Exodus 4:2

The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ¹ 

Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied.

The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" And he said, "A staff."

Then the LORD asked him, "What do you have there in your hand?" "A shepherd’s staff," Moses replied.

So GOD said, "What's that in your hand?" "A staff."

And the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? And he said, A rod.

The LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A staff."

So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod."

The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” ¹ 

¹ tn Or “rod” (KJV, ASV); NCV, CEV “walking stick”; NLT “shepherd’s staff.”

sn The staff appears here to be the shepherd’s staff that he was holding. It now will become the instrument with which Moses will do the mighty works, for it is the medium of the display of the divine power (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 27; also, L. Shalit, “How Moses Turned a Staff into a Snake and Back Again,” BAR 9 [1983]: 72-73).