What Does Exodus 4:6 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
What goes into concealment comes back as the sign: the hidden interval is where the visible change occurs.
THE MEANING
The verse puts the hand into a concealed fold and brings it back visibly afflicted with tsara’at, “as snow.” The hidden interval ends in a condition the eye can recognize at once.
THE ROOT
וַיּוֹצִאֶהָ
wayyotsi'ehah
GROWS FROM
יצא
Go out, come forth; in a causative form, bring something out.
“took it out” in this verse is wayyotsi'ehah. The verb carries the force of bringing the hidden hand forth into view. The same root names Israel’s going out from Egypt, so this motion belongs to Scripture’s wider language of emergence.
ALSO GROWS
hotsi: Bring or cause to go out
הוֹצִיא
This causative form illuminates how the hand is brought out from concealment.
yetsi'ah: Going out, departure
יְצִיאָה
The same root names a departure, including Israel’s going out from Egypt.
מְצֹרַעַת
metzora'at
GROWS FROM
צרע
The consonantal root behind the term; its deeper etymology is uncertain, while its biblical sense is a skin affliction.
“leprous” in this verse is metzora'at. The Hebrew names tsara’at, a visible skin condition; it does not by itself settle a modern medical diagnosis. “As snow” draws attention to what can be seen on the hand, keeping the sign concrete.
ALSO GROWS
tsara'at: The skin condition called tsara’at
צָרַעַת
This is the condition the verse says has appeared on the hand.
metsora: A person afflicted with tsara’at
מְצֹרָע
This related form names a person by the same visible condition.
THE PATTERN
What is concealed becomes readable when it is brought into view.
And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.THE THREAD
I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.“Brought thee out” uses the same יצא (yatsa, go out or come forth) root carried by “took it out” here. The hand’s emergence from concealment echoes the movement by which a people comes out from the house of bondage.
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