Christian Standard Bible
Exodus 3:19
19“However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand.
Exodus 3:19 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.
- New International Version (NIV)But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
- English Standard Version (ESV)But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand.
Context of Exodus 3:19
17And I have promised you that I will bring you up from the misery of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hethites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites — a land flowing with milk and honey. 18They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three-day trip into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. “However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand. 20But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that, he will let you go. 21And I will give these people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed.
Read all of Exodus 3Exodus 3:19 word by word
וַאֲנִ֣י יָדַ֔עְתִּי כִּ֠י לֹֽא־יִתֵּ֥ן אֶתְכֶ֛ם מֶ֥לֶךְ מִצְרַ֖יִם לַהֲלֹ֑ךְ וְלֹ֖א בְּיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 3:19
- Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh responded, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by letting Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”
- Exodus 7:4Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
- Exodus 6:1But the Lord replied to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of a strong hand he will let them go, and because of a strong hand he will drive them from his land.”
- Exodus 7:1The Lord answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.
- Exodus 8:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
- Exodus 9:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
- Exodus 10:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them,
- Exodus 11:1The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you out of here.
- Exodus 12:1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,
- Exodus 13:1The Lord spoke to Moses:
- Exodus 14:1Then the Lord spoke to Moses:
- Psalms 136:11and brought Israel out from among them His faithful love endures forever.
- Isaiah 63:12He made his glorious strength available at the right hand of Moses, divided the water before them to make an eternal name for himself,
Commentaries on Exodus 3:19
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand - When the facts detailed in this history have been considered in connection with the assertion as it stands in our Bibles, the most palpable contradiction has appeared. That the king of Egypt did let them go, and that by a mighty hand, the book itself amply declares. We should therefore seek for another meaning of the original word. ולא velo, which generally means and not, has…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19No, not - See the marginal rendering. Others explain it to mean, Pharaoh will not let the people go even when severely smitten.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 Moses' success with the elders of Israel would be good. God, who, by his grace, inclines the heart, and opens the ear, could say beforehand, They shall hearken to thy voice; for he would make them willing in this day of power. As to Pharaoh, Moses is here told that petitions and persuasions, and humble complaints, would not prevail with him; nor a mighty hand stretched out in signs and wonders. But those will certainly be broken by the power…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19I know: See “Hardened Hearts” Theme Note.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 10-2210-22. Come now therefore, and I will send thee--Considering the patriotic views that had formerly animated the breast of Moses, we might have anticipated that no mission could have been more welcome to his heart than to be employed in the national emancipation of Israel. But he evinced great reluctance to it and stated a variety of objections [Ex 3:11, 13; 4:1, 10] all of which were successfully met and removed--and the happy issue of his labors was…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 3:19
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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