Exodus 11 · Verse 4

Exodus 11:4

And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Exodus 11:4, King James Version

Exodus 11:4 in other translations

BSBSo Moses declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt,
WEBMoses said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the middle of Egypt,
ASVAnd Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
YLTAnd Moses saith, ‘Thus said Jehovah, About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt,
DARBYAnd Moses said, Thus saith Jehovah: About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt.
BBEAnd Moses said, This is what the Lord says: About the middle of the night I will go out through Egypt:
WebsterAnd Moses said, Thus saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

What does Exodus 11:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Thus saith the Lord, About midnight--Here is recorded the announcement of the last plague made in the most solemn manner to the king, on whose hardened heart all his painful experience had hitherto produced no softening, at least no permanently good effect. will I go out into the midst of Egypt--language used after the manner of men.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 About midnight will I go out - Whether God did this by the ministry of a good or of an evil angel is a matter of little importance, though some commentators have greatly magnified it. Both kinds of angels are under his power and jurisdiction, and he may employ them as he pleases. Such a work of destruction as the slaying of the first-born is supposed to be more proper for a bad than for a good angel. But the works of God's justice are not less holy and pure than the works of his mercy; and the highest archangel may, with the utmost propriety, be employed in either.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 11:4-10
The death of all the first-born in Egypt at once: this plague had been the first threatened, but is last executed. See how slow God is to wrath. The plague is foretold, the time is fixed; all their first-born should sleep the sleep of death, not silently, but so as to rouse the families at midnight. The prince was not too high to be reached by it, nor the slaves at the mill too low to be noticed. While angels slew the Egyptians, not so much as a dog should bark at any of the children of Israel. It is an earnest of the difference there shall be in the great day, between God's people and his enemies. Did men know what a difference God puts, and will put to eternity, between those that serve him and those that serve him not, religion would not seem to them an indifferent thing; nor would they act in it with so much carelessness as they do. When Moses had thus delivered his message, he went out from Pharaoh in great anger at his obstinacy; though he was the meekest of the men of the earth. The Scripture has foretold the unbelief of many who hear the gospel, that it might not be a surprise or stumbling-block to us, Ro 10:16. Let us never think the worse of the gospel of Christ for the slights men put upon it. Pharaoh was hardened, yet he was compelled to abate his stern and haughty demands, till the Israelites got full freedom. In like manner the people of God will find that every struggle against their spiritual adversary, made in the might of Jesus Christ, every attempt to overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, and every desire to attain increasing likeness and love to that Lamb, will be rewarded by increasing freedom from the enemy of souls.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Exodus 11:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
מֹשֶׁ֔הmo.ShehMosesH4872
כֹּ֖הkohthusH3541
אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe saysH559
יְהוָ֑הYah.wehYahwehH3068
כַּחֲצֹ֣תka.cha.Tzotabout [the] middle ofH2676
הַלַּ֔יְלָהha.Lay.lahthe nightH3915
אֲנִ֥י'a.NiIH589
יוֹצֵ֖אyo.Tze'[am] about to go outH3318
בְּת֥וֹךְbe.Tokhin [the] midst ofH8432
מִצְרָֽיִם\׃mitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 11:4

  • Exodus 12:29

    And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.

  • Exodus 12:12

    For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

  • Amos 4:10

    I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.

  • Psalms 60:10

    Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?

  • Job 34:20

    In a moment shall they die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away: and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.

  • Amos 5:17

    And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the Lord.

  • Isaiah 42:13

    The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.

  • 2 Samuel 5:24

    And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.

  • Exodus 12:23

    For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

  • Matthew 25:6

    And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

  • Micah 2:13

    The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
About.
12:12,23,29; Job 34:20; Am 4:10; 5:17; Mt 25:6
will I go.
2Sa 5:24; Ps 60:10; Isa 42:13; Mic 2:13

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 11:3

    And the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.

  • Exodus 11:4

    And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:

  • Exodus 11:5

    And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.

Read all of Exodus 11

Exodus 11:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dijo Moisés: Jehová ha dicho así: A la media noche yo saldré por medio de Egipto,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Moïse dit: Ainsi dit l’ Éternel: Sur le minuit je sortirai au milieu de l’Égypte;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Mose sprach: So spricht Jehova: Um Mitternacht will ich ausgehen mitten durch Ägypten;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Et ait: Hæc dicit Dominus: Media nocte egrediar in Ægyptum: