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Exodus 5:4

in Exodus 5

But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.

KJV

And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.

This verse in Exodus 5

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

get you unto your burdens

on Exodus 5:4-5

Pharaoh answers a request about worship with a sentence about work, and his word for it is burdens, the same word that carried the oppression at 1:11 and the scene Moses walked into at 2:11. His reason in verse 5 repeats the fear that started the bondage, that the people of the land now are many, which is what the new king said at 1:9. The reply deals with labour and numbers alone.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bonaventure

Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

What else is this than what was signified by the taskmasters of Pharaoh, of whom it is said in Exodus 1, that they hated the children of Israel and brought them to bitterness, afflicting them with hard labors of clay and brick, and with every …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

13 And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw. 14 And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture

And the king of Egypt said to them,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

His suggestions were very unreasonable. (1.) That the people were idle, and that therefore they talked of going to sacrifice. The cities they built for Pharaoh, and the other fruit of their labours, were witnesses for them that they were not idle; yet he thus basely misrepresents them, that he might have a pretence to increase their burdens.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron - He hints that the Hebrews are in a state of revolt, and charges Moses and Aaron as being ringleaders of the sedition. This unprincipled charge has been, in nearly similar circumstances, often repeated since. Men who have labored to bring the mass of the common people from ignorance, irreligion, and general profligacy of manners, to an acquaintance with themselves and God, and to a proper knowledge of their duty to him and to each other, have been often branded as being disaffected to the state, and as movers of sedition among the people!

The words behind it

13 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • אֲלֵהֶם֙to them

    ʾalehemH4135510 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH44282525 times

  • מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt

    mitzrayimH4714641 times

  • לָ֚מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100752 times

  • מֹשֶׁ֣הO Moses

    moshehH4872765 times

  • וְאַהֲרֹ֔ןand Aaron

    veaharonH175347 times

  • תַּפְרִ֥יעוּare you causing to refrain

    tafriuH654416 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • מִמַּֽעֲשָׂ֑יוfrom work<s> its

    mimaasavH4639236 times

  • לְכ֖וּgo

    lekhuH19801546 times

  • לְסִבְלֹתֵיכֶֽם׃to forced labor your

    lesivloteikhemH54506 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Amos 7:10

    Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 38:4

      Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Exodus 1:11

    So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 15:13

      Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.

    • Exodus 3:7

      The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.

    • Exodus 2:11

      One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

  • Through

    Luke 23:2

    And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man subverting our nation, forbidding payment of taxes to Caesar, and proclaiming Himself to be Christ, a King.”

    it leads to

    • Acts 24:5

      We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Acts 17:6–7

      But when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have now come here,

  • Through

    Acts 24:5

    We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

    it leads to

    • Acts 28:22

      But we consider your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

    • Acts 24:14

      I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and…

About Exodus

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.