King James Version
Exodus 5
23 verses with commentary
Pharaoh Increases Israel's Burden
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Moses and Aaron's first confrontation uses the covenant name יְהוָה (YHWH) and the title 'God of Israel,' asserting divine authority over Pharaoh. The request for a three-day journey to 'hold a feast' (חָגַג, chagag) subtly tests Pharaoh's willingness to acknowledge Israel's God. This diplomatic approach demonstrates that hardening comes from Pharaoh's rejection, not arbitrary divine action.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
V.
FIRST APPLICATION OF MOSES TO PHARAOH, AND INCREASE OF THE OPPRESSION.
(1) **Went in.**—Heb., *went*—*i.e.,* left their usual residence, and approached the Court, which, according to the Psalms (Psalm 78:12; Psalm 78:43), was held at Zoan (*i.e.,* Tanis). This was the ordinary residence of Rameses II. and his son Menephthah.
**Thus saith the Lord God of Israel.**—Heb., *Thus has said Jehovah, G...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage--**The language seems to imply that the Israelites had experienced a partial relaxation, probably through the influence of Moses' royal patroness; but in the reign of her father's successor the persecution was renewed with increased severity.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
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KJV Study Commentary
Pharaoh's response 'Who is the LORD (יְהוָה) that I should obey his voice?' reveals the central conflict: will Egypt's god-king submit to Israel's God? His claim 'I know not the LORD' demonstrates willful ignorance—the plagues will answer this question definitively. This rejection initiates the progressive revelation of God's power.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Who is the Lord**?—Heb., *Who is Jehovah?* If Jehovah was a name, the use of which had been laid aside, as would seem to have been the case by the later chapters of Genesis, and which was revived by the scene at the burning bush, Pharaoh may very probably not have heard of it.
**That I should obey his voice.**—The king means to say, that, whoever Jehovah is, He can have no authority over *hi...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
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KJV Study Commentary
The request explicitly mentions 'the God of the Hebrews' (אֱלֹהֵי הָעִבְרִים), using Israel's ethnic designation. The warning that God might 'fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword' appeals to Egyptian fears of divine judgment. The three-day journey motif emphasizes proper worship requires separation from Egypt.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **The God of the Hebrews.**—Moses accepts Pharaoh’s view, and does not insist on the authority of Jehovah over Egyptians, but makes an appeal *ad misericordiam.* He has, at any rate, authority over Hebrews; and, having made a requirement, He will be angered if they neglect it. Will not Pharaoh allow them to escape His anger?
**With the sword.**—Egypt was very open to invasion on its eastern fr...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
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KJV Study Commentary
Pharaoh accuses Moses and Aaron of making the people 'rest' (שָׁבַת, shavat) from their burdens—the same root as 'Sabbath.' He perceives their liberation theology as laziness, revealing how oppressive systems reframe justice demands as threatening to productivity.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
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KJV Study Commentary
Pharaoh claims 'the people of the land now are many' (רַבִּים, rabbim), expressing demographic fear. His command to 'make them rest' (תַּשְׁבִּיתוּ) sarcastically inverts their request—he'll give them 'rest' through increased oppression. This demonstrates how tyrants escalate violence when challenged.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **And Pharaoh said.**—Moses and Aaron having retired, *re infectâ,* Pharaoh turns to the officers of his court and reproaches them with allowing the Hebrews to be idle. They have time to hold meetings (Exodus 4:30-31), and listen to inflammatory harangues, and depute leaders to make very inconvenient proposals—why are they not kept closer to their tasks? Some change of system is requisite.
**M...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 3 Ex 3:1-22. Divine Appearance and Commission to Moses.
**1. Now Moses kept the flock--**This employment he had entered on in furtherance of his matrimonial views (see on Ex 2:21), but it is probable he was continuing his service now on other terms like Jacob during the latter years of his stay with Laban (Ge 30:28).
**he led the flock to the backside of the desert--**that is, on the we...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 6 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Taskmasters . . . officers.**—Three grades of officials are mentioned as employed in superintending the forced labours of the Hebrews—(1) “lords of service” (*sarey massim*)*,* in Exodus 1:11; (2) “taskmasters” (*nogeshim*)*,* here and in Exodus 5:10; Exodus 5:13-14; and (3) “officers”—literally, *scribes *(*shoterim*)*,* here and in Exodus 5:11-21. The “lords of service” were probably a sma...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-3. the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire--**It is common in Scripture to represent the elements and operations of nature, as winds, fires, earthquakes, pestilence, everything enlisted in executing the divine will, as the "angels" or messengers of God. But in such cases God Himself is considered as really, though invisibly, present. Here the preternatural fire may be primar...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore : let them go and gather straw for themselves.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 7 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Straw to make brick.**—“The use of crude brick was general in Egypt for dwelling-houses, tombs, and ordinary buildings, the walls of towns, fortresses, and the sacred enclosures of temples, and for all purposes where stone was not required, which last was nearly confined to temples, quays, and reservoirs” (Wilkinson, in Rawlinson’s *Herodotus,* vol. ii. p. 213). These crude bricks were alway...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2-3. the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire--**It is common in Scripture to represent the elements and operations of nature, as winds, fires, earthquakes, pestilence, everything enlisted in executing the divine will, as the "angels" or messengers of God. But in such cases God Himself is considered as really, though invisibly, present. Here the preternatural fire may be primar...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore , ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 8 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see--**The manifestations which God anciently made of Himself were always accompanied by clear, unmistakable signs that the communications were really from heaven. This certain evidence was given to Moses. He saw a fire, but no human agent to kindle it; he heard a voice, but no human lips from which it came; he saw no living Being, but One was in the ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words. Let there: Heb. Let the work be heavy upon the men
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 9 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Let them not regard vain words.**—Or, *false words.* The reference is to the promises of deliverance wherewith Moses and Aaron had raised the people’s hopes (Exodus 4:30). Pharaoh supposed these to be “vain words,” as Sennacherib did those spoken by Hezekiah (2Kings 18:20).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. put off thy shoes--**The direction was in conformity with a usage which was well known to Moses, for the Egyptian priests observed it in their temples, and it is observed in all Eastern countries where the people take off their shoes or sandals, as we do our hats. But the Eastern idea is not precisely the same as the Western. With us, the removal of the hat is an expression of reverence for t...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
Pharaoh's displeasure, He increases the tasks of the Israelites.(1-9)
The sufferings of the Israelites, Moses' complaint to God.(10-23)
**Verses 1-9**
God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him,...
Read full commentary →And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 10 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. I am the God ... come down to deliver--**The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 11 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. I am the God ... come down to deliver--**The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 12 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Stubble instead of straw.**—Heb., *stubble for the straw.* Reaping in Egypt was effected by cutting off the ears only from the stalks, and thus a very tall stubble was left in the fields. This appears not to have been valued by the cultivators, and whoever wished was allowed *to* collect it. After collecting it, and bringing it to the brick-fields in bundles, they would have to chop it smal...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-8. I am the God ... come down to deliver--**The reverential awe of Moses must have been relieved by the divine Speaker (see Mt 22:32), announcing Himself in His covenant character, and by the welcome intelligence communicated. Moreover, the time, as well as all the circumstances of this miraculous appearance, were such as to give him an illustrious display of God's faithfulness to His promises...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. your daily: Heb. a matter of a day in his day
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 13 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **The taskmasters hasted them.**—The Egyptian monuments show us foreign labourers engaged in brick-making under Egyptian overseers, or “taskmasters,” who are armed with sticks, and “haste” the labourers whenever they cease work for the purpose of resting themselves. The overseers are represented as continually saying to the workpeople, “Work without faintness.” (See Wilkinson, in Rawlinson’s ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore ?
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 14 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **The officers . . .** **were beaten.**—This is the usual practice in the East. When any requisition is made on a town or a village, or any body of persons, the procuring of it is left to the “head men,” who are alone responsible to the Government, and are punished in case they fail to exact the full amount.
**And demanded.**—Rather, *and asked,* or (as Kalisch renders it) “with the words.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 15 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **The officers . . . came and cried unto Pharaoh.**—The Egyptian monarchs were accessible to all. It was a part of their duty to hear complaints personally; and they, for the most part, devoted to this employment the earlier hours of each day (see Herod. ii. 173;. Those who came to them generally *cried* to them for justice, as is the Oriental wont.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 16 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **The fault is in thine own people.**—Heb., t*hy people is in fault.* There can be no reasonable doubt that this clause is antithetical to the preceding one, and means that, though the Hebrews are punished, the people really in fault are the Egyptians.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 17 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Ye are idle.**—Idleness was regarded by the Egyptians as one of the worst sins. It had to be specially disclaimed in the final judgment before Osiris (Birch, in Bunsen’s *Egypt,* vol. v. p. 254). Men sometimes disclaimed it in the epitaphs which they placed upon their tombs (*Records of the Past,* vol. vi. p. 137). Pharaoh had already made the charge, by implication, against Moses and Aaron...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 18 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 19 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 20 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Who stood in the way.**—Heb., *in* *their way.* The meaning is, that Moses and Aaron were “standing”—*i.e.,* waiting to meet them, and know the result of their interview with the monarch.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. to be: Heb. to stink
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 21 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21) **Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.**—Heb., *to stink.* An idiom common to the Hebrews with the Egyptians (Comp. Genesis 34:30; 1Samuel 13:4; 2Samuel 10:6, &c, with *Papyr. Anastas.* 1:27, 7), and very expressive. The English idiom, “to be in bad odour with a person,” is similar, but lacks the force of the Hebrew phrase.
**In the eyes.**—Mixed metaphors occur in all languages, and may g...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
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KJV Study Commentary
Verse 22 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Moses returned unto the Lord.**—He could find nothing to say to the officers. The course of events had as much disappointed him as it had them All that he could do was to complain to God, with a freedom which seems to us almost to border on irreverence, but which God excused in him, since it had its root in his tender love for his people. Moses might perhaps have borne with patience a mere ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. neither: Heb. delivering thou hast not delivered
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
Verse 23 content addresses the systematic oppression through impossible brick quotas. The removal of straw while maintaining production requirements embodies how evil systems break spirits through mathematically impossible demands.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--**Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfu...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-23**
The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty ...
Read full commentary →