Exodus 5 · Verse 4

Exodus 5:4

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.
Exodus 5:4, King James Version

Exodus 5:4 in other translations

BSBBut 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!”
WEBThe king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
ASVAnd the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
YLTAnd the king of Egypt saith unto them, ‘Why, Moses and Aaron, do ye free the people from its works? go to your burdens.'
DARBYAnd the king of Egypt said to them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, wish to have the people go off from their works? Away, to your burdens!
BBEAnd the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people away from their work? get back to your work.
WebsterAnd the king of Egypt said to them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their works; go you to your burdens.

What does Exodus 5:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? &c.--Without taking any notice of what they had said, he treated them as ambitious demagogues, who were appealing to the superstitious feelings of the people, to stir up sedition and diffuse a spirit of discontent, which spreading through so vast a body of slaves, might endanger the peace of the country.

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

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 4 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! See Clarke on Exo 5:17 (note). Let the people - תפריעו taphriu, from פרע para, to loose or disengage, which we translate to let, from the Anglo-Saxon lettan, to hinder. Ye hinder the people from working. Get ye to your burdens. "Let religion alone, and mind your work." The language not only of tyranny, but of the basest irreligion also.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 5:1-9

God will own his people, though poor and despised, and will find a time to plead their cause. Pharaoh treated all he had heard with contempt. He had no knowledge of Jehovah, no fear of him, no love to him, and therefore refused to obey him. Thus Pharaoh's pride, ambition, covetousness, and political knowledge, hardened him to his own destruction. What Moses and Aaron ask is very reasonable, only to go three days'…

Read the full comment on Exodus 5:1-9 →

Exodus 5:4 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.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559
אֲלֵהֶם֙'a.le.Hemto themH413
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
מִצְרַ֔יִםmitz.Ra.yimEgyptH4714
לָ֚מָּהLa.mah<to> why?H4100
מֹשֶׁ֣הmo.ShehO MosesH4872
וְאַהֲרֹ֔ןve.'a.ha.Ronand AaronH175
תַּפְרִ֥יעוּtaf.Ri.'uare you causing to refrainH6544
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָעָ֖םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
מִמַּֽעֲשָׂ֑יוmi.ma.'a.Savfrom work<s> itsH4639
לְכ֖וּle.KhugoH1980
לְסִבְלֹתֵיכֶֽם\׃le.siv.lo.tei.Khemto forced labor yourH5450

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

Cross references for Exodus 5:4

  • Exodus 1:11

    Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

  • Amos 7:10

    Then Amaziah the priest of Beth–el sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.

  • Acts 24:5

    For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes:

  • Luke 23:2

    And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Cesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.

  • Jeremiah 38:4

    Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

  • Acts 16:20-21

    And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
wherefore.
Jer 38:4; Am 7:10; Lu 23:2; Ac 16:20,21; 24:5
let.{Taphreeoo,} from {pard,} to loose, disengage; and which we render let, from the Anglo-Saxon {lettan,} to hinder. Ye hinder the people from their work: "Get you unto your burdens." "Let religion alone and mind your work." The language not only of tyranny, but of thoughtless irreligion.
burdens.
1:11

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

Context

  • Exodus 5:3

    And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the Lord our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

  • Exodus 5:4

    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.

  • Exodus 5:5

    And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

Read all of Exodus 5

Exodus 5:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Entonces el rey de Egipto les dijo: Moisés y Aarón, ¿por qué hacéis cesar al pueblo de su obra? idos á vuestros cargos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et le roi d’Égypte leur dit: Moïse et Aaron, pourquoi détournez-vous le peuple de son ouvrage? Allez à vos corvées.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und der König von Ägypten sprach zu ihnen: Warum, Mose und Aaron, wollt ihr das Volk von seinen Arbeiten losmachen? Gehet an eure Lastarbeiten!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ait ad eos rex Ægypti: Quare Moyses et Aaron sollicitatis populum ab operibus suis? ite ad onera vestra.