Exodus 3:2
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The angel of the LORD appears to Moses in a flame of fire within a bush, which burns without being consumed.
Context
The angel of the LORD appears within a bush engulfed in flame. Yet the bush is not consumed—it remains intact despite burning. This defies natural law: fire typically consumes combustible material, but here the fire and plant coexist. Moses witnesses something that cannot be explained by ordinary causes.
What Does Exodus 3:2 Mean?
The angel of the LORD appears within a bush engulfed in flame. Yet the bush is not consumed—it remains intact despite burning. This defies natural law: fire typically consumes combustible material, but here the fire and plant coexist. Moses witnesses something that cannot be explained by ordinary causes.
The theophany takes the form of fire, connecting to God's presence in later displays (the pillar of fire guiding Israel, the tongues of fire at Pentecost). The un-consumed bush indicates God's presence is not destructive but preserving—a sign that what God calls remains sustained by His power, not destroyed by divine presence.
In the Original Language
śneh (שְׂנֶה), 'acacia' or 'thorn bush' — a common, unremarkable plant, emphasizing that the sign occurs in something ordinary, not inherently sacred.