Read Exodus 2:23-4:31 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Exo 2:23-25 {s} God acknowledged the children of Israel
Exo 3:1-4:17 {p} Call of Moses: words of YHVH and signs of YHVH
Exo 4:18-26 {p} Return to Egypt with message and authority (rod/ signs of God); obedience (circumcision)
Exo 4:27-6:1 {s} Pharaoh’s response to Moses and the children of Israel
Common themes
And God heard (shama) their groaning, and God remembered (zakar) His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw (ra’ah) the children of Israel, and God acknowledged (yada) them. Exo 2:24-25
And YHVH said: I have surely seen (ra’ah) the affliction of My people that are in Egypt, and have heard (shama) their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know (yada) their pains; Exo 3:7
And now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come to Me; moreover I have seen (ra’ah) the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Exo 3:9
Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say to them: YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying: I have surely remembered (paqad) you, and seen (ra’ah) that which is done to you in Egypt. Exo 3:16
And the people believed; and when they heard (shama) that YHVH had remembered (paqad) the children of Israel, and that He had seen (ra’ah) their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped. Exo 4:31
Hebrew root word parables
TO HEAR. Strong’s H8085 שמע shama, a primitive root meaning, “to hear, to listen.”
The Hebrew shama, “to hear,” implies an action in response. If His children have heard YHVH’s words, then there will be a response of obedience to them. If YHVH hears His children’s cries, then there will be a response of answering them. Hearing without responding, in the Hebraic worldview, means nothing was heard after all.
TO REMEMBER. (Exo 2:24) Strong’s H2142 זכר zakar, a primitive root meaning, “to remember.”
TO REMEMBER. (Exo 3:16, 4:31) Strong’s H6485 פקד paqad, a primitive root meaning, “to visit, to reckon.”
The two different words for “remember” are interesting. Zakar means to bring to mind the covenant that was cut, when the open palm of blessing was laid upon the head. Paqad means that just as a riverbank encompasses the river, so YHVH God encompasses His children wherever they go, back and forth. So just as shama is a two-step process of hearing and then responding, the two verbs for “remember” indicates a similar two-step process of remembering, and then doing.
TO SEE. Strong’s H7200 ראה ra’ah, a primitive root meaning, “to see.”
TO ACKNOWLEDGE. Strong’s H3045 ידע yada, a primitive root meaning, “to know, to teach.”
“To acknowledge” means more that just God saying, “I am aware of your situation.” Notice that the same verb, yada, is translated as “to acknowledge” in Exo 2:25, and “to know” in Exo 3:7. It means by doing, by acting on, one enters in to knowing. God could not have acknowledged their afflictions unless He had already taken action in regard to them. And so He did, for Moses was born, prepared, called, and equipped to be Israel’s deliverer from their afflictions.
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