John Calvin Commentary Exodus 4:10

"And Moses said unto Jehovah, Oh, Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant; for I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue." — Exodus 4:10 (ASV)

O my Lord. Moses grasps at every word of escape, seeking to evade the task imposed on him, not because he desires to refuse the command, but because he trembles at its importance. It is this distrust of his own powers that makes him so hesitant and timid. The remedy was obvious: he should have assured himself, since he well knew that he was undertaking nothing rashly, that God, whose command he obeyed, would supply him with ample strength. Here, then, lay the fault: that he did not cast all his cares on God and, setting aside his own weakness, hope against hope, like Abraham, who

considered not his own body now dead; neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb; being fully persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also to perform (Romans 4:18, 19, 21).

It was an act of modesty in him to reflect on the defect he mentioned, if he had only asked for aid from God. But when he proceeds further and requests to be excused entirely, he does an injustice to God, as if God would lay a greater burden on His servants than they could bear, or would give any rash command.

This over-anxious caution is, therefore, deservedly condemned, although it may have some mixture of virtue. For whatever difficulty we encounter, this ought to be a sufficient encouragement to us: that as often as God chooses men as His ministers, although they are in themselves good for nothing, He forms and prepares them for their work. It is, indeed, lawful to fear in perplexities, provided that our anxiety does not overcome the desire to obey; but whatever God commands, it is never right to refuse on any pretext.

Moreover, we see that the instruments which seem hardly suitable are especially employed by Him, so that His power may more fully appear. He might, if He had chosen to use Moses as His ambassador, have made him eloquent from the womb; or, at least, when He sent him to his work, have corrected his stammering tongue. It seems a mockery, then, to give a commission to speak to a stammerer; but in this way (as I have said) He causes His glory to shine forth more brightly, proving that He can do all things without external aid.

Interpreters vary regarding the meaning of the words. Some think that the clause since thou hast spoken to thy servant is added in amplification, as if the tongue of Moses had become even slower than ever since the vision had appeared. But since the particle גם,⁵²gam, is repeated three times, I interpret it simply: that Moses had never been eloquent from his infancy, and that he was not now endowed with any new eloquence.

⁵² גם, properly also Here rendered since in A V.; the margin of which exhibits, otherwise, the Hebrew idiom with exactness. — W