Exodus 3 · Verse 8

Exodus 3:8

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 3:8, King James Version

Exodus 3:8 in other translations

BSBI have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.
WEBI have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
ASVand I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
YLTand I go down to deliver it out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to cause it to go up out of the land, unto a land good and broad, unto a land flowing with milk and honey--unto the place of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
DARBYAnd I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good and spacious land, unto a land flowing with milk and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
BBEAnd I have come down to take them out of the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them out of that land into a good land and wide, into a land flowing with milk and honey; into the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
WebsterAnd I am come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land, to a good land, and a large, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

What does Exodus 3:8 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 3:6-8

6-8. I am the God ... come down to deliver--The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises. The period of…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 8 And I am come down to deliver them - This is the very purpose for which I am now come down upon this mountain, and for which I manifest myself to thee. Large - land - Canaan, when compared with the small tract of Goshen, in which they were now situated, and where, we learn, from Exo 1:7, they were straitened for room, might be well called a large land. See a fine description of this land Deu 8:7. A land flowing with milk and honey - Excellent for pasturage, because abounding in the most wholesome herbage and flowers; and from the latter an abundance of wild honey was collected by the bees. Though cultivation is now almost entirely neglected in this land, because of the badness of the government and the scantiness of the inhabitants, yet it is still good for pasturage, and yields an abundance of honey. The terms used in the text to express the fertility of this land, are commonly used by ancient authors on similar subjects. It is a metaphor taken from a breast producing copious streams of milk. Homer calls Argos ουθαρ αρουρης, the breast of the country, as affording streams of milk and honey, Il. ix., ver. 141. So Virgil: Prima tulit tellus, eadem vos ubere laeto Accipiet. Aen., lib. iii., ver. 95. "The land that first produced you shall receive you again into its joyous bosom." The poets feign that Bacchus, the fable of whom they have taken from the history of Moses, produced rivers of milk and honey, of water and wine: - Ῥει δε γαλακτι πεδον, Ῥει δ' οινῳ, ῥει δε μελισσαν Νεκταρι. Eurip. Bacch., Εποδ., ver. 8. "The land flows with milk; it flows also with wine; it flows also with the nectar of bees, (honey)." This seems to be a mere poetical copy from the Pentateuch, where the sameness of the metaphor and the correspondence of the descriptions are obvious. Place of the Canaanites, etc. - See Gen 15:18, etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 3:7-10

God notices the afflictions of Israel. Their sorrows; even the secret sorrows of God's people are known to him. Their cry; God hears the cries of his afflicted people. The oppression they endured; the highest and greatest of their oppressors are not above him. God promises speedy deliverance by methods out of the common ways of providence. Those whom God, by his grace, delivers out of a spiritual Egypt, he will…

Read the full comment on Exodus 3:7-10 →

Exodus 3:8 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וָאֵרֵ֞דva.'e.Redand I have come downH3381
לְהַצִּיל֣וֹ\׀le.ha.tzi.Loto deliver itH5337
מִיַּ֣דmi.Yadfrom [the] hand ofH3027
מִצְרַ֗יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
וּֽלְהַעֲלֹתוֹ֮u.le.ha.'a.lo.Toand to bring up itH5927
מִן\־min-fromH4480
הָאָ֣רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
הַהִוא֒ha.hi.V'<the> thatH1931
אֶל\־'el-intoH413
אֶ֤רֶץ'E.retza landH776
טוֹבָה֙to.VahgoodH2896
וּרְחָבָ֔הu.re.cha.Vahand spaciousH7342
אֶל\־'el-intoH413
אֶ֛רֶץ'E.retza landH776
זָבַ֥תza.Vatflowing ofH2100
חָלָ֖בcha.LavmilkH2461
וּדְבָ֑שׁu.de.Vashand honeyH1706
אֶל\־'el-toH413
מְק֤וֹםme.Kom[the] place ofH4725
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ha.ke.na.'a.Nithe Canaanite[s]H3669
וְהַ֣חִתִּ֔יve.Ha.chi.Tiand the Hittite[s]H2850
וְהָֽאֱמֹרִי֙ve.ha.'e.mo.Riand the Amorite[s]H567
וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔יve.hap.pe.ri.Ziand the Perizzite[s]H6522
וְהַחִוִּ֖יve.ha.chi.Viand the Hivite[s]H2340
וְהַיְבוּסִֽי\׃ve.hay.vu.Siand the Jebusite[s]H2983

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 3:8

  • Genesis 50:24

    And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die: and God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

  • Genesis 15:18-21

    In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

  • Exodus 3:17

    And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

  • Exodus 13:5

    And it shall be when the Lord shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

  • Deuteronomy 1:25

    And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us.

  • Deuteronomy 8:7-9

    For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey; A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.

  • Jeremiah 11:5

    That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O Lord.

  • Numbers 13:27

    And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.

  • Ezekiel 20:6

    In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

  • Psalms 91:15

    He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

  • John 6:38

    For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

  • Exodus 6:6-8

    Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I am.
Ge 11:5,7; 18:21; 50:24; Ps 18:9-19; 12:5; 22:4,5; 34:8; 91:15
Isa 64:1; Joh 3:13; 6:38
deliver.
6:6-8; 12:51; Ge 15:14; 50:24
unto a good.
17; 13:5; 33:2,3; Ge 13:14,15; 15:18; Nu 13:19,27; 14:7,8; De 1:7,25
De 8:7-9; 11:9-24; 26:9-15; 27:3; 28:11; Ne 9:22-25; Jer 2:7; 11:5
Jer 32:22; Eze 20:6
Canaanites.
22:23-31; 34:11; Ge 15:18-21; De 7:1; Jos 9:1; Ne 9:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 3:7

    And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

  • Exodus 3:8

    And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

  • Exodus 3:9

    Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

Read all of Exodus 3

Exodus 3:8 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y he descendido para librarlos de mano de los Egipcios, y sacarlos de aquella tierra á una tierra buena y ancha, á tierra que fluye leche y miel, á los lugares del Cananeo, del Hetheo, del Amorrheo, del Pherezeo, del Heveo, y del Jebuseo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et je suis descendu pour le délivrer de la main des Égyptiens, et pour le faire monter de ce pays-là dans un pays bon et spacieux, dans un pays ruisselant de lait et de miel, dans le lieu d’habitation du Cananéen, et du Héthien, et de l’Amoréen, et du Phérézien, et du Hévien, et du Jébusien.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und ich bin herabgekommen, um es aus der Hand der Ägypter zu erretten und es aus diesem Lande hinaufzuführen in ein gutes und geräumiges Land, in ein Land, das von Milch und Honig fließt, an den Ort der Kanaaniter und der Hethiter und der Amoriter und der Perisiter und der Hewiter und der Jebusiter.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et sciens dolorem ejus, descendi ut liberem eum de manibus Ægyptiorum, et educam de terra illa in terram bonam, et spatiosam, in terram quæ fluit lacte et melle, ad loca Chananæi et Hethæi, et Amorrhæi, et Pherezæi, et Hevæi, et Jebusæi.