Exodus 14 · Verse 5

Exodus 14:5

And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

Exodus 14:5, King James Version

Exodus 14:5 in other translations

BSB	When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
WEB	The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
ASV	And it was told the king of Egypt that the people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
YLT	And it is declared to the king of Egypt that the people hath fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants is turned against the people, and they say, ‘What is this we have done? that we have sent Israel away from our service.'
DARBY	And it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his bondmen was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from our service?
BBE	And word came to Pharaoh of the flight of the people: and the feeling of Pharaoh and of his servants about the people was changed, and they said, Why have we let Israel go, so that they will do no more work for us?
Webster	And it was told to the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?

What does Exodus 14:5 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

5. the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, &c.--Alas, how soon the obduracy of this reprobate king reappears! He had been convinced, but not converted--overawed, but not sanctified by the appalling judgments of heaven. He bitterly repented of what he now thought a hasty concession. Pride and revenge, the honor of his kingdom, and the interests of his subjects, all prompted him to recall his permission to reclaim those runaway slaves and force them to their wonted labor. Strange that he should yet allow such considerations to obliterate or outweigh all his painful experience of the danger of oppressing that people. But those whom the Lord has doomed to destruction are first infatuated by sin.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 5 And it was told the king - that the people fled - Of their departure he could not be ignorant, because himself had given them liberty to depart: but the word fled here may be understood as implying that they had utterly left Egypt without any intention to return, which is probably what he did not expect, for he had only given them permission to go three days' journey into the wilderness, in order to sacrifice to Jehovah; but from the circumstances of their departure, and the property they had got from the Egyptians, it was taken for granted that they had no design to return; and this was in all likelihood the consideration that weighed most with this avaricious king, and determined him to pursue, and either recover the spoil or bring them back, or both. Thus the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we let Israel go from serving us? Here was the grand incentive to pursuit; their service was profitable to the state, and they were determined not to give it up.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 14:1-9

Pharaoh would think that all Israel was entangled in the wilderness, and so would become an easy prey. But God says, I will be honoured upon Pharaoh. All men being made for the honour of their Maker, those whom he is not honoured by, he will be honoured upon. What seems to tend to the church's ruin, is often overruled to the ruin of the church's enemies. While Pharaoh gratified his malice and revenge, he furthered…

Read the full comment on Exodus 14:1-9 →

Exodus 14:5 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.

וַיֻּגַּד֙vai.yu.Gadand it was toldH5046

לְמֶ֣לֶךְle.Me.lekhto [the] king ofH4428

מִצְרַ֔יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714

כִּ֥יkithatH3588

בָרַ֖חva.Rachit had fledH1272

הָעָ֑םha.'Amthe peopleH5971

וַ֠יֵּהָפֵךְVai.ye.ha.fekhand it was changedH2015

לְבַ֨בle.Vav[the] heart ofH3824

פַּרְעֹ֤הpar.'OhPharaohH6547

וַעֲבָדָיו֙va.'a.va.Davand servants hisH5650

אֶל\־'el-toH413

הָעָ֔םha.'Amthe peopleH5971

וַיֹּֽאמרוּ֙vai.yo.m.Ruand they saidH559

מַה\־mah-what?H4100

זֹּ֣אתzotthisH2063

עָשִׂ֔ינוּ'a.Si.nuhave we doneH6213

כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588

שִׁלַּ֥חְנוּshi.Lach.nuwe have let goH7971

אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853

יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

מֵעָבְדֵֽנוּ\׃me.'a.ve.De.nufrom serving usH5647

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

Cross references for Exodus 14:5

Psalms 105:25
He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal subtilly with his servants.
Luke 11:24-26
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Exodus 12:33
And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.
Jeremiah 34:10-17
Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, …
2 Peter 2:20-22
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

and the heart.
12:33; Ps 105:25
Why have we.
Jer 34:10-17; Lu 11:24-26; 2Pe 2:20-22

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

Context

Exodus 14:4
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord. And they did so.
Exodus 14:5
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
Exodus 14:6
And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him:

Read all of Exodus 14

Exodus 14:5 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y fué dado aviso al rey de Egipto cómo el pueblo se huía: y el corazón de Faraón y de sus siervos se volvió contra el pueblo, y dijeron: ¿Cómo hemos hecho esto de haber dejado ir á Israel, para que no nos sirva?
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et il fut rapporté au roi d’Égypte que le peuple s’était enfui; et le cœur du Pharaon et de ses serviteurs fut changé à l’égard du peuple, et ils dirent: Qu’ avons-nous fait de laisser aller Israël, pour qu’il ne nous serve plus?
German Elberfelder 1871	Und es wurde dem König von Ägypten berichtet, daß das Volk entflohen wäre; da verwandelte sich das Herz des Pharao und seiner Knechte gegen das Volk, und sie sprachen: Was haben wir da getan, daß wir Israel aus unserem Dienste haben ziehen lassen!
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Et nuntiatum est regi Ægyptiorum quod fugisset populus: immutatumque est cor Pharaonis et servorum ejus super populo, et dixerunt: Quid voluimus facere ut dimitteremus Israël, ne serviret nobis?