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

24Then the Lord did so. And thick swarms of flies entered the house of Pharaoh and the houses of his servants, and the land was laid waste because of the swarms of flies in all the land of Egypt. 25Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses said, “It is not permissible for us to do so, because we will sacrifice to the Lord our God that which is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us? 27We must go a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, just as He commands us.” 28Pharaoh said, “I will let you go, so that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Plead 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

• But Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• It isכּוּןkûn · to establish: prepareH3559
• to doעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• soכֵּןkên · soH3651
• becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• we will sacrificeזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• to the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• an abominationתּוֹעֵבַהtô‛êbah tô‛êbah · abominationH8441
• to the Egyptiansמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714
• Ifהֵןhên · look!H2005
• before their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: before(the eyes)H5869
• will they not stoneסָקַלsâqal · to stoneH5619

Cross-references for Exodus 8:26

• Exodus 3:18Then they will pay attention to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt, and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
• 2 Corinthians 6:14Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness?
• Genesis 43:32Then they served him by himself, and Joseph’s brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; because the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians.
• Genesis 46:34you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock since our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ so that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”
• Deuteronomy 7:25The carved images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be trapped by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.
• Deuteronomy 12:30be careful that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from your presence, and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’
• Ezra 9:1Now when these things had been completed, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, as to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
• Isaiah 44:19No one remembers, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I bow down before a block of wood!”
• Exodus 9:3behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a very severe plague on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks.
• 1 Kings 11:5For Solomon became a follower of Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and of Milcom the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites.
• 2 Kings 23:13And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon.

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