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Êxodo 3

ARC · Chapter 3/40

1E apascentava Moysés o rebanho de Jethro, seu sogro, sacerdote em Midian: e levou o rebanho atrás do deserto, e veiu ao monte de Deus, a Horeb.

2E appareceu-lhe o anjo do Senhor em uma chamma de fogo do meio d'uma sarça: e olhou, e eis que a sarça ardia no fogo, e a sarça não se consumia.

3E Moysés disse: Agora me virarei para lá, e verei esta grande visão, porque a sarça se não queima.

4E vendo o Senhor que se virava para lá a vêr, bradou Deus a elle do meio da sarça, e disse: Moysés, Moysés. E elle disse: Eis-me aqui

5E disse: Não te chegues para cá: tira os teus sapatos de teus pés; porque o logar em que tu estás é terra sancta.

6Disse mais: Eu sou o Deus de teu pae, o Deus de Abrahão, o Deus de Isaac, e o Deus de Jacob. E Moysés encobriu o seu rosto, porque temeu olhar para Deus.

7E disse o Senhor: Tenho visto attentamente a afflicção do meu povo, que está no Egypto, e tenho ouvido o seu clamor por causa dos seus exactores, porque conheci as suas dôres.

8Portanto desci para livral-o da mão dos egypcios, e para fazel-o subir d'aquella terra, a uma terra boa e larga, a uma terra que mana leite e mel: ao logar do Cananeo, e do Hetheo, e do Amorrheo, e do Pherezeo, e do Heveo, e do Jebuseo.

9E agora, eis que o clamor dos filhos d'Israel é vindo a mim, e tambem tenho visto a oppressão com que os egypcios os opprimem.

10Vem agora, pois, e eu te enviarei a Pharaó, para que tires o meu povo (os filhos d'Israel), do Egypto.

11Então Moysés disse a Deus: Quem sou eu, que vá a Pharaó e tire do Egypto os filhos d'Israel?

12E Deus disse: Certamente eu serei comtigo; e isto te será por signal de que eu te enviei: Quando houveres tirado este povo do Egypto, servireis a Deus n'este monte.

13Então disse Moysés a Deus: Eis que quando vier aos filhos d'Israel, e lhes disser: O Deus de vossos paes me enviou a vós; e elles me disserem: Qual é o seu nome? que lhes direi?

14E disse Deus a Moysés: SEREI O QUE SEREI. Disse mais: Assim dirás aos filhos d'Israel: Serei me enviou a vós.

15E Deus disse mais a Moysés: Assim dirás aos filhos d'Israel: O Senhor Deus de vossos paes, o Deus de Abrahão, o Deus de Isaac, e o Deus de Jacob, me enviou a vós: este é meu nome eternamente, e este é meu memorial de geração em geração

16Vae, e ajunta os anciãos d'Israel, e dize-lhes: O Senhor, o Deus de vossos paes, o Deus de Abrahão, de Isaac e de Jacob, me appareceu, dizendo: Certamente vos tenho visitado, e visto o que vos é feito no Egypto.

17Portanto eu disse: Far-vos-hei subir da afflicção do Egypto á terra do cananeo, do hetheo, e do amorrheo, e do pherezeo, e do heveo, e do jebuseo, a uma terra que mana leite e mel.

18E ouvirão a tua voz; e virás, tu e os anciãos d'Israel, ao rei do Egypto, e dir-lhe-heis: O Senhor, o Deus dos hebreos, nos encontrou: agora pois deixa-nos ir caminho de tres dias para o deserto, para que sacrifiquemos ao Senhor nosso Deus.

19Eu sei, porém, que o rei do Egypto não vos deixará ir, nem ainda por uma mão forte.

20Porque eu estenderei a minha mão, e ferirei ao Egypto com todas as minhas maravilhas que farei no meio d'elle: depois vos deixará ir.

21E eu darei graça a este povo aos olhos dos egypcios; e acontecerá que, quando sairdes, não saireis vazios,

22Porque cada mulher pedirá á sua visinha e á sua hospeda vasos de prata, e vasos de oiro, e vestidos, os quaes poreis sobre vossos filhos e sobre vossas filhas; e despojareis ao Egypto.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God appears to Moses in a bush that burns without being consumed, reveals His name as 'I Am That I Am,' and calls him to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Explanation

This is one of the most theologically significant chapters in the entire Bible: Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush marks the formal beginning of his mission as deliverer. The phenomenon of the bush that burns without being consumed symbolizes the presence of God — holy and powerful, yet not destroying what it touches for redemptive purposes. The revelation of the divine name, 'I Am That I Am' (Yahweh), communicates God's self-sufficiency and eternity — He depends on nothing and always exists, unlike the Egyptian gods tied to natural phenomena. Moses' initial hesitation ('who am I...') reflects a common human insecurity in the face of a great calling, but God responds not with a list of Moses' qualifications, but with the promise 'certainly I will be with thee' — showing that God's call always comes accompanied by His own enabling presence.

Fun facts

  • The divine name revealed here, transliterated as YHWH (often pronounced 'Yahweh' or 'Jehovah'), became so sacred in Jewish tradition that scribes avoided pronouncing it, substituting the word 'Adonai' (Lord) when reading aloud — a practice of reverence that persists to this day.
  • Mount Horeb, also called Mount Sinai, where this revelation takes place, will be the very same location to which Moses returns with the whole people of Israel after leaving Egypt (Exodus 19), closing a prophetic circle already announced here in verse 12.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Êxodo 3:1Moses has already been living in Midian for years, tending his father-in-law’s flock; Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai, which later receives the law given to Moses.
  2. Êxodo 3:2What catches Moses’s attention is not the fire itself, common enough in the desert, but the bush that burns without ever being consumed — a sign that something out of the ordinary is happening there.
  3. Êxodo 3:3Moses’s curiosity to go look up close is what starts the encounter; he still does not know he is about to be called by God.
  4. Êxodo 3:4God only speaks once He sees Moses drawing near to look — and calls him twice by name, a common biblical way of marking an important call.
  5. Êxodo 3:5Removing one’s sandals was a sign of respect before a sacred place or person, something like taking off a cap at a funeral today. God is saying that this ordinary patch of ground, at the foot of a bush, became sacred space only because He is there — there is nothing magical about the mountain itself.
  6. Êxodo 3:6God introduces Himself by linking to the patriarchs Moses already knew from family tradition — He is not a new god, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Covering one’s face was a gesture of reverence and fear.
  7. Êxodo 3:7God explains the reason for the call: He had already been closely watching the Hebrew people’s suffering under the Egyptian taskmasters, picking up the cry from the end of chapter 2.
  8. Êxodo 3:8The phrase “milk and honey” describes abundance, not a literal river of milk: plenty of milk means lots of cattle and goats raised on good pasture, and honey points to abundant fruit. It is the Hebrew way of saying a rich, good land to live in, repeated several times in the Bible to describe Canaan.
  9. Êxodo 3:9It repeats, in other words, what was already said in verse 7, reinforcing that the decision to act comes directly from the oppression God acknowledges is happening.
  10. Êxodo 3:10This is where God formally gives Moses his mission: he will not just witness the people’s rescue, he will be the human instrument used to bring them out of Egypt.
  11. Êxodo 3:11Moses’s first reaction is one of insecurity, not outright refusal — the first of several objections he raises throughout this dialogue.
  12. Êxodo 3:12God does not answer Moses’s “Who am I” with a list of his credentials, but with the assurance of His own presence — and promises a sign that will only be confirmed after the mission is completed.
  13. Êxodo 3:13Moses anticipates that the people will demand some proof of authority; asking for God’s name was a way of knowing exactly who he was dealing with.
  14. Êxodo 3:14When Moses asks God’s name, the answer turns on the word “I AM,” the same root as the divine name in Hebrew, which the Jews later came to avoid pronouncing. The central idea is that this God simply exists by Himself and will reveal Himself through what He does, not through a closed definition.
  15. Êxodo 3:15After revealing the name “I AM” in the previous verse, God again introduces Himself through His link to the patriarchs, a name that was to be remembered by all the generations to follow.
  16. Êxodo 3:16God gives Moses a practical plan: first convince the elders of the people, not the whole crowd at once, before any confrontation with Pharaoh.
  17. Êxodo 3:17It repeats the promise of the land already made in verse 8, naming the peoples who lived in Canaan before Israel’s arrival.
  18. Êxodo 3:18The initial request to Pharaoh is deliberately modest: just a short three-day trip for a sacrifice, not a final departure — a first strategic step.
  19. Êxodo 3:19God already warns Moses that Pharaoh will resist, preparing him for the resistance that will stretch across several plagues in the coming chapters.
  20. Êxodo 3:20It anticipates, in summary form, everything that will happen in the plagues of the following chapters: only after suffering these blows will Pharaoh give in.
  21. Êxodo 3:21God promises that the Egyptians will treat the Hebrews well on their way out, unlike the hostility that had marked them for generations — the fulfillment comes in the next verse.
  22. Êxodo 3:22God warns that the Hebrew women will ask their Egyptian neighbors for objects of silver, gold, and clothing before leaving, and will go away carrying these with them. It is not a disguised theft: after generations of unpaid labor, the text treats this as a kind of overdue settling of accounts.

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