Exodus 3:3 - Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Exodus 3:3

Moses at the Burning Bush

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of ^aJethro his father-in-law, ^bthe priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to ^cHoreb, ^dthe mountain of God.

2 And ^athe Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this ^agreat sight, why the bush does not burn.”

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called ^ato him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. ^aTake your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

6 Moreover He said, ^a“I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for ^bhe was afraid to look upon God.

7 And the Lord said: ^a“I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry ^bbecause of their taskmasters, ^cfor I know their sorrows.

8 So ^aI have come down to ^bdeliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to ^ca good and large land, to a land ^dflowing with milk and honey, to the place of ^ethe Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

9 Now therefore, behold, ^athe cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the ^boppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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Exodus 3:2-3

the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire—It is common in Scripture to represent the elements and operations of nature, as winds, fires, earthquakes, pestilence, everything enlisted in executing the divine will, as the "angels" or messengers of God. But in such cases God Himself is considered as really, though invisibly, present. Here the preternatural fire may be primarily meant by the expression "angel of the Lord"; but it is clear that under this symbol, the Divine Being was present, whose name is given (Exodus 3:4, Exodus 3:6), and elsewhere called the angel of the covenant, Jehovah-Jesus.

out of the midst of a bush—the wild acacia or thorn, with which that desert abounds, and which is generally dry and brittle, so much so, that at certain seasons, a spark might kindle a district far and wide into a blaze. A fire, therefore, being in the midst of such a desert bush was a "great sight." It is generally supposed to have been emblematic of the Israelites' condition in Egypt—oppressed by a grinding servitude and a bloody persecution, and yet, in spite of the cruel policy that was bent on annihilating them, they continued as numerous and thriving as ever. The reason was "God was in the midst of them." The symbol may also represent the present state of the Jews, as well as of the Church generally in the world.

Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Exodus 3:3:

Malachi 3:1

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Moses at the Burning Bush

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