Exodus 8:26

Exodus 8:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?
• New International Version (NIV)But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?
• English Standard Version (ESV)But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?
• New King James Version (NKJV)And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?

Context of Exodus 8:26

24The Lord did what he said. Dense swarms of flies came into Pharaoh’s palace and into the houses of his officials. All over Egypt the flies were ruining everything. 25Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in this country.” Moses replied, “It wouldn’t be right to do that. The sacrifices we offer to the Lord our God are disgusting to Egyptians. If they see us offer sacrifices that they consider disgusting, won’t they stone us to death? 27We need to travel three days into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, as he told us to do.” 28Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, but don’t go very far. You may offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the desert and pray for me.”

Exodus 8:26 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֗ה לֹ֤א נָכוֹן֙ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת כֵּ֔ן כִּ֚י תּוֹעֲבַ֣ת מִצְרַ֔יִם נִזְבַּ֖ח לַיהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ הֵ֣ן נִזְבַּ֞ח אֶת־תּוֹעֲבַ֥ת מִצְרַ֛יִם לְעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם וְלֹ֥א יִסְקְלֻֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• It is not meetכּוּןkûn · to establish: rightH3559
• so to doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• forהֵןhên · look!H2005
• we shall sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• the abominationתּוֹעֵבַהtô‛êbah tô‛êbah · abominationH8441
• of the Egyptiansמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
• to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• before their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: before(the eyes)H5869
• and will they not stoneסָקַלsâqal · to stoneH5619

Cross-references for Exodus 8:26

• Exodus 3:18“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.’
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Stop forming inappropriate relationships with unbelievers. Can right and wrong be partners? Can light have anything in common with darkness?
• Genesis 43:32He was served separately from his brothers. The Egyptians who were there with him were also served separately, because they found it offensive to eat with Hebrews.
• Genesis 46:34you must answer, ‘We have taken care of herds all our lives, as our ancestors have done.’ ⌞You must say this⌟ so that you may live in the region of Goshen, because all shepherds are disgusting to Egyptians.”
• Deuteronomy 7:25Burn their idols. Don’t ever long for the silver and gold on these idols or take any of it for yourselves. It might be a trap for you. Besides, these idols are disgusting to the Lord your God.
• Deuteronomy 12:30After they’ve been destroyed, be careful you aren’t tempted to follow their customs. Don’t even ask about their gods and say, “How did these people worship their gods? We want to do what they did.”
• Ezra 9:1After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have failed to keep themselves separate from the neighboring groups of people and from the disgusting practices of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites.
• Isaiah 44:19No one stops to think. No one has enough knowledge or understanding to say, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I also baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and ate it. Now I am making the rest of the wood into a disgusting thing and bowing to a block of wood.”
• Exodus 9:3the Lord will bring a terrible plague on your livestock, including your horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep, and goats.
• 1 Kings 11:5Solomon followed Astarte (the goddess of the Sidonians) and Milcom (the disgusting idol of the Ammonites).
• 2 Kings 23:13The king made the illegal places of worship east of Jerusalem unclean. They were on the southern part of the Hill of Destruction. King Solomon of Israel had built them for Astarte (the disgusting goddess of the Sidonians), Chemosh (the disgusting god of Moab), and Milcom (the disgusting god of the Ammonites).

Commentaries on Exodus 8:26

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26We shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians - That is, The animals which they hold sacred, and will not permit to be slain, are those which our customs require us to sacrifice to our God; and should we do this in Egypt the people would rise in a mass, and stone us to death. Perhaps few people were more superstitious than the Egyptians. Almost every production of nature was an object of their religious worship: the sun, moon, planets, stars, the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26The abomination - i. e. an animal which the Egyptians held it sacrilegious to slay. The ox, bull, or cow, is meant. The cow was never sacrificed in Egypt, being sacred to Isis, and from a very early age the ox was worshipped throughout Egypt, and more especially at Heliopolis and Memphis under various designations, Apis, Mnevis, Amen-Ehe, as the symbol or manifestation of their greatest deities, Osiris, Atum, Ptah, and Isis.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-32Verses 20-32 Pharaoh was early at his false devotions to the river; and shall we be for more sleep and more slumber, when any service to the Lord is to be done? The Egyptians and the Hebrews were to be marked in the plague of flies. The Lord knows them that are his, and will make it appear, perhaps in this world, certainly in the other, that he has set them apart for himself. Pharaoh unwillingly entered into a treaty with Moses and Aaron. He is content…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26-27Moses explained why Pharaoh’s request could not work. He said it would offend the Egyptians. The Egyptians looked down on the Hebrews and other Semitic peoples. They considered them uncultured and unclean (see Genesis 43:32). The Hebrews were leaving Egypt in order to worship the Lord (see, for example, Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20). God’s purpose in the exodus was not only freedom from slavery. He wanted to bring his people into a right relationship with…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 25-3225-32. Pharaoh called for Moses, ... Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land, &c.--Between impatient anxiety to be freed from this scourge and a reluctance on the part of the Hebrew bondsmen, the king followed the course of expediency; he proposed to let them free to engage in their religious rites within any part of the kingdom. But true to his instructions, Moses would accede to no such arrangement; he stated a most valid reason to show the danger of…Read the comment

Topics related to Exodus 8:26

• Flies

In the dictionaries

• God
• Moses
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Abomination
• Command
• Division
• Finger
• Fly
• Let
• Morrow

Commentaries on Exodus 8

• 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