someone else. The conflict is resolved when Elohim asks him to take Aharon his brother and that he would be with his mouth as with his mouth and the rod of Elohim is with him. We then come to the verses as stated below. Let's look at the verses closely and see whether they are sequential events as commentators would want us to believe based on the face value of these verses, others went a step forward to say Masha was asked to paraphrase the words of Yahuah before Pharaoh but they still fell short of their understanding of these verses.
Exo 4:18 Then Mosheh went and returned to Yithro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Mitsrayim to see whether they are still alive.” And Yithro said to Mosheh, “Go in peace.”
Exo 4:19 And יהוה said to Mosheh in Miḏyan, “Go, return to Mitsrayim, for all the men are dead who sought your life.”
Ex 4:20 So Mosheh took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Mosheh also took the staff of the Elohim in his hand.
Ex 4:21 Yahuah said to Mosheh, When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you are unwilling/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him and sought to put him to death.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And he made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
Ex 4:27 Now Yahuah said to Aharon, Go to meet Mosheh in the wilderness. So he went and met him at the mountain of the Elohim and kissed him
If you notice Masha had an encounter with Yahuah at the burning bush at the mountain of Elohim i.e. Mt. Horeb. The verses then tell us he went to Yethro his father-in-law and sought his permission and took Tsiporrah his wife and two sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt (verse 18-20) .Verse 27 we see him back at Mt. Horeb, the mountain of Elohim where Aharon met him and kissed him.
Exo 3:1 And Mosheh was shepherding the flock of Yithro his father-in-law, the priest of Miḏyan. And he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to Ḥorĕḇ, the mountain of Elohim.
Exo 3:2 And the Messenger of יהוה appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
So it's obvious that the meeting of Elohim in the lodge in the way to put him (we will see who is the him) to death is an interjection passage and not sequential. It's evident that Masha returned from Mt. Horeb to Midyan to where his father-in-law, his wife and sons were because Yahuah told him in Midyan to return to 'Mitsrayim' for all the men were dead who sought his life. The men that sought his life included Pharaoh for Masha had fled from Pharoah's presence as he tried to kill Masha.
Exo 4:19 And יהוה said to Mosheh in Miḏyan, “Go, return to Mitsrayim, for all the men are dead who sought your life.”
Exo 2:15 And Pharaoh heard of this matter, and he sought to kill Mosheh. But Mosheh fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Miḏyan. And he sat down by a well.
So the meeting of Aharon and Masha at the mountain of Elohim is sequential. While the scriptures are silent on whether Aharon accompanied Masha to Midyan, it's common sense to accept it this way than to understand that post the encounter with Elohim he went to Midyan and took his wife and sons and brought them to Egypt and went back to the mountain of Elohim where he met Aharon, or to accept that he went to Midyan and took his wife and sons and came to the mountain of Elohim where he met Aharon and they journeyed back to Egypt. The proof of the interjection text lies in understanding the 'death of the first-born'. A closer view of the scriptures shows us that these verses are interjection rather than sequential and happened just at the announcement of the last plague of the death of the firstborn.
Ex 4:21 Yahuah said to Mosheh, When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you refused/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
It is interesting that Moses didn’t repeat what Elohim told him to say (Exo 4:22-23) to Pharaoh at their first meeting. One might expect those words to be said right before the tenth plague, the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn. But they are not mentioned there either but contextually he must have told Pharaoh at the exact time before the 10th plague began. Note also that Elohim said, “and you refused to let him go,” The phrase in Abary is in the past tense (uau-taman), even though most Christian translations incorrectly use the conditional future (“if you will refuse…then…”). You may also check this phrase in reverso dictionary here:
Moreover the Yasharalites born during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness were not circumcised until just before entering the Promised Land (Josh. 5:2-8). They were not killed by Elohim nor their fathers were killed.
Exo 4:18 Then Mosheh went and returned to Yithro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brothers who are in Mitsrayim to see whether they are still alive.” And Yithro said to Mosheh, “Go in peace.”
Exo 4:19 And יהוה said to Mosheh in Miḏyan, “Go, return to Mitsrayim, for all the men are dead who sought your life.”
Ex 4:20 So Mosheh took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Mosheh also took the staff of the Elohim in his hand.
Ex 4:21 Yahuah said to Mosheh, When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you are unwilling/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him and sought to put him to death.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And he made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
Ex 4:27 Now Yahuah said to Aharon, Go to meet Mosheh in the wilderness. So he went and met him at the mountain of the Elohim and kissed him
If you notice Masha had an encounter with Yahuah at the burning bush at the mountain of Elohim i.e. Mt. Horeb. The verses then tell us he went to Yethro his father-in-law and sought his permission and took Tsiporrah his wife and two sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt (verse 18-20) .Verse 27 we see him back at Mt. Horeb, the mountain of Elohim where Aharon met him and kissed him.
Exo 3:1 And Mosheh was shepherding the flock of Yithro his father-in-law, the priest of Miḏyan. And he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to Ḥorĕḇ, the mountain of Elohim.
Exo 3:2 And the Messenger of יהוה appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
So it's obvious that the meeting of Elohim in the lodge in the way to put him (we will see who is the him) to death is an interjection passage and not sequential. It's evident that Masha returned from Mt. Horeb to Midyan to where his father-in-law, his wife and sons were because Yahuah told him in Midyan to return to 'Mitsrayim' for all the men were dead who sought his life. The men that sought his life included Pharaoh for Masha had fled from Pharoah's presence as he tried to kill Masha.
Exo 4:19 And יהוה said to Mosheh in Miḏyan, “Go, return to Mitsrayim, for all the men are dead who sought your life.”
Exo 2:15 And Pharaoh heard of this matter, and he sought to kill Mosheh. But Mosheh fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Miḏyan. And he sat down by a well.
So the meeting of Aharon and Masha at the mountain of Elohim is sequential. While the scriptures are silent on whether Aharon accompanied Masha to Midyan, it's common sense to accept it this way than to understand that post the encounter with Elohim he went to Midyan and took his wife and sons and brought them to Egypt and went back to the mountain of Elohim where he met Aharon, or to accept that he went to Midyan and took his wife and sons and came to the mountain of Elohim where he met Aharon and they journeyed back to Egypt. The proof of the interjection text lies in understanding the 'death of the first-born'. A closer view of the scriptures shows us that these verses are interjection rather than sequential and happened just at the announcement of the last plague of the death of the firstborn.
Ex 4:21 Yahuah said to Mosheh, When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go.
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you refused/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
It is interesting that Moses didn’t repeat what Elohim told him to say (Exo 4:22-23) to Pharaoh at their first meeting. One might expect those words to be said right before the tenth plague, the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn. But they are not mentioned there either but contextually he must have told Pharaoh at the exact time before the 10th plague began. Note also that Elohim said, “and you refused to let him go,” The phrase in Abary is in the past tense (uau-taman), even though most Christian translations incorrectly use the conditional future (“if you will refuse…then…”). You may also check this phrase in reverso dictionary here:
http://context.reverso.net/translation/hebrew-english/%D7%AA%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%9F
And you will see the phrase means 'you're unwilling' and 'be denied'
v 23....and/uau you're unwilling /taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
or v 23 .....and/uau you denied /taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Many translators say Elohim knows everything before hand so it's obvious that Elohim knew that Pharaoh would deny Yasharal's exit from his power & land. While it's true that Elohim knows the end from the beginning, what we must realize is that Elohim is asking Masha to paraphrase this to Pharaoh and that Elohim did not reveal the plagues he would bring on Egypt until they were actually about to happen, except for the sign of the rod turning to serpents , the hand in his bosom turning leprous & pouring the water from the river on dry ground and it turning into blood (not river Nile turning into blood).
Exo 4:1 And Mosheh answered and said, “And if they do not believe me, nor listen to my voice, and say, ‘יהוה has not appeared to you?’ ”
Exo 4:2 And יהוה said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod.”
Exo 4:3 And He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. And Mosheh fled from it.
Exo 4:4 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” – so he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand –
Exo 4:5 so that they believe that יהוה Elohim of their fathers, the Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ, has appeared to you.”
Exo 4:6 And יהוה said to him again, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, and see, his hand was leprous, like snow.
Exo 4:7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and see, it was restored like his other flesh.
Exo 4:8 “And it shall be, if they do not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, they shall believe the voice of the latter sign.
Exo 4:9 “And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. And the water which you take from the river shall become blood on the dry land.”
Before Yahuah brought each plague on Egypt he instructed Masha right until the 10th and final plague. If Masha was revealed all the 10 plagues that Yahuah would bring on Egypt he needn't have to instruct him what needs to be done as Masha would have followed sequentially everything that was revealed to him and would have known beforehand that only at the last plague Pharaoh would let Elohim's people go. Masha wouldn't have cried to Yahuah when he failed to convince Pharaoh to let the people of Elohim go when Pharaoh increased their burden because he would know that Pharaoh would let the people go at the 10th plague which is the death of the firstborn.
Exo 5:22 And Mosheh returned to יהוה and said, “יהוה, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You send me?
Exo 5:23 “For ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done evil to this people. And You have not delivered Your people at all.”
Exo 6:6 “Say, therefore, to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I am יהוה, and I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites, and shall deliver you from their enslaving, and shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments,
Exo 6:7 and shall take you as My people, and I shall be your Elohim. And you shall know that I am יהוה your Elohim who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites.
Exo 6:8 ‘And I shall bring you into the land which I swore to give to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Yaʽaqoḇ, to give it to you as an inheritance. I am יהוה.’ ”
Exo 6:9 And Mosheh spoke thus to the children of Yisra’ĕl, but they did not listen to Mosheh, because of shortness of spirit, and from hard slavery.
Exo 6:10 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 6:11 “Go in, speak to Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim, to let the children of Yisra’ĕl go out of his land.”
Exo 6:12 And Mosheh spoke before יהוה, saying, “The children of Yisra’ĕl have not listened to me, and why would Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”
Exo 6:13 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, and gave them a command for the children of Yisra’ĕl and for Pharaoh, sovereign of Mitsrayim, to bring the children of Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Neither did Elohim have to convince Masha of what he was going to do if he had already revealed the 10 plagues he would bring on Egypt.
Exo 7:1 So יהוה said to Mosheh, “See, I have made you an elohim to Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother is your prophet.
Exo 7:2 “You shall speak all that I command you, and Aharon your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, to let the children of Yisra’ĕl go out of his land.
Exo 7:3 “But I am going to harden the heart of Pharaoh, and shall increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 7:4 “And Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, and I shall lay My hand on Mitsrayim, and bring My divisions and My people, the children of Yisra’ĕl, out of the land of Mitsrayim by great judgments.
Exo 7:5 “And the Mitsrites shall know that I am יהוה, when I stretch out My hand on Mitsrayim. And I shall bring the children of Yisra’ĕl out from among them.”
We won't go through all the plagues but we see Elohim telling Masha real time what needs to be done, for if he had already revealed to Masha what he was going to do, he wouldn't have told Masha to meet Pharaoh by the river bank and strike the waters with the rod to turn the river to blood, for Masha would have already known. Similarly before each plague we see Yahuah instructing Masha to do and what to say.
Exo 7:14 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “The heart of Pharaoh is hard, he refuses to let the people go.
Exo 7:15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. And take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.
Exo 7:16 “And you shall say to him, ‘יהוה the Elohim of the Heḇrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they serve Me in the wilderness,” but see, until now you have not listened!
Exo 7:17 ‘Thus said יהוה, “By this you know that I am יהוה. See, I am striking the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood,
So when we read Ex 4:21 we must understand all the wonders he put in Masha's hand were the three signs he gave him 1) the rod turning to serpents 2) the hand in his bosom turning leporous 3) pouring the water from the river on dry ground and it turning into blood (not river Nile turning into blood). All other wonders were secret and not yet revealed.
v 21. Yahuah said to Mosheh, ''When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go''
And v 22 was just before the plague of the death of the firstborn son
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you refused/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
The proof of the text is ''And I said to you....and you refused/taman to let him go'' which is in past tense and ''Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn son'' which was just before the 10th and final plague of the death of the firstborn son.
Now that we have understood the context of the interjection and the sequential passages let's view the interjection passages.
Who is the him in verse 24?
'Hu' in Abary means him and 'hu' is rooted in both the words highlighted below
Ex 4:23 So I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him/ yapagshahu and sought to put him to death/hamaytu.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And He made him whole by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
The passage seem to say at first glance that when Tsipporah, Masha and his sons Gershom and Alayazar were in the lodge in the way TO EGYPT Yahuah met him and sought him to put to death. The Greek Septuagint of the OT says 'Angel of Yahuah' met him, the Jewish Talmud says Yahuah struck Masha with illness because he didn't circumcise one of his sons and as a result Yahuah came to kill Masha and those seeking for answers have even gone outside the inspired text to book of Jubilees where according to the writer Elohim tells Masha how he delivered him from Mastema the chief demon who met him on the way to Egypt. As children of light we must stick to the inspired text and when we understand the passages correctly contextually 'Messenger of Yahuah' and 'Yahuah' met him both are correct for Yahuah appeared to Masha in the burning bush through a Messenger of Yahuah, Yahuah killed all the firstborn in Egypt by the destroyer while spared the Yasharalites as he saw the blood of the lamb on the door posts, The Messenger of Yahuah led them in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
Exo 3:2 And the Messenger of יהוה appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
Exo 14:19 And the Messenger of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisra’ĕl, moved and went behind them. And the column of cloud went from before them and stood behind them,
Yahuah is invisible and hence he rode karub's as stated in the Psalms 18:10
Psa 18:10 And He rode upon a keruḇ, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.
Exo 11:4 And Mosheh said, “Thus said יהוה, ‘About midnight I/Yahuah am going out into the midst of Mitsrayim,
Exo 11:5 and all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the first-born of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the first-born of cattle.
Act 7:35 “This Mosheh whom they had refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ – this one Elohim sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush.
Exodus 12:23 is also a misunderstood text as the 'destroyer' here cannot be identified as whether he was the Messenger of Yahuah or a destroyer. The title 'destroyer' suggests that this was a demon who was set loose to bring about this destruction and whether it was a Messenger of Yahuah or a destroyer from shatan what's important to understand is that Yahuah decided this to happen, he takes the full responsibility of the killing of the firstborn.
Exo 12:23 “And יהוה shall pass on to smite the Mitsrites, and shall see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and יהוה shall pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.
When we look for scriptural evidence, we see Yahuah to fulfill his purpose allows shatan and his messengers to entice, destroy, hurt, plague etc and he takes the full responsibility. Christianity doesn't accept this fact.
1Ki 22:19 Then he said, “Therefore hear the word of יהוה: I saw יהוה sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, on His right and on His left.
1Ki 22:20 “And יהוה said, ‘Who shall entice Aḥaḇ to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilʽaḏ?’ And this one said this, and another said that.
1Ki 22:21 “And a spirit came forward and stood before יהוה, and said, ‘Let me entice him.’
1Ki 22:22 “And יהוה said to him, ‘In what way?’ And he said, ‘I shall go out and be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And He said, ‘Entice him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’
1Ki 22:23 “And now, see, יהוה has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and יהוה has spoken evil concerning you.”
Deu 32:39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no Elohim besides Me. I put to death and I make alive. I have wounded, and I heal. And from My hand no one delivers!
Isa 45:5 ‘I am יהוה, and there is none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not known Me,
Isa 45:6 so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else,
Isa 45:7 forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil. I, יהוה, do all these.’
Coming back to the passages:
Ex 4:23 So I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him/ yapagshahu and sought to put him to death/hamaytu.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And He made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
And you will see the phrase means 'you're unwilling' and 'be denied'
v 23....and/uau you're unwilling /taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
or v 23 .....and/uau you denied /taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Many translators say Elohim knows everything before hand so it's obvious that Elohim knew that Pharaoh would deny Yasharal's exit from his power & land. While it's true that Elohim knows the end from the beginning, what we must realize is that Elohim is asking Masha to paraphrase this to Pharaoh and that Elohim did not reveal the plagues he would bring on Egypt until they were actually about to happen, except for the sign of the rod turning to serpents , the hand in his bosom turning leprous & pouring the water from the river on dry ground and it turning into blood (not river Nile turning into blood).
Exo 4:1 And Mosheh answered and said, “And if they do not believe me, nor listen to my voice, and say, ‘יהוה has not appeared to you?’ ”
Exo 4:2 And יהוה said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod.”
Exo 4:3 And He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent. And Mosheh fled from it.
Exo 4:4 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail” – so he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand –
Exo 4:5 so that they believe that יהוה Elohim of their fathers, the Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Yaʽaqoḇ, has appeared to you.”
Exo 4:6 And יהוה said to him again, “Now put your hand in your bosom.” And he put his hand in his bosom, and when he took it out, and see, his hand was leprous, like snow.
Exo 4:7 And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and see, it was restored like his other flesh.
Exo 4:8 “And it shall be, if they do not believe you, nor listen to the voice of the first sign, they shall believe the voice of the latter sign.
Exo 4:9 “And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. And the water which you take from the river shall become blood on the dry land.”
Before Yahuah brought each plague on Egypt he instructed Masha right until the 10th and final plague. If Masha was revealed all the 10 plagues that Yahuah would bring on Egypt he needn't have to instruct him what needs to be done as Masha would have followed sequentially everything that was revealed to him and would have known beforehand that only at the last plague Pharaoh would let Elohim's people go. Masha wouldn't have cried to Yahuah when he failed to convince Pharaoh to let the people of Elohim go when Pharaoh increased their burden because he would know that Pharaoh would let the people go at the 10th plague which is the death of the firstborn.
Exo 5:22 And Mosheh returned to יהוה and said, “יהוה, why have You done evil to this people? Why did You send me?
Exo 5:23 “For ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your Name, he has done evil to this people. And You have not delivered Your people at all.”
Exo 6:6 “Say, therefore, to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘I am יהוה, and I shall bring you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites, and shall deliver you from their enslaving, and shall redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments,
Exo 6:7 and shall take you as My people, and I shall be your Elohim. And you shall know that I am יהוה your Elohim who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Mitsrites.
Exo 6:8 ‘And I shall bring you into the land which I swore to give to Aḇraham, to Yitsḥaq, and to Yaʽaqoḇ, to give it to you as an inheritance. I am יהוה.’ ”
Exo 6:9 And Mosheh spoke thus to the children of Yisra’ĕl, but they did not listen to Mosheh, because of shortness of spirit, and from hard slavery.
Exo 6:10 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
Exo 6:11 “Go in, speak to Pharaoh sovereign of Mitsrayim, to let the children of Yisra’ĕl go out of his land.”
Exo 6:12 And Mosheh spoke before יהוה, saying, “The children of Yisra’ĕl have not listened to me, and why would Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”
Exo 6:13 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon, and gave them a command for the children of Yisra’ĕl and for Pharaoh, sovereign of Mitsrayim, to bring the children of Yisra’ĕl out of the land of Mitsrayim.
Neither did Elohim have to convince Masha of what he was going to do if he had already revealed the 10 plagues he would bring on Egypt.
Exo 7:1 So יהוה said to Mosheh, “See, I have made you an elohim to Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother is your prophet.
Exo 7:2 “You shall speak all that I command you, and Aharon your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, to let the children of Yisra’ĕl go out of his land.
Exo 7:3 “But I am going to harden the heart of Pharaoh, and shall increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Mitsrayim.
Exo 7:4 “And Pharaoh is not going to listen to you, and I shall lay My hand on Mitsrayim, and bring My divisions and My people, the children of Yisra’ĕl, out of the land of Mitsrayim by great judgments.
Exo 7:5 “And the Mitsrites shall know that I am יהוה, when I stretch out My hand on Mitsrayim. And I shall bring the children of Yisra’ĕl out from among them.”
We won't go through all the plagues but we see Elohim telling Masha real time what needs to be done, for if he had already revealed to Masha what he was going to do, he wouldn't have told Masha to meet Pharaoh by the river bank and strike the waters with the rod to turn the river to blood, for Masha would have already known. Similarly before each plague we see Yahuah instructing Masha to do and what to say.
Exo 7:14 And יהוה said to Mosheh, “The heart of Pharaoh is hard, he refuses to let the people go.
Exo 7:15 “Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. And take in your hand the rod which was turned into a serpent.
Exo 7:16 “And you shall say to him, ‘יהוה the Elohim of the Heḇrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, so that they serve Me in the wilderness,” but see, until now you have not listened!
Exo 7:17 ‘Thus said יהוה, “By this you know that I am יהוה. See, I am striking the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood,
So when we read Ex 4:21 we must understand all the wonders he put in Masha's hand were the three signs he gave him 1) the rod turning to serpents 2) the hand in his bosom turning leporous 3) pouring the water from the river on dry ground and it turning into blood (not river Nile turning into blood). All other wonders were secret and not yet revealed.
v 21. Yahuah said to Mosheh, ''When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand; but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go''
And v 22 was just before the plague of the death of the firstborn son
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you refused/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
The proof of the text is ''And I said to you....and you refused/taman to let him go'' which is in past tense and ''Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn son'' which was just before the 10th and final plague of the death of the firstborn son.
Now that we have understood the context of the interjection and the sequential passages let's view the interjection passages.
Who is the him in verse 24?
'Hu' in Abary means him and 'hu' is rooted in both the words highlighted below
Ex 4:23 So I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him/ yapagshahu and sought to put him to death/hamaytu.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And He made him whole by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
The passage seem to say at first glance that when Tsipporah, Masha and his sons Gershom and Alayazar were in the lodge in the way TO EGYPT Yahuah met him and sought him to put to death. The Greek Septuagint of the OT says 'Angel of Yahuah' met him, the Jewish Talmud says Yahuah struck Masha with illness because he didn't circumcise one of his sons and as a result Yahuah came to kill Masha and those seeking for answers have even gone outside the inspired text to book of Jubilees where according to the writer Elohim tells Masha how he delivered him from Mastema the chief demon who met him on the way to Egypt. As children of light we must stick to the inspired text and when we understand the passages correctly contextually 'Messenger of Yahuah' and 'Yahuah' met him both are correct for Yahuah appeared to Masha in the burning bush through a Messenger of Yahuah, Yahuah killed all the firstborn in Egypt by the destroyer while spared the Yasharalites as he saw the blood of the lamb on the door posts, The Messenger of Yahuah led them in the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
Exo 3:2 And the Messenger of יהוה appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked and saw the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.
Exo 14:19 And the Messenger of Elohim, who went before the camp of Yisra’ĕl, moved and went behind them. And the column of cloud went from before them and stood behind them,
Yahuah is invisible and hence he rode karub's as stated in the Psalms 18:10
Psa 18:10 And He rode upon a keruḇ, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind.
Exo 11:4 And Mosheh said, “Thus said יהוה, ‘About midnight I/Yahuah am going out into the midst of Mitsrayim,
Exo 11:5 and all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the first-born of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the first-born of cattle.
Act 7:35 “This Mosheh whom they had refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ – this one Elohim sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Messenger who appeared to him in the bush.
Exodus 12:23 is also a misunderstood text as the 'destroyer' here cannot be identified as whether he was the Messenger of Yahuah or a destroyer. The title 'destroyer' suggests that this was a demon who was set loose to bring about this destruction and whether it was a Messenger of Yahuah or a destroyer from shatan what's important to understand is that Yahuah decided this to happen, he takes the full responsibility of the killing of the firstborn.
Exo 12:23 “And יהוה shall pass on to smite the Mitsrites, and shall see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and יהוה shall pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.
When we look for scriptural evidence, we see Yahuah to fulfill his purpose allows shatan and his messengers to entice, destroy, hurt, plague etc and he takes the full responsibility. Christianity doesn't accept this fact.
1Ki 22:19 Then he said, “Therefore hear the word of יהוה: I saw יהוה sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing by Him, on His right and on His left.
1Ki 22:20 “And יהוה said, ‘Who shall entice Aḥaḇ to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilʽaḏ?’ And this one said this, and another said that.
1Ki 22:21 “And a spirit came forward and stood before יהוה, and said, ‘Let me entice him.’
1Ki 22:22 “And יהוה said to him, ‘In what way?’ And he said, ‘I shall go out and be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And He said, ‘Entice him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.’
1Ki 22:23 “And now, see, יהוה has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and יהוה has spoken evil concerning you.”
Deu 32:39 ‘See now that I, I am He, And there is no Elohim besides Me. I put to death and I make alive. I have wounded, and I heal. And from My hand no one delivers!
Isa 45:5 ‘I am יהוה, and there is none else – there is no Elohim besides Me. I gird you, though you have not known Me,
Isa 45:6 so that they know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none but Me. I am יהוה, and there is none else,
Isa 45:7 forming light and creating darkness, making peace and creating evil. I, יהוה, do all these.’
Coming back to the passages:
Ex 4:23 So I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him/ yapagshahu and sought to put him to death/hamaytu.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And He made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
If the him is 'Masha' then no where does scripture tell us that the father needs to be put to death for not circumcising his son. Both father and mother are equally responsible for any act of disobedience to Yahuah. However scripture states that an uncircumcised male child himself faces the punishment of his soul being cut off from his people (Gen. 17:9-14). Nowhere does Turah state a father is punishable by death or anything else for neglecting to circumcise his son.
Gen 17:9 And Elohim said to Aḇraham, “As for you, guard My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.
Gen 17:10 “This is My covenant which you guard between Me and you, and your seed after you: Every male child among you is to be circumcised.
Gen 17:11 “And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Gen 17:12 “And a son of eight days is circumcised by you, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed.
Gen 17:13 “He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your silver, has to be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant.
Gen 17:14 “And an uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, his life shall be cut off from his people – he has broken My covenant.”
Jos 5:2 At that time יהוה said to Yehoshua, “Make knives of flint for yourself, and circumcise the sons of Yisra’ĕl again the second time.”
Jos 5:3 So Yehoshua made knives of flint for himself, and circumcised the sons of Yisra’ĕl at the Hill of Foreskins.
Jos 5:4 And this is why Yehoshua circumcised them: All the people who came out of Mitsrayim who were males, all the men of battle, had died in the wilderness on the way, after they had come out of Mitsrayim.
Jos 5:5 For all the people who came out had been circumcised, but all the people who were born in the wilderness on the way as they came out of Mitsrayim had not been circumcised.
Jos 5:6 For the children of Yisra’ĕl walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the nation – the men of battle who came out of Mitsrayim – were consumed, because they did not obey the voice of יהוה, to whom יהוה swore not to show them the land which יהוה had sworn to their fathers that He would give us, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
Jos 5:7 And Yehoshua circumcised their sons whom He raised up in their place; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.
Jos 5:8 And it came to be, when they had completed circumcising all the nation, that they stayed in their places in the camp till they were healed.
The above passage is also evidence that Masha was also circumcised as he was also the one who came out of Egypt and didn't make it to the promised land. Some commentator's state Masha was also not circumcised which is incorrect.
So it had to be Masha's firstborn son Gershom whom Yahuah sought to kill, when? Not on the way to Egypt but in the way when he lodged just when the plague of killing of the firstborn began. It is evident that Tsipporah was the one because of which Masha had not circumcised his sons...the following statement of Tsipporah in Exo 4:26 .......''You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision'' is clear that Masha had revealed the covenant of circumcision (a token of shedding of blood) to her but as a Midyanite (Midyanites don't circumcise) she refrained from circumcising her sons. But when the plague broke out on the firstborn she made haste to save her son by taking a flint stone and cutting the foreskin of her son for she feared the 'death of her firstborn' when she saw that the messenger of Yahuah/Yahuah came to kill him.
Who were Miyanites?
Gen 25:1 And Aḇraham took another wife, whose name was Qeturah.
Gen 25:2 And she bore him Zimran, and Yoqshan, and Meḏan, and Miḏyan, and Yishbaq, and Shuwaḥ.
Gen 25:3 And Yoqshan brought forth Sheḇa and Deḏan. And the sons of Deḏan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Le’ummim.
Gen 25:4 And the sons of Miḏyan were Ěphah, and Ěpher, and Ḥanoḵ, and Aḇiḏa, and Eldaʽah. All these were the children of Qeturah.
Gen 25:5 Now Aḇraham gave all that he had to Yitsḥaq,
Gen 25:6 but to the sons of the concubines whom Aḇraham had, Aḇraham gave gifts while he was still living, and sent them away from his son Yitsḥaq, eastward, to the land of the east.
Midyanites were descendants of Abraham and the wife he married after the death of Sarah named Qeturah. The above scriptures show that Abraham gave everything he had to his son Yitshaq whereas gave gifts and sent his other sons away from his son Yitshaq.
If you look at Exo 4:26 closely you will see the the word 'ya/hand raph/heal or whole'. This is probably why Talmud has wrongly concluded that it was Masha who was struck with illness and was made whole after the circumcision of his firstborn son, whereas spiritually we see Gershom being made whole in a sense that without circumcision he was cut off from his people and not in covenant with Yahuah as stated in Gen 17:14. Though there was blood of the lamb applied to the door posts where Moses, Tsipporah and her two sons dwelt on the day of the actual plague itself, however their firstborn son Gershom would be still accounted like an uncircumcised Egyptian and that's why Yahuah sought to kill him.
Ex 4:26 And/uau He made him whole/yaraph. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
Now the question is, was Alayazar their second son circumcised? If the firstborn was not circumcised it's understood he was uncircumcised too. Then why did Yahuah only want to kill Gershom? Remember it was the plague of the death of the firstborn son and not other sons. While scripture doesn't record that Masha and Tsipporah circumcised their second son they surely would have later as the fear of Yahuah is the beginning of wisdom.
Ex 4:24.....in the encampment/lodging place in the way Yahuah met him/ yapagshahu.... is to be understood as in the way when striking the firstborn in Egypt in the lodge (where he stayed) Yahuah met him. The word for lodge is 'malun' H4411 means an 'inn/encampment/lodging place/caravanserai'
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it/taga at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
תגע (taga) means 'Touch' and they translated it as 'threw it/cast it' you may check the word in http://context.reverso.net/translation/hebrew-english/%D7%AA%D7%92%D7%A2
'naga' and 'taga' are closely related. 'Naga' means 'to come near' and 'Taga' means to touch.
The verse should correctly read 'Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched/taga towards/la his feet/ragalayu, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Touching the feet:
Whose feet are being touched here? Again some commentator's state that the foreskin was thrown at Yahuah's feet and that's why Yahuah let him go. 'So he let him go' is an incorrect translation. We already saw that Uau means 'And' and 'yaraph' means 'made whole/healed'. TS2009 translates Ex 4:25.....and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at Mosheh’s feet.....
Exo 4:25 And Tsipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and threw it at/taga his feet, and said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me!”
Exo 4:26 So/uau He let him go/yaraph. Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
Correct translation:
Exo 4:25 And Tsipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and touched towards/taga his feet,
Exo 4:26 And/uau He made whole/yaraph ma manu/H4480 by reason of . Then she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
מִן (man) H4480 above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.
The feet that she touched were of Yahuah's /the Messenger of Yahuah's and not Masha's. The translators didn't translate 'mamanu' which means 'from him/of him/of it's'.
If we translate the verse (26) as 'And/uau He made whole/yaraph ma manu/H4480 him of its' doesn't sound grammatically correct. Hence 'because of/by reason of/since' sounds more appropriate gramatically for Yahuah healed Gershom of his uncircumcision/covenantless.
Tsipporah tells Masha ''You are a bridegroom of blood'' because of the circumcision (Ex 4;26). This sounds as a statement of disgust towards the shedding of blood. Somewhere in the Exodus journey Masha sends Tsipporah and his sons back to Midyan for a reason unknown.
Exo 18:1 And Yithro, the priest of Miḏyan, Mosheh’s father-in-law, heard of all that Elohim had done for Mosheh and for Yisra’ĕl His people, that יהוה had brought Yisra’ĕl out of Mitsrayim.
Exo 18:2 And took Yithro father in law of Mosheh Tsipporah wife of Mosheh after he sent her (Interlinear word to word translation)
Exo 18:3 and her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gĕreshom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land,”
Exo 18:4 and the name of the other was Eliʽezer, for he said, “The Elohim of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”
Exo 18:5 Yithro, Mosheh’s father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Mosheh in the wilderness, where he was encamped at the mountain of Elohim.
In the interjection passages which translators/commentators take it as sequential, they look at verse 2 and translate it as 'Exo 18:2 Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,' They interpret it negatively saying Masha sent her and her sons back to Midyan because when on the way to Egypt, Yahuah met him to kill him and Tsipporah circumcised her son to save Masha's life. The sending back according to them is when on the way to Egypt which means they never entered Egypt. But that's not true. If you read verse one it clearly says Masha's father-in-law heard of all that Elohim had done for Masha and for Yasharal his people, that Yahuah had brought Yasharal out of Mitsrayim/Egpyt, how else would he have heard it if not from the mouth of Tsipporah who witnessed the Exodus?
Exo 19:1 In the third month after the children of Yisra’ĕl had come out of the land of Mitsrayim, on this day they came to the Wilderness of Sinai.
Exo 19:2 For they set out from Rephiḏim, and had come to the Wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness. So Yisra’ĕl camped there before the mountain.
Exo 18:5 clearly states that Yithro came with Masha's sons and his wife in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of Elohim and Exo 19:1 says in the third month on this day i.e. 15th of the third month (remember they left Egypt on the 15th of the first month) Yasharal came into the wilderness of Sinai and encamped before the mountain. This was exactly 60 days later, There is no evidence of the timing of when he sent Tsipporah and his sons back to Midyan but there is evidence of Masha's sons serving in the tabernacle of Yahuah and if they were not circumcised would his sons be able to serve as uncircumcised Leuites?
1Ch 23:15 The sons of Mosheh: Gĕreshom and Eliʽezer.
1Ch 23:16 The sons of Gĕreshom: Sheḇu’ĕl was the head.
1Ch 23:17 And the sons of Eliʽezer: Reḥaḇyah was the head. And Eliʽezer had no other sons, but the sons of Reḥaḇyah were very many.
1Ch 23:24 These were the sons of Lĕwi by their fathers’ houses, the heads of the fathers’ houses as they were counted head by head by the number of their names, who did the work for the service of the House of יהוה, from the age of twenty years and above.
1Ch 24:20 And the rest of the sons of Lĕwi: of the sons of Amram, Shuḇa’ĕl; of the sons of Shuḇa’ĕl, Yeḥdeyahu.
1Ch 24:21 Concerning Reḥaḇyahu, of the sons of Reḥaḇyahu, the head was Yishshiyah.
1Ch 24:31 These also cast lots, they too, as their brothers the sons of Aharon, in the presence of Sovereign Dawiḏ, and Tsaḏoq, and Aḥimeleḵ, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the priests and Lĕwites – the head of the fathers, as well as his younger brothers
In conclusion if we go along with the translator's and commentators we will never understand the timing of when Yahuah met Gershom to kill him unless we read the preceding verses to understand that Tsipporah and her sons did make it to Egypt
Ex 4:20 So Mosheh took his wife and his sons and mounted them on a donkey,
and returned to the land of Egypt. Mosheh also took the staff of the Elohim in his hand.
And verse 21 was told to perform the wonders which he put in his hand (only three were revealed so far 1) the rod turning to serpents 2) the hand turning leprous and 3) the water on the ground turning to blood). The rest of the plagues would unfold with a real time instruction from Yahuah to him.
Ex 4:21 Yahuah said to Mosheh, When you go to return to Egypt see that you perform
before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your hand;
but I shall harden his heart so that he shall not let the people go.
This was followed by the interjection passages which the events which happened during the actual 10th plague of the death of the firstborn in Egypt
Ex 4:22 And you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says Yahuah, Yisra’El is My son, My firstborn
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you are unwilling/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him and sought to put him to death.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And he made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
And the sequential passage of Aharon meeting Masha at the mountain of Yahuah i.e. Horeb before he started his journey back to Egypt and had just finished the encounter with Elohim.
Ex4:27 Now Yahuah said to Aharon, Go to meet Mosheh in the wilderness.So he went and met him at the mountain of the Elohim and kissed him.
Ex 4:23 And I said to you, Let My son go that he may serve Me; and/uau you are unwilling/taman to let him go. Behold, I shall kill your son, your firstborn.
Ex 4:24 And it came to be in the lodge in the way Yahuah met him and sought to put him to death.
Ex 4:25 Then Tsipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at his feet, and she said, Surely, you are a bridegroom of blood to me.
Ex 4:26 And he made him whole/yaraph by reason of. Then she said, You are a bridegroom of blood-- because of the circumcision.
And the sequential passage of Aharon meeting Masha at the mountain of Yahuah i.e. Horeb before he started his journey back to Egypt and had just finished the encounter with Elohim.
Ex4:27 Now Yahuah said to Aharon, Go to meet Mosheh in the wilderness.So he went and met him at the mountain of the Elohim and kissed him.
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