Exodus 4:6
And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
And the Lord said furthermore unto him,.... Continued his discourse, and gave him another sign:
Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom; within his coat, under that part of the garment next to his breast:
and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow; that is, white as snow, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, through the leprosy that was upon it; it was a leprosy of the white sort, and which is reckoned the worst and most difficult to be cured, see
Leviticus 13:3. It is highly probable that this gave rise to the story told by several Heathen writers, as Manetho {m}, Lysimachus {n}, Trogus {o}, and Tacitus {p}, that Moses and the Israelites were drove out of Egypt by the advice of an oracle, because they had the leprosy, itch, and other impure diseases upon them.
{m} Apud Joseph. contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 26.
{n} Apud. ib. c. 34.
{o} Justin e Trogo, l. 36. c. 2.
{p} Hist. l. 5. c. 3.