Exodus 5:12
in Exodus 5So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
KJV
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
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This verse in Exodus 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseSo the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt,.... That part of it where they dwelt: to gather stubble instead of straw; straw not being easy to come at, they were obliged to gather stubble that was left in the fields, after the corn was gathered in. Ben Melech observes, that the word signifies small straw, or small sticks of wood, and Kimchi (m), and if so, this must be to burn the bricks with in the furnaces. (m) Sepher Shorash, rad. קשש.
This site's exposition
So the people were scattered abroad
on Exodus 5:12-13
A nation settled together in Goshen is spread through all the land of Egypt hunting stubble. Albert Barnes places the search after the barley and wheat harvest, which puts it in the weeks when the hot wind blows across Egypt. The taskmasters hold the daily tasks at the rate that was set when the straw was still being delivered.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
By this means Pharaoh's unjust and barbarous usage of them came to be known to all the kingdom, and perhaps caused them to be pitied by their neighbours, and made Pharaoh's government less acceptable even to his own subjects: good-will is never got by persecution.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Stubble instead of straw - Rather, for the straw: i. e. to be prepared as straw. This marks the season of the year, namely, early spring, after the barley or wheat harvest, toward the end of April. Their suffering must have been severe: at that season the pestilential sand-wind blows over Egypt some 50 days, hence, its name - Chamsin. (compare Gen 41:6 note).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
So the people were scattered--It was an immense grievance to the laborers individually, but there would be no hindrance from the husbandmen whose fields they entered, as almost all the lands of Egypt were in the possession of the crown (Ge 47:20).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Va-yafetz (were scattered) is a transitive verb. 80 In the hifil, meaning he scattered. Pharaoh, who caused them to scatter, is the subject.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Atzim (urgent) is a transitive verb. 84 It means urging; i.e., the taskmasters were urging them on.
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. 4 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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֥פֶץ | vaiyafetz | and it scattered | H6327 → | |
| הָעָ֖ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּכָל־ | bekhol | in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָ֑יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| לְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁ | lekoshesh | to gather | H7197 → | |
| קַ֖שׁ | kash | stubble | H7179 → | |
| לַתֶּֽבֶן׃ | lateven | for the straw | H8401 → | 17 times |
וַיָּ֥פֶץand it scattered
vaiyafetzH6327 →
הָעָ֖םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
בְּכָל־in all
bekholH3605 →5413 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָ֑יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
לְקֹשֵׁ֥שׁto gather
lekosheshH7197 →
קַ֖שׁstubble
kashH7179 →
לַתֶּֽבֶן׃for the straw
latevenH8401 →17 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
Nahum 1:10For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
it leads to
- Isaiah 5:24
Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Micah 7:4
The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day for your watchmen has come, the day of your visitation. Now is the time…
- Isaiah 5:24
Through
1 Corinthians 3:12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- 2 Timothy 3:7
who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
- 2 Timothy 2:20
A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.
- 2 Timothy 4:3
Through
Isaiah 5:24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected…
it leads to
- Isaiah 47:14
Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 47:14
Through
Joel 2:5With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.
it leads to
- Revelation 9:9
They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.
- Revelation 9:9
About Exodus
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; 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); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.