Exodus 5:17
in Exodus 5“You are slackers!” Pharaoh replied. “Slackers! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah.
KJV
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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This verse in Exodus 5
Commentary
6 notes on this verseEven Pharaoh knew that it was proper for one to seek God when he was unoccupied, and for this reason he reproached Israel: "You are unoccupied, you are idle, and you say, 'We shall offer prayers to the Lord, our God.' " Now leisure itself is good and useful to him who is unoccupied, since it produces quiet for the acquisition of salutary doctrines. But the leisure of the Athenians was evil, "who used to spend all their leisure telling or listening to something new."
This site's exposition
Ye are idle, ye are idle
on Exodus 5:17-18
Pharaoh repeats the charge instead of answering the complaint. Albert Barnes notes that Egyptian religious texts count idleness among the sins weighed at the final judgment, so the king is reaching for a word his own court would take seriously against men who work in a brickfield. Verse 18 closes the interview by restating the terms, no straw and the same tale of bricks.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But he said, ye are idle, ye are idle,....
It is well for us that men are not to be our judges, but a God who knows what the principles are on which we act. Those that are diligent in doing sacrifice to the Lord will, with God, escape the doom of the slothful servant, though, with men, they do not.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye are idle - The old Egyptian language abounds in epithets which show contempt for idleness. The charge was equally offensive and ingenious; one which would be readily believed by Egyptians who knew how much public and private labors were impeded by festivals and other religious ceremonies. Among the great sins which, according to Egyptian belief, involved condemnation in the final judgment, idleness is twice mentioned.
Ye are idle - therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice - It is common for those who feel unconcerned about their own souls to attribute the religious earnestness of others, who feel the importance of eternal things, to idleness or a disregard of their secular concerns. Strange that they cannot see there is a medium! He who has commanded them to be diligent in business, has also commanded them to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. He whose diligence in business is not connected with a true religious fervor of spirit, is a lover of the world; and whatever form he may have he has not the power of godliness, and therefore is completely out of the road to salvation.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֛אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נִרְפִּ֥ים | nirpim | [are] idle | H7503 → | 46 times |
| אַתֶּ֖ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| נִרְפִּ֑ים | nirpim | idle | H7503 → | 46 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּן֙ | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| אַתֶּ֣ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| אֹֽמְרִ֔ים | ʾomerim | [are] saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נֵלְכָ֖ה | nelekhah | let us go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| נִזְבְּחָ֥ה | nizbechah | let us sacrifice | H2076 → | 134 times |
| לַֽיהוָֽה׃ | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וַיֹּ֛אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
נִרְפִּ֥ים[are] idle
nirpimH7503 →46 times
אַתֶּ֖םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
נִרְפִּ֑יםidle
nirpimH7503 →46 times
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּן֙-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
אַתֶּ֣םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
אֹֽמְרִ֔ים[are] saying
ʾomerimH559 →5305 times
נֵלְכָ֖הlet us go
nelekhahH1980 →1546 times
נִזְבְּחָ֥הlet us sacrifice
nizbechahH2076 →134 times
לַֽיהוָֽה׃to Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 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
John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
it leads to
- Colossians 3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
- Isaiah 55:2
Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the…
- John 6:54
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
- 2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
- Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Colossians 3:2
Through
Matthew 26:8When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and asked, “Why this waste?
it leads to
- John 12:4–6
But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked,
- Mark 14:4
Some of those present, however, expressed their indignation to one another: “Why this waste of perfume?
- John 12:4–6
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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); Basil of Caesarea, EXEGETIC HOMILIES 18.8; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.