Exodus 3:20

Exodus 3:20, in plain English

God says He will strike Egypt with His wonders and miracles, and after that Pharaoh will release the Israelites and let them go.

Why it's here

Here's God's complete assurance: this will be hard, but it will be won. God doesn't say 'Maybe it'll work out.' He says: I will stretch out My hand. I will strike. He will release you. The outcome is not in question. The miracles are coming, and they will be God's answer to Egypt's resistance.

Who's speaking

God is speaking to Moses.

Where it sits in the story

This is the promise that sustains Moses through everything ahead. No matter how many times Pharaoh says no, God's word stands. The ten plagues, the parting of the sea, the pillar of cloud—all of it flows from this promise God makes right here at the burning bush. God's power will be vindicated, and His people will be free.

The scholarly reading

God promises to display powerful miracles against Egypt that will ultimately compel Pharaoh to release the Israelites.

Language and setting

The metaphor of God stretching out his hand (נָטִיתִי אֶת־יָדִי, nāṭîtî ʾet-yādî) becomes iconic in Exodus, appearing repeatedly to describe divine intervention. The plural 'wonders' (נוֹפְלָאוֹת, nôflǝʾôt) denotes actions that exceed natural causality—miracles understood not as violations of nature but as extraordinary manifestations of divine power. Maimonides later distinguished between plagues and miracles, arguing that the plagues were natural phenomena orchestrated supernaturally. The progressive revelation here—first negotiation, then resistance, then miraculous intervention—structures the entire Exodus narrative.

Voice

God, concluding his revelation to Moses with assurance of ultimate victory.

Significance

This verse closes the theophany at Horeb by establishing the comprehensive arc of the Exodus: negotiation, resistance, miraculous intervention, and final liberation. It completes the transition from Moses as fugitive shepherd to Moses as God's instrument for Israel's redemption. The promise to 'stretch out his hand' echoes God's creative power and anticipates the same language used at the Red Sea crossing and throughout Israel's subsequent history when divine power manifests for the people's deliverance.

18The elders of Israel will listen to what you say, and you must go with them to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’

19But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.

20So I will stretch out My hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders I will perform among them. And after that, he will release you.

21And I will grant this people such favor in the sight of the Egyptians that when you leave, you will not go away empty-handed.

22Every woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman staying in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing, and you will put them on your sons and daughters. So you will plunder the Egyptians.”

Read all of Exodus 3 — In the silence of a desert, a bush burns without burning up — and God speaks His own name.