Exodus 5:3

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.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)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."
• 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.”

Context of Exodus 5:3

1After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” 2“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” 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.” 4Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work! 5Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”

Exodus 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 3:18“The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord, our God.’
• Deuteronomy 28:21The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.
• 2 Kings 17:25But since these foreign settlers did not worship the Lord when they first arrived, the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them.
• 2 Chronicles 30:8Do not be stubborn, as they were, but submit yourselves to the Lord. Come to his Temple, which he has set apart as holy forever. Worship the Lord your God so that his fierce anger will turn away from you.
• Ezra 7:23Be careful to provide whatever the God of heaven demands for his Temple, for why should we risk bringing God’s anger against the realm of the king and his sons?
• Ezekiel 6:11“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands in horror, and stamp your feet. Cry out because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have committed. Now they are going to die from war and famine and disease.
• Zechariah 14:16In the end, the enemies of Jerusalem who survive the plague will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, and to celebrate the Festival of Shelters.

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

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Cover
• Demand
• Jew
• Tale
• Task
• Desert
• Exodus, the Book of
• Genesis

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