Exodus 3:2

Webster's Bible (1833)

The angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַ֠יֵּרָא מַלְאַ֨ךְ יְהֹוָ֥ה אֵלָ֛יו בְּלַבַּת־אֵ֖שׁ מִתּ֣וֹךְ הַסְּנֶ֑ה וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃

Transliteration

Wayyērāʾ malʾaḵ YHWH ʾēlāw in-labbat-ʾēš from-tōḵ hasseneh wayyarʾ and-hinnēh hasseneh bō'ēr in-ʾēš and-hasseneh ʾênennû ʾukkāl.

Grammar Details

• *Wayyērāʾ*: consecutive imperfect, 3rd masculine singular, niphal - and he appeared
• *malʾaḵ*: noun, masculine singular construct - messenger/angel of
• *YHWH*: proper noun - Yahweh/LORD
• *ʾēlāw*: preposition with 3rd masculine singular suffix - to him
• *labbat*: noun, feminine singular construct with preposition - in flame of
• *ʾēš*: noun, feminine singular with preposition - in fire
• *tōḵ*: noun, masculine singular construct with preposition - from midst of
• *hasseneh*: noun, masculine singular with definite article - the bush/bramble
• *wayyarʾ*: consecutive imperfect, 3rd masculine singular, qal - and he saw
• *hinnēh*: interjection - behold
• *bō'ēr*: participle, masculine singular - burning
• *ʾênennû*: particle of negation with 3rd masculine singular suffix - was not
• *ʾukkāl*: participle, masculine singular, pual - consumed/devoured

Word Meanings

• *malʾaḵ*: messenger/angel/representative
• *labbat*: flame/blaze/heart
• *tōḵ*: midst/middle/among
• *hasseneh*: the bush/bramble/thornbush
• *bō'ēr*: burning/kindled/consuming
• *ʾukkāl*: consumed/devoured/eaten

Referenced Verses

• Acts 7:30-35 : 30 "When forty years were fulfilled, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight. As he came close to see, a voice of the Lord came to him, 32 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' Moses trembled, and dared not look. 33 The Lord said to him, 'Take your sandals off of your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 34 I have surely seen the affliction of my people that is in Egypt, and have heard their groaning. I have come down to deliver them. Now come, I will send you into Egypt.' 35 "This Moses, whom they refused, saying, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?'--God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.
• Deut 33:16 : 16 For the precious things of the earth and the fullness of it, The good will of him who lived in the bush. Let [the blessing] come on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
• Isa 43:2 : 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle on you.
• Mark 12:26 : 26 But about the dead, that they are raised; haven't you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?'
• Luke 20:37 : 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he called the Lord 'The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'
• John 1:14 : 14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
• Isa 63:9 : 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
• 2 Cor 1:8-9 : 8 For we don't desire to have you uninformed, brothers,{The word for "brothers" here and where context allows may also be correctly translated "brothers and sisters" or "siblings."} concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
• Dan 3:27 : 27 The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their pants changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them.
• Hos 12:4-5 : 4 Indeed, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; He wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us, 5 Even Yahweh, the God of hosts; Yahweh is his name of renown!
• Zech 13:7 : 7 "Awake, sword, against my shepherd, And against the man who is close to me," says Yahweh of Hosts. Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered; And I will turn my hand against the little ones.
• Mal 3:1 : 1 "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, behold, he comes!" says Yahweh of hosts.
• Rom 8:3 : 3 For what the law couldn't do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
• Isa 53:10-11 : 10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Yahweh shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.
• Ps 66:12 : 12 You allowed men to ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, But you brought us to the place of abundance.
• Gen 15:13-17 : 13 He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. 14 I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great substance. 15 But you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full." 17 It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
• Gen 16:7-9 : 7 The angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai." 9 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hands." 10 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will greatly multiply your seed, that they will not be numbered for multitude." 11 The angel of Yahweh said to her, "Behold, you are with child, and will bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 12 He will be like a wild donkey among men. His hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him. He will live opposite all of his brothers." 13 She called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees," for she said, "Have I even stayed alive after seeing him?"
• Gen 22:15-16 : 15 The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky, 16 and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
• Gen 48:16 : 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."
• Exod 3:4-9 : 4 When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am." 5 He said, "Don't come close. Take off your sandals from off your feet, for the place you are standing on is holy ground." 6 Moreover he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God. 7 Yahweh said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."
• Exod 3:16 : 16 Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, 'Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, "I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt;
• Deut 4:20 : 20 But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as at this day.