God’s Word Translation
Exodus 3:19
19I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, even if he is forced to.
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
17I promise I will take you away from your misery in Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18“The leaders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the leaders must go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.’ I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, even if he is forced to. 20So I will use my power to strike Egypt. After all the miracles that I will do there, he will let you go. 21I will make the Egyptians kind to the people of Israel so that, when you leave, you will not leave 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 5:2Pharaoh asked, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I won’t let Israel go.”
- Exodus 7:4Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will use my power to punish Egypt severely, and I will bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt in organized family groups.
- Exodus 6:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. I will show him my power, and he will let my people go. I will show him my power, and he will throw them out of his country.”
- Exodus 7:1The Lord answered Moses, “I have made you a god to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron is your prophet.
- Exodus 8:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to worship me.
- Exodus 9:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go to worship me.
- Exodus 10:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. I have made him and his officials stubborn so that I can do these miraculous signs among them.
- Exodus 11:1Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he will let you go. When he does, he will be certain to force all of you out of here.
- Exodus 12:1The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
- Exodus 13:1The Lord spoke to Moses,
- Exodus 14:1Then the Lord said to Moses,
- Psalms 136:11He brought Israel out from among them— because his mercy endures forever.
- Isaiah 63:12Where is the one who sent his powerful arm to support the right hand of Moses? Where is the one who divided the water in front of them to make an everlasting 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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