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.
1. And Moses answered. Moses relates in this chapter how hesitatingly he obeyed God, not from stubbornness, but from timidity, for he does not shake off the yoke, as unruly beasts do, but shrinks away from it, that it may not be placed upon him. “Pensant qu’il ne luy peut estre approprie;” thinking that it cannot be fitted to him. — Fr.
Moses objects that the people will not believe him, yet God had promised they would hearken. His doubt does not square with God's word; past rejection made him fear the same again, though he was happily mistaken. The signs God appointed would convince them where bare word could not.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 4:1-9
And Moses answered and said,.... In reference to what Jehovah had declared to him in the latter end of the preceding chapter: but, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice; this seems to contradict what God had said to him, Exo 3:18 that they would hearken to his voice; but it can hardly be thought, that so good a man, and...