Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 6:12
And Moses spoke before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who [am] of uncircumcised lips?
12. In Exo 4:10 (J) Moses urges his inability to persuade the people; here he urges that the Pharaoh is not likely to listen to him.
of uncircumcised lips ] i.e. lips closed in, which open and speak with difficulty. Cf. the same expression of the heart, when it is (in a figurative sense) closed in, and so impervious to good impressions (Lev 26:41, Jer 9:26, Eze 44:7; Eze 44:9), and of the ear, when it is, metaphorically, in a similar condition, and hears imperfectly (Jer 6:10). In substance, the meaning is the same as that of J’s ‘slow’ (lit. ‘heavy’) of mouth and tongue (Exo 4:10 b).
The answer to v. 12 does not follow till Exo 7:1, where the way is prepared for it by the repetition in substance of vv. 10 12 in vv. 28 30.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Uncircumcised lips – An uncircumcised ear is one that does not hear clearly; an uncircumcised heart one slow to receive and understand warnings; uncircumcised lips, such as cannot speak fluently. The recurrence of the hesitation of Moses is natural; great as was the former trial this was far more severe; yet his words always imply fear of failure, not of personal danger (see Exo 3:11).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 12. Uncircumcised lips?] The word aral, which we translate uncircumcised, seems to signify any thing exuberant or superfluous. Had not Moses been remarkable for his excellent beauty, I should have thought the passage might be rendered protuberant lips; but as this sense cannot be admitted for the above reason, the word must refer to some natural impediment in his speech; and probably means a want of distinct and ready utterance, either occasioned by some defect in the organs of speech, or impaired knowledge of the Egyptian language after an absence of forty years. See Clarke on Ex 4:10.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Of polluted lips. Uncircumcision being a great defect and blemish, whereby men were rendered profane, contemptible, and unfit for many services and privileges, may note any defect, whether moral, and of the spirit, or natural, and of the body. So here it notes Mosess inability to clothe Gods commands in such words as might prevail with Pharaoh. But this was a great weakness of faith, as if God could not effect his purpose, because the instrument was unfit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. how then shall . . . who am ofuncircumcised lips?A metaphorical expression among theHebrews, who, taught to look on the circumcision of any part asdenoting perfection, signified its deficiency or unsuitableness byuncircumcision. The words here express how painfully Moses felt hiswant of utterance or persuasive oratory. He seems to have fallen intothe same deep despondency as his brethren, and to be shrinking withnervous timidity from a difficult, if not desperate, cause. If he hadsucceeded so ill with the people, whose dearest interests were allinvolved, what better hope could he entertain of his making moreimpression on the heart of a king elated with pride and strong in thepossession of absolute power? How strikingly was the indulgentforbearance of God displayed towards His people amid all theirbackwardness to hail His announcement of approaching deliverance! Noperverse complaints or careless indifference on their part retardedthe development of His gracious purposes. On the contrary, here, asgenerally, the course of His providence is slow in the infliction ofjudgments, while it moves more quickly, as it were, when misery is tobe relieved or benefits conferred.
Ex6:14-30. THE GENEALOGYOF MOSES.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Moses spake before the Lord,…. Who appeared in a visible form, and had spoke to him with an articulate voice, and before whom Moses stood, and made the following reply:
saying, behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; even though he brought a comfortable message to them from the Lord, and delivered many gracious promises of his to them, assuring them of deliverance out of Egypt, and of their possession of the land of Canaan:
how then shall Pharaoh hear me? making a demand upon him to part with a people, from whose labour he receives so much advantage, and has such an addition to his revenues, and who is a mighty king, and haughty monarch. And this is further enforced from his own weakness and unfitness to speak to Pharaoh:
who [am] of uncircumcised lips? had an impediment in his speech, could not speak freely and readily, but with difficulty; perhaps stammered, and so uttered superfluous syllables, repeated them before he could fully pronounce what he aimed at; or in other words, he was not eloquent, which was his old objection, and had been fully answered before: and by this it appears that there was no alteration in the speech of Moses since God spoke with him at Mount Horeb. Some think Moses expected to have had this impediment removed, and tacitly hints at it here, not being so well satisfied with Aaron’s being joined with him as his mouth and spokesman, which seemed to carry in it some reflection upon him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(12) How then shall Pharaoh hear me?This time the objection comes from Moses. His double rejection, by Pharaoh (Exo. 5:1-4) and by Israel (Exo. 6:9), had thrown him back into utter despondency. All that diffidence and distrust of himself which he had shown in his earlier communications with Jehovah (Exo. 3:11; Exo. 4:1; Exo. 4:10; Exo. 4:13) revived, and he despaired of success in his mission. Was it of any use his making a second appeal to the foreign monarch when he had failed with his own countrymen?
Uncircumcised lips.Rosenmller argues from this expression that Moses was tongue-tied; but it is not clear that more is meant here than in Exo. 4:10, where Moses says that Hebrews 13 slow of speech and of a slow tongue. He had some difficulty of utterance; but whether or not it was a physical impediment remains uncertain. Uncircumcised is used, according to the Hebrew idiom, for any imperfection which interferes with efficiency. An uncircumcised ear, is explained in Jeremiah 6 to be an ear that cannot hearken; and an uncircumcised heart: (Lev. xxvi 41) is a heart that fails to understand.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 6:12. Moses spake before the Lord The phrase before the Lord, evidently denotes some visible appearance of the Deity, that divine Shechinah, in which God discovered himself to Moses. Uncircumcised lips, according to the meaning of the phrase in other parts of Scripture, expresses vile, unworthy, unfit; and therefore Moses here, with great modesty and humility, declares his own unworthiness and inability to persuade Pharaoh. The expression seems similar in import to that which he uses, ch. Exo 4:10 though, perhaps, it is more emphatically lowly. It is very certain, that the word uncircumcised, was used as a term of contempt among the Jews; who used to call the Gentiles uncircumcised. Hence they speak of uncircumcised ears; uncircumcised hearts; Jer 6:10; Jer 9:26 which imply hearts and ears unholy and unsanctified; deaf to true wisdom; insensible of true goodness; vile and unworthy. To suppose, as some have done from this passage, that Moses was tongue-tied, seems ridiculous enough. The phrase, naturally and clearly expresses his lowly opinion of himself, his unfitness for such an office, and his inability to persuade or prevail.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
children: Exo 6:9, Exo 3:13, Exo 4:29-31, Exo 5:19-21
am: The italics shew that this word has been supplied by our translators; hence it may be inferred by some that Moses was uncircumcised. The difficulty is in some measure cleared away, by using the word uncircumcised in the sense of unsuitable or incapacitated – see note on Exo 6:30, which agrees with Exo 4:10, where Moses complains of want of eloquence; but by substituting is for am in this place, the connection with the former part of the verse is preserved; “For if the chosen seed, the circumcised sons of Jacob, refuse to hear me,” as though Moses had said, “how can I expect to make uncircumcised Pharaoh pay attention to me?” Exo 6:30, Exo 4:10, Lev 26:41, Deu 30:6, Isa 6:5, Jer 1:6, Jer 6:10, Jer 9:26, Act 7:51
Reciprocal: Exo 3:11 – General Lev 19:23 – uncircumcised Eze 24:27 – thy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Exo 6:12-13. Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened to me They gave no heed to what I have said; how then shall Pharaoh hear me? If the anguish of their spirit makes them deaf to that which would compose and comfort them, much more will his pride and insolence make him deaf to that which will but exasperate him. Who am of uncircumcised lips He was conscious to himself that he had not the gift of utterance. The Lord gave them a charge to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh Gods authority is sufficient to answer all objections, and binds us to obedience without murmuring or disputing.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
6:12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who [am] of {d} uncircumcised lips?
(d) Or barbarous and rude in speech and by this word
(uncircumcised) is signified the whole corruption of man’s nature.