(Exodus 4:11) Does God Make People Mute, Deaf, and Blind etc.?

Exodus 4:11

“So the LORD said to him [Moses], ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?’” (Exodus 4:11; New King James Version)

A superficial reading of this can and does cause people to believe God is saying that He creates people mute, deaf and blind. The answer is given that since God is love, He intentionally makes certain people this way for a special purpose. Here’s how the English Standard Version translates it:

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’”

And here’s the New International Version:

“The LORD said to him, ‘Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’”

Can you see a difference between these two translations from the New King James above? The New King James (and others including the King James) simply says God makes the mute, the deaf and the blind. These other two translations (and others like them) say that God makes them mute, deaf and blind. The truth is, God does make the people who are mute, deaf and blind, but He does not make them mute, deaf and blind. Do you see the difference?

Say you bought a brand new iPhone from the Apple store. When you get home you open the box and notice that the screen is cracked. Would you drive back to the Apple store and accuse them of intentionally making a phone with a cracked screen? Of course not. Although the Apple manufacturers made the phone, they did not make it with a cracked screen. Something happened to the phone while in transit to your local store.

The same thing is happening to God’s creation. While God is a perfect Creator, the presence of sin in this world has a negative effect upon His design. For example, after Adam sinned God said:

“… the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.” (Genesis 3:17, 18; New Living Translation)

Before sin, God had created the ground, but after sin it became cursed and would not produce the perfect vegetation as it did before sin. God created the ground that later became cursed, but He did not create the ground cursed.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), Jesus talks about “a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.” After seeing all the tares growing in the field, the man’s servant, knowing that his master only sowed good seed, asked where the tares came from. The master answered, “An enemy has done this.” It is the enemy (Satan) who has polluted God’s perfect design for His creation by introducing the destructive effects of sin.

“The earth mourns and fades away, the world languishes and fades away; the haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left.” (Isaiah 24:4-6)

But what about what God said to Eve:

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16; New Living Translation)

Here it sounds like God is directly punishing Eve for sinning, causing her to have severe pain while in labor. However, this must be understood in the permissive sense and not in the causative sense. As you have learned (or will learn) by reading the articles on this website, throughout Scripture we read strange statements such as God hardening hearts (Exodus 7:3), sending evil spirits (Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14), destroying lives (Genesis 6:7; 1 Corinthians 3:17) and sending strong delusions (2 Thessalonians 2:11). These are all idiomatic Hebrew expressions where God is said to “do” that which He reluctantly “permits” to be done. God permits severe labor pains but He does not cause it. Likewise, God permits various handicaps and disorders that are contrary to His ultimate design such as muteness, deafness, addictions, growth disorders, extreme phobias, homosexual propensities, learning disabilities, mental illness and blindness (etc.) – but He does not create them.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)

Remember this principle when you come across such statements in Scripture, which do speak of calamities as a direct effect of one’s sin, such as:

“The Lord will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors, with the scab, and with the itch, from which you cannot be healed. The Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you shall grope at noonday, as a blind man gropes in darkness; you shall not prosper in your ways; you shall be only oppressed and plundered continually, and no one shall save you.” (Deuteronomy 28:27-29)

Does God really cause diseases and handicaps, or does He reluctantly permit them because He could not prevent them due to their breach and they reaped what they themselves had sown?

“Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD; they did not want My advice, and they rejected all My correction. They will eat the fruit of their way, and they will be filled with their own devices.” (Proverbs 1:29-31)

You see, God NEVER interferes with one’s free-choice to reject His protection. Through God’s perfect wisdom, He must reluctantly permit the enemy to carry out his destructive work. He must permit sin to magnify so we see it, acknowledge it, confess it, and be cleansed of it.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:18-23)

Going back to our discussion of Exodus 4:11, Ray Foucher writes:

“God takes responsibility for making people but not for making them blind etc – that is the work of the enemy.

The context of this passage [Exodus 4:11] is important to consider. Moses was trying to be excused from God’s assignment to him to request that Pharaoh release the Israelites from slavery. Moses reply was:

“… O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” (Exo 4:10)

In Exodus 4:11 God was, of course, countering Moses excuse saying He has made all people and is able to overcome such defects and then proposes how He would deal with the defect Moses was claiming as an excuse – and Moses was not even mute. His question to Moses could be understood as a rhetorical question. The answer being that if God could make people in the first place he could certainly fix any defects and enable them to function fully.” (Ray Foucher, characterofgod.org)

Psalm 139:13-14

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13, New Living Translation)

In other translations, the word “made” is “formed”, while in others it is “possessed my reins.” The Hebrew word here is קָנָה (qanah), which according to the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries, means “buy, bought, acquire, buyer, get, purchased, purchaser.” Throughout the New American Standard Bible, it is translated as:

acquire (6x), acquired (1x), acquires (2x), bought (20x), buy (23x), buyer (4x), buying (2x), buys (1x), formed (1x), gain acquisition (1x), gained (1x), get (3x), gets (1x), gotten (1x), owner (1x), possessed (1x), possessor (2x), purchased (3x), purchaser (3x), recover (1x), redeemed (1x), sold (1x), surely buy (2x)

The Hebrew word translated as "knit me together" is סָכַךְ (cakak), which Strong's Exhaustive Concordance says is “a primitive root; properly, to entwine as a screen; by implication, to fence in, cover over, (figuratively) protect -- cover, defence, defend, hedge in, join together, set, shut up.” Notice these translations:

• King James Version: “thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.”
• Douay-Rheims Bible says: “thou hast protected me from my mother's womb.”
• Peshitta Holy Bible Translated: “you have carried me from the womb of my mother.”
• Brenton Septuagint Translation: “thou hast helped me from my mother's womb.”
• Lamsa Bible: “thou hast accepted me from my mother's womb.”
• Catholic Public Domain Version: “You have supported me from the womb of my mother.”

In The Remedy Bible, the full verse is paraphrased like this:

“For you have redeemed my heart and mind; you covered me with grace from the moment I was conceived in my mother’s womb.”

In the footnote to this verse, the main paraphraser of this work, Dr. Timothy Jennings, explains why it is translated this way:

“Contrary to popular translations, the context of this verse is not about physical embryological development, or God using power to physically create a new human life, but is about the plan of redemption. The Psalmist in Psalms 51:5 describes that he was "born in sin, conceived in iniquity" and here [in Psalm 139:13] acknowledges that despite his sinful origins, God was already there acting to redeem him and cleanse him from sinfulness.” (Words in brackets added)

“But doesn’t verse 14 confirm that the psalmist (David) is talking about being “fearfully and wonderfully made”?

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14, New King James Version)

The New King James footnote of this verse informs us that they are following the Masoretic Text and Targum, however, the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), Syriac, and Vulgate all read, “You [referring to God] are fearfully wonderful.” For example, here’s how it’s worded in Brenton’s Septuagint:

“I will give thee thanks; for thou art fearfully wondrous; wondrous are thy works; and my soul knows it well.”

There is no mention of “I am” anything. The focus seems to be off of “self” and placed upon the awe-inspiring (i.e., fearfully wondrous) Creator.

“Psalm 139:14 is one of the most famous verses in all the Psalms. This verse is often cited to validate the worth of every human being. The ESV serves as a good representative of the standard translation of this verse:

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

However, the ISV translates this verse as if God is the subject instead of humanity.

I praise you, because you are fearful and wondrous! Your work is wonderful, and I am fully aware of it.

The translators of these two versions are not offering differing interpretations of the same Hebrew words, words into which God placed some intentional ambiguity. No, they are following different underlying texts. The ESV follows the standard Masoretic Text (MT) while the ISV is following a reading found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (specifically in 11QPsa.)

While this is once again a unique reading, in this case it is also the oldest available, and the text of 11QPsa bears no signs of corruption here. Thus, this is a possible case where the Dead Sea Scrolls have preserved a more original reading than the otherwise excellent (but ‘younger’) Masoretic Text.” (Ron W. Lindo Jr., How the Dead Sea Scrolls Change Our Translation of the Book of Psalms, January 15, 2022, logos.com)

Here are some other Bibles that use the same wording from these older manuscripts:

• Good News Translation: “I praise you because you are to be feared; all you do is strange and wonderful. I know it with all my heart.”
• New English Translation: “I will give you thanks because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew me thoroughly.”
• Douay-Rheims Bible: “I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.”
• Catholic Public Domain Version: “I will confess to you, for you have been magnified terribly. Your works are miraculous, as my soul knows exceedingly well.”
• Lamsa Bible: “I will praise thee, because of the wonders which thou hast done; marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knows right well.”
• Peshitta Holy Bible Translated: “I shall give thanks to you because of the wonders that you have done, for your works are exalted and my soul knows it well.”

John 9:2-4

“Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:2-4; New King James Version)

First, notice that it’s not the man’s sin nor his parents which caused him to be blind. This means, his blindness was not a direct punishment from God due to his (or his parent’s) practice of sin. But if the man was born blind, why would the disciples ask if his blindness was due to any sin he had committed? Well, although we are incapable of knowing the disciples’ thoughts here, they could have believed in the popular doctrine of the day called transmigration of souls. Adam Clarke explains:

“The doctrine of the transmigration of souls appears to have been an article in the creed of the Pharisees, and it was pretty general both among the Greeks and the Asiatics. The Pythagoreans believed the souls of men were sent into other bodies for the punishment of some sin which they had committed in a pre-existent state. This seems to have been the foundation of the disciples question to our Lord. Did this man sin in a pre-existent state, that he is punished in this body with blindness? Or, did his parents commit some sin, for which they are thus plagued in their offspring?” (Clarke’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, John 9:2)

Many eastern religions have a similar idea as the transmigration of souls, or a variation of reicarnation, where some trouble in this life is believed to be caused by an event in a past life or an event that happened to the soul in the spirit world before it was born as a human. 

Either way, Jesus rejected both claims (that the man's blindness was caused by his parents or himself). In the first part of this article, we learned that it is the presence of sin in general that effects the earth and its inhabitants. Sin is a pollutant (a virus) that acts like chemical and biological warfare from the enemy.

Here in the New King James (and others) it reads as if God intentionally created this man blind in order that His works would be revealed when Jesus comes to heal him (which He does in verse 6). Why is he blind? So “that the works of God should be revealed in him.”

The problem lies in the period after the word “him.” Here in the Greek there is no rule as to what punctuation is inserted when translating to English and most translators insert a period after the word “him”. However, this actually stops Jesus’ thought process too early, making it sound like the man’s blindness was the works of God in him. The sentence should instead contain a comma (or a semi colon) which would allow the flow of what Jesus was saying to continue. Take a look:

“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him, I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day …’”

Here’s how it reads in the Literal Standard Version:

“Jesus answered, ‘Neither this one sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God may be revealed in him; it is necessary for Me to be working the works of Him who sent Me while it is day …’” (John 9:3, 4; Literal Standard Version)

In other words, “in order for the works of God to be revealed in him, it is necessary for Me to be working the works of Him who sent Me.” This was Jesus’ mission – to do the works of His Father. Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works” (John 14:10). And Jesus, the Messiah, was sent to heal (Luke 4:18,19).

In some translations of John 9:4 it says “we” instead of “I” – “While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me” (Berean Standard Bible). It all depends on which Greek manuscript is being used for that particular translation. The word “we” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s wrong. At the end of verse 4 Jesus says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says, “You [His followers] are the light of the world.” Then in John 14:12 He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” So, we, through the indwelling presence of Christ’s Spirit, will carry on the works of God. Even the disciples healed people (Acts 3:1-10).

Again, it’s not that God deliberately created the man blind, but that He permitted the man to remain blind until Jesus came to heal him, demonstrating the works of God who desires to heal and restore and reverse the curse from the enemy who comes to “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Not all of us will perform physical healings, but as the enemy cripples and maims God’s creation (both physically and mentally), the works of God are revealed as “the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them” (Matthew 11:5).

Ultimately what Jesus wants to do is to correct our wrong ideas about God that we might be reconciled to Him and gain eternal life — for that is the only true and final way to overcome the pain and suffering of this sinful world, and all the healing is to help us believe that. 

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Nepali Translation of this article: (प्रस्थान ४:११; यूहन्ना ९:२-४) के परमेश्‍वरले मानिसहरूलाई aगुङ्गा, बहिरा र अन्धा आदि बनाउनुहुन्छ?