Exodus 5:22
in Exodus 5So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Moses returned unto Jehovah, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou dealt ill with this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
KJV
And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
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This verse in Exodus 5
Commentary
8 notes on this verseAnd Moses returned unto the Lord - This may imply, either that there was a particular place into which Moses ordinarily went to commune with Jehovah; or it may mean that kind of turning of heart and affection to God, which every pious mind feels itself disposed to practice in any time or place.
This site's exposition
And Moses returned unto the Lord
on Exodus 5:22-23
Moses brings the charge to God directly, that God has dealt evil with this people and has not delivered them at all. The text records no rebuke, and the answer at 6:1 is a promise rather than a correction, now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh. Habakkuk 1:2 and Jeremiah 20:7 press the same kind of question, and Scripture keeps the protests of its own prophets on the record.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The words that Moses speaks to the Lord are not words of contumacy or indignation but of inquiry and prayer. This fact is clear from the way the Lord answered him. For he did not accuse him of infidelity but revealed what he was about to do.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
Must I, who hoped to be a blessing to them, become a scourge to them? By this attempt to get them out of the pit, they are but sunk the deeper into it." Now he asks, (1.) Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? Note, Even when God is coming towards his people in ways of mercy, he sometimes takes such methods as that they may think themselves but ill treated.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people - Even when God is coming towards his people in ways of mercy, yet sometimes he takes such methods that they may think themselves but ill-treated: when they think so, they should go to God by prayer, and that is the way to have better treatment in God's good time.
And Moses returned unto the Lord,....
Their message itself was displeasing, and touch Pharaoh both in his honour and in his profit, two tender points; yet these faithful ambassadors boldly deliver it, whether he will hear or whether he will forbear. Their demand is piously bold: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go,
1 more voice on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, When we find ourselves, at any time, perplexed and embarrassed in the way of our duty, we ought to have recourse to God, and lay open our case before him by faithful and fervent prayer.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּ֧שָׁב | vaiyashov | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֛ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֑ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֗י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| לָמָ֤ה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| הֲרֵעֹ֙תָה֙ | hareotah | have you done harm | H7489 → | 107 times |
| לָעָ֣ם | laam | to the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לָ֥מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֖ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| שְׁלַחְתָּֽנִי׃ | shelachtani | did you send me | H7971 → | 845 times |
וַיָּ֧שָׁבand he returned
vaiyashovH7725 →1056 times
מֹשֶׁ֛הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיֹּאמַ֑רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֗יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
לָמָ֤ה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
הֲרֵעֹ֙תָה֙have you done harm
hareotahH7489 →107 times
לָעָ֣םto the people
laamH5971 →1873 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
לָ֥מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
זֶּ֖הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
שְׁלַחְתָּֽנִי׃did you send me
shelachtaniH7971 →845 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 73:25Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You.
it leads to
- Philippians 3:8
More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may…
- Psalms 16:2
I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.”
- Psalms 63:3
Because Your loving devotion is better than life, my lips will glorify You.
- Psalms 16:5
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.
- Isaiah 26:8–9
Yes, we wait for You, O LORD; we walk in the path of Your judgments. Your name and renown are the desire of our souls.
- Philippians 3:8
Through
1 Kings 19:4while he himself traveled on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life,…
it leads to
- Jonah 4:3
And now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
- Numbers 11:15
If this is how You are going to treat me, please kill me right now—if I have found favor in Your eyes—and let me not see my own wretchedness.”
- Jonah 4:3
Through
1 Kings 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:4
for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 18:4
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; Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON EXODUS 14; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.