ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Exodus 3.2

Book: Exodus · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV (ASV)

"1. Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to the mountain of God, unto Horeb."

"2. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."

"3. And Moses said, I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." (Exodus 3:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb."

"2. Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."

"3. Moses said, “I will turn aside now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4. When Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”" (Exodus 3:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb."

"2. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed."

"3. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I." (Exodus 3:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And Moses hath been feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, priest of Midian, and he leadeth the flock behind the wilderness, and cometh in unto the mount of God, to Horeb;"

"2. and there appeareth unto him a messenger of Jehovah in a flame of fire, out of the midst of the bush, and he seeth, and lo, the bush is burning with fire, and the bush is not consumed."

"3. And Moses saith, 'Let me turn aside, I pray thee, and I see this great appearance; wherefore is the bush not burned?' 4. and Jehovah seeth that he hath turned aside to see, and God calleth unto him out of the midst of the bush, and saith, 'Moses, Moses;' and he saith, 'Here [am] I.'" (Exodus 3:1-4, YLT)

Setting

  • Speaker: Moses (traditional)
  • Audience: Israelite congregation post-Exodus
  • Location: Egypt → Sinai wilderness
  • Time period: events c. 1446-1445 BC; composed c. 1446-1406 BC

Theological reading

Key words

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.