Exodus 10:11
in Exodus 10No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve Jehovah; for that is what ye desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
KJV
Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd the briefly recorded fact that the heart of Pharaoh experienced a kind of softening when he said, "But you shall not proceed far; you shall go a three days' journey and leave your wives behind," and whatever else he spoke when yielding before the marvelous works makes it clear that these signs had some effect even on him, though they did not entirely accomplish their object. Yet not even this would have happened if the idea held by most people about the words, "I will harden Pharaoh's heart," rightly represented what was wrought by him, that is, by God.
This site's exposition
Let the Lord be so with you
on Exodus 10:10-11
The first counteroffer of the chapter cuts the party down to the men, and it belongs to a series: sacrifice in the land at 8:25, go not very far away at 8:28, the men only here, and leave the flocks at 10:24. Moses turns down every one of them and holds to the whole household with its cattle, because a service with parts kept back in Egypt would still be Egypt's service. Pharaoh has the two men driven out from his presence, and at 11:1 he is told he will thrust the whole nation out.
This site's exposition
only the men may go and worship the LORD
Pharaoh offers a partial release: the men may go, and the families stay behind, which would bind the men to return. He claims this is all Israel had asked, and Moses and Aaron are driven out. Origen reads such concessions as proof that the signs softened Pharaoh in part, and he uses this against the common reading of the words about God hardening his heart.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Not so,....
Note, Satan does all he can to hinder those that serve God themselves from bringing their children in to serve him. He is a sworn enemy to early piety, knowing how destructive it is to the interests of his kingdom; whatever would hinder us from engaging our children to the utmost in God's service, we have reason to suspect the hand of Satan in it.
Note, Counterfeit repentance commonly cheats men with general promises and is loth to covenant against particular sins. He entreats Moses and Aaron to pray for him. There are those who, in distress, implore the help of other persons' prayers, but have no mind to pray for themselves, showing thereby that they have no true love to God, nor any delight in communion with him.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Of such a character was the impassioned scene in the court of Egypt when the king had wrought himself into such a fit of uncontrollable fury as to treat ignominiously the two venerable representatives of the Hebrew people.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Pharaoh's servants said--Many of his courtiers must have suffered serious losses from the late visitations, and the prospect of such a calamity as that which was threatened and the magnitude of which former experience enabled them to realize, led them to make a strong remonstrance with the king.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“The intent of the verse is as the Targum [Onkelos] explained it.” Thus the language of Rashi. Now how commendable it would have been if Rashi had written out [the text of Onkelos he referred to], since there are variant texts of this Targum!
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Rabbi Moses Ha-Kohen says that ba-arbeh (for the locusts) indicates that Moses placed a locust on the rod.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| כֵ֗ן | khen | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| לְכֽוּ־ | lekhu- | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| נָ֤א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| הַגְּבָרִים֙ | hagevarim | the men | H1397 → | |
| וְעִבְד֣וּ | veivdu | and serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֹתָ֖הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מְבַקְשִׁ֑ים | mevakshim | [are] requesting | H1245 → | 225 times |
| וַיְגָ֣רֶשׁ | vaygaresh | and someone drove out | H1644 → | 46 times |
| אֹתָ֔ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֵאֵ֖ת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| פְּנֵ֥י | penei | [the] face of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| פַרְעֹֽה׃ פ | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
כֵ֗ןso
khenH3651 →771 times
לְכֽוּ־go
lekhu-H1980 →1546 times
נָ֤אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
הַגְּבָרִים֙the men
hagevarimH1397 →
וְעִבְד֣וּand serve
veivduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֹתָ֖הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
מְבַקְשִׁ֑ים[are] requesting
mevakshimH1245 →225 times
וַיְגָ֣רֶשׁand someone drove out
vaygareshH1644 →46 times
אֹתָ֔ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
מֵאֵ֖תfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
פְּנֵ֥י[the] face of
peneiH6440 →2123 times
פַרְעֹֽה׃ פPharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 119:69Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
it leads to
- Job 13:4
You, however, smear with lies; you are all worthless physicians.
- Matthew 5:11–12
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
- Psalms 119:157
Though my persecutors and foes are many, I have not turned from Your testimonies.
- Psalms 109:2–3
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
- Matthew 26:59–68
Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
- Job 13:4
Through
Exodus 5:4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!”
it leads to
- Exodus 1:11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Acts 24:5
We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
- Luke 23:2
And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”
- Exodus 1:11
About Exodus
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.1.11 and Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles.