Exodus 4:1-9 J (following Exodus 3:18). Moses's Third Difficulty Israel's unbelief. To overcome it, he is enabled to authenticate his mission by three signs the rod that became a serpent and again a rod (Exodus 4:2-5), the leprosy of his hand that came and went (Exodus 4:6-8), and the turning of water into blood (Exodus 4:9). The first is in P a sign to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:8-12), and the third is in E and P the first plague (Exodus 7:14-25). The rod, in J, is Moses's ordinary shepherd's staff, turned to a special use; in E, it is the rod of God, given him to use as a miraculous instrument; in P, it is Aaron who uses it. All three sources must mention the rod, so firmly was it entwined in the thread of tradition (Exodus 17:15 f.*). In Exodus 4:9, river should be Nile.
Exodus 4:1-9
1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.
2 And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.
3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.
4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:
5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
6 And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7 And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.
8 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
9 And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.