Exodus 4:11-12

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ¹  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ²  4:12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth ³  and will teach you ⁴  what you must say.” ⁵ 

Isaiah 6:6-7

6:6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs. 6:7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 49:2

49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,

he hid me in the hollow of his hand;

he made me like a sharpened ⁷  arrow,

he hid me in his quiver. ⁸ 

Isaiah 50:4

The Servant Perseveres

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ⁹ 

so that I know how to help the weary. ¹⁰ 

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ¹¹ 

Luke 21:15

21:15 For I will give you the words ¹²  along with the wisdom ¹³  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

¹ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

² sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

³ sn The promise of divine presence always indicates intervention (for blessing or cursing). Here it means that God would be working through the organs of speech to help Moses speak. See Deut 18:18; Jer 1:9.

⁴ sn The verb is וְהוֹרֵיתִיךָ (vÿhoretikha), the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. The form carries the instructional meaning because it follows the imperative “go.” In fact, there is a sequence at work here: “go…and/that I may teach you.” It is from יָרָה (yara), the same root behind תּוֹרָה (torah, “law”). This always referred to teaching either wisdom or revelation. Here Yahweh promises to teach Moses what to say.

⁵ tn The form is the imperfect tense. While it could be taken as a future (“what you will say”), an obligatory imperfect captures the significance better (“what you must say” or “what you are to say”). Not even the content of the message will be left up to Moses.

⁶ tn Or “ritually cleansed,” or “atoned for” (NIV).

⁷ tn Or perhaps, “polished” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NASB “a select arrow.”

⁸ sn The figurative language emphasizes the servant’s importance as the Lord’s effective instrument. The servant’s mouth, which stands metonymically for his words, is compared to a sharp sword because he will be an effective spokesman on God’s behalf (see 50:4). The Lord holds his hand on the servant, ready to draw and use him at the appropriate time. The servant is like a sharpened arrow reserved in a quiver for just the right moment.

⁹ tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”

¹⁰ tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

¹¹ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

¹² tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

¹³ tn Grk “and wisdom.”