Exodus 3:2

God's presence Angels and the spiritual world

¹ Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.

³ So Moses thought, “I must go over and see this marvelous sight. Why is the bush not burning up?”

⁴ When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses!” “Here I am,” he answered.

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
KJV: 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.
WEB: The LORD’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.
ASV: 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.
DARBY: And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a thorn-bush: and he looked, and behold, the thorn-bush burned with fire, and the thorn-bush was not being consumed.
BLB: And the angel of YHWH appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with the fire, and the bush [was] not consumed.

ÅB: Der åpenbarte Herrens engel seg for ham i en flammende ild, midt ut av en tornebusk; og han så opp, og se, tornebusken sto i lys lue, men tornebusken brant ikke opp.
OTB: Der viste Herrens engel seg for ham i en flammende ild midt ut av en tornebusk. Moses så at tornebusken sto i lys lue, men den ble ikke fortært.
B1930: Der åpenbarte Herrens engel sig for ham i en luende ild, midt ut av en tornebusk; og han så op, og se, tornebusken stod i lys lue, men tornebusken brente ikke op.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Acts 7:30–35
After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.
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Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.
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Deuteronomy 33:16
with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it, and with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph and crown the brow of the prince of his brothers.
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Mark 12:26
But concerning the dead rising, have you not read about the burning bush in the Book of Moses, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?
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Luke 20:37
Even Moses demonstrates that the dead are raised, in the passage about the burning bush. For he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
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Psalms 66:12
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance.
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Isaiah 63:9
In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
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Exodus 3:16
Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me and said: I have surely attended to you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
Read in context