English Standard Version
Exodus 5:3
3Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword."
Exodus 5:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.”
Context of Exodus 5:3
1Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'" 2But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword." 4But the king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens." 5And Pharaoh said, "Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!"
Read all of Exodus 5Exodus 5:3 word by word
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֱלֹהֵ֥י הָעִבְרִ֖ים נִקְרָ֣א עָלֵ֑ינוּ נֵ֣לֲכָה נָּ֡א דֶּרֶךְ֩ שְׁלֹ֨שֶׁת יָמִ֜ים בַּמִּדְבָּ֗ר וְנִזְבְּחָה֙ לַֽיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ פֶּ֨ן־יִפְגָּעֵ֔נוּ בַּדֶּ֖בֶר א֥וֹ בֶחָֽרֶב׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And they saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- The Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- of the Hebrewsעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
- hath metקָרָאqârâ' · to encounter: meetH7122
- with us: let us goיָלַךְyâlak · to walkH3212
- we pray thee, threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
- days’יוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- journeyדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: journeyH1870
- into the desertמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
- and sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
- unto the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- lest he fallפָּגַעpâga‛ · to fall onH6293
- upon us with pestilenceדֶּ֫בֶרdeber · pestilenceH1698
- or with the swordחֶ֫רֶבchereb · swordH2719
Cross-references for Exodus 5:3
- Exodus 3:18And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.'
- Deuteronomy 28:21The Lord will make the pestilence stick to you until he has consumed you off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
- 2 Kings 17:25And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
- 2 Chronicles 30:8Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.
- Ezra 7:23Whatever is decreed by the God of heaven, let it be done in full for the house of the God of heaven, lest his wrath be against the realm of the king and his sons.
- Ezekiel 6:11Thus says the Lord God: "Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.
- Zechariah 14:16Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
Commentaries on Exodus 5:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Three days' journey - The distance from Goshen to Sinai; see Exodus 3:18. And sacrifice unto the Lord - Great stress is laid on this circumstance. God required sacrifice; no religious acts which they performed could be acceptable to him without this. He had now showed them that it was their indispensable duty thus to worship him, and that if they did not they might expect him to send the pestilence - some plague or death proceeding immediately from…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Three days‘ journey - See the Exodus 3:18 note. With pestilence, or with the sword - This shows that the plague was well known to the ancient Egyptians. The reference to the sword is equally natural, since the Israelites occupied the eastern district, which was frequently disturbed by the neighboring Shasous.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3He may strike us: God had not said this. Perhaps Moses and Aaron were trying to strengthen their case by saying that they had to obey God or die.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. The God of the Hebrews hath met with us--Instead of being provoked into reproaches or threats, they mildly assured him that it was not a proposal originating among themselves, but a duty enjoined on them by their God. They had for a long series of years been debarred from the privilege of religious worship, and as there was reason to fear that a continued neglect of divine ordinances would draw down upon them the judgments of offended heaven, they…Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 5
- 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
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries