Exodus 10:24
in Exodus 10Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve Jehovah; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
KJV
And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you.
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
7 notes on this verseOnly let your flocks and your herds be stayed - Pharaoh cannot get all he wishes; and as he sees it impossible to contend with Jehovah, he now consents to give up the Israelites, their wives and their children, provided he may keep their flocks and their herds. The cruelty of this demand is not more evident than its avarice.
This site's exposition
only let your flocks and your herds be stayed
on Exodus 10:24-25
The last counteroffer keeps the cattle back, which would send Israel out to a feast with nothing to offer at it. Pharaoh has moved from the men only in verse 11 to letting the little ones go as well, so the ground has narrowed to the herds, and the herds are the part the service actually needs. Moses answers that the sacrifices and burnt offerings have to come out of their own animals.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Pharaoh called unto Moses,....
It is common for sinners thus to bargain with God Almighty. Some sins they will leave, but not all; they will leave their sins for a time, but they will not bid them a final farewell; they will allow him some share in their hearts, but the world and the flesh must share with him: thus they mock God, but they deceive themselves.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But the crisis is approaching, and Moses insists on every iota of his demand. The cattle would be needed for sacrifice--how many or how few could not be known till their arrival at the scene of religious observance. But the emancipation of Israel from Egyptian bondage was to be complete.
Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed - Pharaoh cannot get all he wishes; and as he sees it impossible to contend with Jehovah, he now consents to give up the Israelites, their wives and their children, provided he may keep their flocks and their herds. The cruelty of this demand is not more evident than its avarice.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Your flocks and your herds - Pharaoh still exacts what would of course be a complete security for their return: but the demand was wholly incompatible with the object assigned for the journey into the wilderness.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֨א | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| פַרְעֹ֜ה | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | <to> | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֗ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לְכוּ֙ | lekhu | go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עִבְד֣וּ | ʾivdu | serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| רַ֛ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| צֹאנְכֶ֥ם | tzonkhem | flock[s] your | H6629 → | 274 times |
| וּבְקַרְכֶ֖ם | uvekarkhem | and herd[s] your | H1241 → | 183 times |
| יֻצָּ֑ג | yutzag | it will be detained | H3322 → | |
| גַּֽם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| טַפְּכֶ֖ם | tapekhem | little one[s] your | H2945 → | 42 times |
| יֵלֵ֥ךְ | yelekh | it will go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עִמָּכֶֽם׃ | ʾimakhem | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
פַרְעֹ֜הPharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
אֶל־<to>
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
לְכוּ֙go
lekhuH1980 →1546 times
עִבְד֣וּserve
ʾivduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
רַ֛קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
צֹאנְכֶ֥םflock[s] your
tzonkhemH6629 →274 times
וּבְקַרְכֶ֖םand herd[s] your
uvekarkhemH1241 →183 times
יֻצָּ֑גit will be detained
yutzagH3322 →
גַּֽם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
טַפְּכֶ֖םlittle one[s] your
tapekhemH2945 →42 times
יֵלֵ֥ךְit will go
yelekhH1980 →1546 times
עִמָּכֶֽם׃with you
ʾimakhemH5973 →1050 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
Exodus 8:28Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”
it leads to
- Exodus 8:8
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people. Then I will let your people go, that they may sacrifice to the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 8:24
Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 9:28
Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
- 1 Kings 13:6
Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the…
- Ezra 6:10
Then they will be able to offer sacrifices of a sweet aroma to the God of heaven and to pray for the lives of the king and his sons.
- Exodus 8:8
Through
Exodus 9:28Pray to the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go; you do not need to stay any longer.”
it leads to
- Exodus 10:17
Now please forgive my sin once more and appeal to the LORD your God, that He may remove this death from me.”
- Exodus 8:28
Pharaoh answered, “I will let you go and sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”
- Exodus 10:17
Through
Genesis 34:23Will not their livestock, their possessions, and all their animals become ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell among us.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:12–13
let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.
- Proverbs 1:12–13
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.