This article is part of the Tough Passages series.
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24At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
—Exodus 4:24–26
A Confusing Episode
At first glance this episode is one of the most curious in Exodus (and, some would say, the entire OT). The text leaves much unsaid, leading to a wide range of opinions concerning its meaning.1 Most agree that the Lord seeks to kill Moses (Ex. 4:24) and that Zipporah’s actions save him (Ex. 4:25–26). But what is the connection between the two? And why does the Lord seek Moses’ death in the first place?
Circumcision is central to this story (Ex. 4:25). Earlier, the Lord had commanded Abraham to circumcise his sons as the covenant sign, a sign that was to be applied throughout the generations (Gen. 17:10–13). All those who were not circumcised were considered covenant breakers and were to be cut off from the Lord’s people (Gen. 17:14). That Moses’ son—presumably his firstborn (cf. Ex. 4:25 with Ex. 2:21–22)—is not circumcised puts Moses in the same position as Pharaoh: just as Pharaoh is withholding firstborn son Israel from the Lord by not releasing him (Ex. 4:22–23), Moses is withholding his firstborn son from the Lord by not applying to him the covenant sign. That the Lord seeks Moses’ death underscores the wrong’s severity (and is a warning to all Israelites to be sure to raise their children in the Lord’s covenant). It also explains why Zipporah’s action saves Moses, since she immediately resolves the problem by applying the covenant sign to their son.
ESV Expository Commentary
Four biblical scholars offer passage-by-passage commentary through the narratives of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, explaining difficult doctrines, shedding light on overlooked sections, and making applications to life and ministry today. Part of the ESV Expository Commentary.
While not all agree with the approach just named, the diversity of opinion increases tenfold when we ask, “But why does Zipporah touch the foreskin to Moses’ feet2 and describe him as a ‘bridegroom of blood’ (Ex. 4:25–26)?” Here one is on much shakier ground, as it seems that answering these questions with any degree of certainty requires background knowledge the text assumes but does not state. To the second question one may note that Exodus 4:26 implies this saying to be well-known among Israelites. Its meaning, however, remains mysterious, as does the action accompanying it, and the preacher or teacher would do well to avoid building any points of application on proposed answers to these two specific questions.
What Is Going on in the Bridegroom of Blood Account?
Despite all the remaining questions with this account, it seems clear that a main point is the importance of Israelites’ applying the covenant sign (circumcision) to their sons, thus showing that they will raise him as a covenant member (cf. comment on Ex. 4:24–26). As a general principle, parents must raise their children in covenant faith.
This principle is seen throughout the OT and NT, which exhorts parents to teach their children the Lord’s ways. Sometimes this takes place through rituals, where the teaching happens through physical illustrations (Ex. 12:24–27; 13:3–10, 11–16; cf. 1 Cor. 11:23–26). Often this takes place in the context of everyday life: “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:7). In either case such instruction is to be done with tender love: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4; cf. Col. 3:21). When truth is given without love, many children will assume it to be a lie. Just as the Lord who gives us his truth also shows us his tender love, so parents are to give their children truth and show them tender love—and in this way be the best physical illustration possible of who the Lord is.
Notes:
- For an overview of approaches cf. Houtman, Exodus, vol. 1, 439–447; more succinctly, Wright, Exodus, 151–155 (his conclusions overlap with those above); Stuart, Exodus, 152n112.
- Most understand Moses as the referent of “his” and “him” throughout, and such an approach causes the fewest difficulties (e.g., whoever is touched appears to be the same person called a “bridegroom,” which must apply to Moses). Another question is whether “feet” is here a euphemism for the genitals (for such a use of “feet” compare ESV with NIV and NET on Isa. 7:20).
- Cf. Isaiah 46:3; Matthew 7:11; Romans 8:15; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Revelation 21:7. For other images expressing the same tender love cf. Deuteronomy 32:11; Isaiah 40:11.
This article is by Jay Sklar and is adapted from ESV Expository Commentary: Genesis–Numbers (Volume 1) edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar.
Jay Sklar (PhD, University of Gloucestershire) is professor of Old Testament and vice president of academics at Covenant Theological Seminary.
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