Exodus 10:7
in Exodus 10Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt is in ruins?”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve Jehovah their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
KJV
And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
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This verse in Exodus 10
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For the first time the officers of Pharaoh intervene before the scourge is inflicted, showing at once their belief in the threat, and their special terror of the infliction. Also, for the first time, Pharaoh takes measures to prevent the evil; he does not indeed send for Moses and Aaron, but he permits them to be brought into his presence. Let the men go - i. e. the men only, not all the people. See Exo 10:8.
This site's exposition
How long shall this man be a snare unto us
The court breaks with the king, which chapter 9 had prepared when some of his servants feared the word of the LORD and brought their cattle in out of the hail at 9:20. They borrow the words Moses used four verses earlier and turn them around, asking how long a man rather than how long a refusal. Their own account of the country, knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed, is given before the eighth plague has fallen.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Pharaoh's servants said to him,....
They, as in duty bound, represent to him the deplorable condition of the kingdom ( Egypt is destroyed ), and advise him by all means to release his prisoners ( Let the men go ); for Moses, they found, would be a snare to them till it was done, and it were better to consent at first than to be compelled at last.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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 long shall this man be a snare unto us? - As there is no noun in the text, the pronoun זה zeh may either refer to the Israelites, to the plague by which they were then afflicted, or to Moses and Aaron, the instruments used by the Most High in their chastisement. The Vulgate translates, Usquequo patiemur hoc scandalum? “How long shall we suffer this scandal or reproach?” Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God - Much of the energy of several passages is lost in translating יהוה Yehovah by the term Lord. The Egyptians had their gods, and they supposed that the Hebrews had a god like unto their own; that this Jehovah required their services, and would continue to afflict Egypt till his people were permitted to worship him in his own way. Egypt is destroyed? - This last plague had nearly ruined the whole land.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּאמְרוּ֩ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַבְדֵ֨י | ʾavdei | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| פַרְעֹ֜ה | faroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| אֵלָ֗יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מָתַי֙ | matai | when? | H4970 → | 43 times |
| יִהְיֶ֨ה | yihyeh | will he become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| זֶ֥ה | zeh | this [man] | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לָ֙נוּ֙ | lanu | for <the> us | ||
| לְמוֹקֵ֔שׁ | lemokesh | <into> a snare | H4170 → | 27 times |
| שַׁלַּח֙ | shalach | let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָ֣אֲנָשִׁ֔ים | haanashim | the people | H582 → | 566 times |
| וְיַֽעַבְד֖וּ | veyaavdu | so they may serve | H5647 → | 288 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑ם | ʾeloheihem | God their | H430 → | 2601 times |
| הֲטֶ֣רֶם | haterem | ¿ not yet | H2962 → | 56 times |
| תֵּדַ֔ע | teda' | do you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָבְדָ֖ה | ʾavedah | it will perish | H6 → | |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיֹּאמְרוּ֩and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
עַבְדֵ֨י[the] servants of
ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times
פַרְעֹ֜הPharaoh
farohH6547 →274 times
אֵלָ֗יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מָתַי֙when?
mataiH4970 →43 times
יִהְיֶ֨הwill he become
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
זֶ֥הthis [man]
zehH2088 →1180 times
לָ֙נוּ֙for <the> us
lanu
לְמוֹקֵ֔שׁ<into> a snare
lemokeshH4170 →27 times
שַׁלַּח֙let go
shalachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָ֣אֲנָשִׁ֔יםthe people
haanashimH582 →566 times
וְיַֽעַבְד֖וּso they may serve
veyaavduH5647 →288 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֑םGod their
ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times
הֲטֶ֣רֶם¿ not yet
hateremH2962 →56 times
תֵּדַ֔עdo you know
teda'H3045 →945 times
כִּ֥יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָבְדָ֖הit will perish
ʾavedahH6 →
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 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
Ecclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…
it leads to
- Proverbs 22:14
The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- Proverbs 5:3–5
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,
- Proverbs 2:16
It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words
- Ecclesiastes 2:26
To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over…
- Proverbs 22:14
Through
Joshua 23:13know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:16
You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God will deliver to you. Do not look on them with pity. Do not worship their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 7:16
Through
Zephaniah 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He…
it leads to
- Zephaniah 3:8
Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger.…
- Ezekiel 7:19
They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their…
- Proverbs 11:4
Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.
- Zephaniah 3:8
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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.