Featured Exodus 4:24 — The Lord met Moses and “was about to kill him” ? ! ?

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Scooter said:
The Hebrew word translated as "sought" is the word בָּקַשׁ (bâqash) and it means "to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after:—ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for)." So God did not try to kill Moses.
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Well, then how could every major Bible translation get it wrong?
 
Multicolored Lemur said:
Scooter said:
The Hebrew word translated as "sought" is the word בָּקַשׁ (bâqash) and it means "to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after:—ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for)." So God did not try to kill Moses.
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Well, then how could every major Bible translation get it wrong?
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Ok I’ll play along…show me a translation that says God tried to kill Moses, but failed.
 
Multicolored Lemur said:
The one I showed you, the King James Version.
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The verse says God sought to kill Moses. Sought = intent. It does not say God tried to kill Moses and failed. It says God met Moses with the intent to kill him.
Here’s the NASB version: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

NIV: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him

ESV: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

CSB: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

NLT: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

NKJV: At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.

No translation says God tried to kill Moses and failed. And that’s that.
 
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Scooter said:
The verse says God sought to kill Moses. Sought = intent.
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You’re right. And thank you for the good array of verses. It means God intended to kill Moses.

I went ahead and changed the title. Although I went with the simpler English of the NIV — “… was about to kill him.”

But, I’m not really sure it makes it all that much better.
 
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We know that the parables of Jesus are meant to be taken as stories, not literally.

Maybe a number of parts of the Bible are written to be taken this way.

For example, maybe Moses struggled all night with what he felt God was calling him to do. He’d need to directly talk with Pharaoh, respectfully, but as an equal since he had a message from God. And Moses knew this confrontation would most likely lead to his death, either right then or the months following.

And perhaps Moses really wanted to “get right with God.” And this included going through all his steps of his conversion to Judaism, including the circumcision rite for his infant son.

• I’m not a fan of circumcising a baby. Especially back then with lower sanitation and no antibiotics.

I know one evangelical writer made a big deal out how a baby’s natural antibodies and clothing factors are at a peak on the 8th day. Perhaps. But I still think it was and is an unwise practice.
 
Scooter said:
God did not try to kill Moses. The Bible says God met Moses on the way with the intent of killing him. The Hebrew word translated as "sought" is the word בָּקַשׁ (bâqash) and it means "to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after:—ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for)." So God did not try to kill Moses. Moses had sinned by not obeying the commands of God so God was going to punish him accordingly. The Bible is very clear that the wages of sin is death. God was not an abusive parent, He is a just parent. He was going to chastise Moses according to His word.

Now, this reminds me that God should not to be quizzed by you as if you were some district manager and God is some guy whose numbers are down for the month. God is my personal God and He means a lot to me. So that's that.
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As a person that doesn't believe in objective morals, I can accept that it's only my opinion that Moses's sin did not warrant death.

So I respectfully bow out of that type of argument unless it goes against the standards of the Bible itself.
 
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AgnosticBoy said:
I can accept that it's only my opinion that Moses's sin did not warrant death.
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Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

God has plainly told us that all sin warrants death. We fail to see the seriousness of disobeying God. Every sin, no matter how small, is an affront to a Holy God.
 
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