They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
Parallel Translations
-
They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
-
And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
-
and they said unto them: 'The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.'
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Exodus 5:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 34:30 Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house.”
- Genesis 16:5 Sarai said to Abram, “This wrong is your fault. I gave my servant into your bosom, and when she saw that she had conceived, she despised me. May Yahweh judge between me and you.”
- Exodus 6:9 Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
- 1 Samuel 13:4 All Israel heard that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was considered an abomination to the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.
- 1 Samuel 27:12 Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.”
- 2 Samuel 10:6 When the children of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, twenty thousand footmen, and the king of Maacah with one thousand men, and the men of Tob twelve thousand men.
- 1 Chronicles 19:6 When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent one thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, out of Aram-maacah, and out of Zobah.
- Exodus 4:31 The people believed, and when they heard that Yahweh had visited the children of Israel, and that he had seen their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.
- Exodus 14:11 They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us out of Egypt?
- Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to produce an evil odor; so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.
- Joel 2:20 But I will remove the northern army far away from you, and will drive it into a barren and desolate land, its front into the eastern sea, and its back into the western sea; and its stench will come up, and its bad smell will rise.” Surely he has done great things.
- 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are saved and in those who perish: to the one a stench from death to death, to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Read Gen. 34:30.
Read Gen. 34:30.
It is a grievous thing to the servants of God to be accused of evil, specially of their brethren, when they do as their duty requireth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 5:21 And they said unto them, The LORD…
Exo 5:21 And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
Ver. 21. The Lord look upon you.] Thus we have seen dogs in a chase bark at their best friends.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain To give them what they have long sought and…
To give them what they have long sought and thirsted after, to wit, an occasion to destroy and root us out.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they said unto them, the Lord look upon…
And they said unto them, the Lord look upon you and judge,.... Or, "will look upon you and judge" (q); and so it is either a prediction of what would be done to them, or an imprecation on them that God would take notice of their conduct, and punish them, or at least chastise them for acting the part they had, if not wickedly, yet imprudently:
because you have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh; or to "stink" (r); they were become vile, abominable, and hateful to him, he could not bear the sight of them, and treated them as the filth and offscouring of all things; they had lost their good name, credit, and reputation with him; for leave being asked for them to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to offer sacrifice, and keep a feast, they were looked upon as a parcel of idle slothful fellows:
Read full note →
and in the eyes of his servants; not the taskmasters only, but his nobles, counsellors, and courtiers:
to put a sword in their hands to slay us; a proverbial expression, signifying that they by their conduct had exposed them to the utmost danger, and had given their enemies an occasion against them, and an opportunity of destroying their whole nation, under a pretence of disobedience and disloyalty.
(q) "videbit" "et judicabit", Rivet. (r) "fecisti foetere", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Drusius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The Lord look upon you, and judge - They…
The Lord look upon you, and judge - They should have humbled themselves before God, but instead of that they fly in the face of their best friends. Those that are called to public service for God and their generation, must expect to be tried not only by the threats of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends. To put a sword in their hand to slay us - To give them the occasion they have long sought for.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. The Lord look upon you, and judge]…
Verse 21. The Lord look upon you, and judge] These were hasty and unkind expressions; but the afflicted must be allowed the privilege of complaining; it is all the solace that such sorrow can find; and if in such distress words are spoken which should not be justified, yet the considerate and benevolent will hear them with indulgence. God is merciful; and the stroke of this people was heavier even than their groaning.
Put a sword in their hand] Given them a pretence which they had not before, to oppress us even unto death.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 5:21. The Lord look upon you and judge…
Exo 5:21. The Lord look upon you and judge — They should have humbled themselves before God, but instead of that they fly in the face of their best friends. Those that are called to public service for God and their generation, must expect to be tried not only by the threats of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends. To put a sword in their hand to slay us — To give them the occasion they have long sought for.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Kill us. You are the occasion of our more…
Kill us. You are the occasion of our more cruel treatment. You have made the king have a bad opinion of us. Hebrew, "you have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharao." So Jacob said, (Genesis xxxiv. 30,) you have made me stink or become odious. Those who attempt to do a kindness, unsuccessfully, often experience a similar ingratitude, chap. xiv. 11. (Menochius) It does not appear from the original, whether the officers or Moses was coming from the king’s presence. They met in some appointed place. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. Jehovah look upon you, and judge] not leave…
21. Jehovah look upon you, and judge] not leave you unheeded and unpunished, for the evil you have brought upon the people.
made our savour to be abhorred, &c.] lit. made our savour to stink; as we should say, brought us into ill odour with: cf. Gen_34:30; also, in the Heb., 1Sa_13:4, 2Sa_10:6 al.
Read full note →
to put, &c.] They have simply, by asking permission for the pilgrimage, given the Pharaoh an opportunity to ruin us.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.—Heb.,…
(21) Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.—Heb., to stink. An idiom common to the Hebrews with the Egyptians (Comp. Gen_34:30; 1Sa_13:4; 2Sa_10:6, &c, with Papyr. Anastas. 1:27, 7), and very expressive. The English idiom, “to be in bad odour with a person,” is similar, but lacks the force of the Hebrew phrase.
In the eyes.—Mixed metaphors occur in all languages, and may generally be accounted for by the literal meaning of some familiar expression having come to be forgotten. In Heb., liphney, “in the face of,” and be’eyney, “in the eyes of,” were mere prepositions, having the force of “before,” “with,” “in regard to.”
Read full note →
A sword . . . to slay us.—This was not, perhaps, mere Oriental hyperbole. The officers may have feared that their inability to enforce the Pharaoh’s impracticable demands would ultimately lead to their execution.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain They said unto them. The officers were too full…
They said unto them. The officers were too full of their wrongs to wait until questioned. They took the word, and, without relating the result of their interview, implied it. The Lord look upon you, and judge, they said, meaning "the Lord (Jehovah) consider your conduct, and judge it" not exactly, "condemn it and punish it" (Keil and Delitzsch) but "pass sentence on it," "judge whether it has been right or not." We make this appeal because ye have at any rate done us a great injury ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh. (Note the mixed metaphor, which shows- perhaps rather that "in the eyes" had lost its original meaning, and come to signify no more than "with" or "in respect of," than that the literal meaning of making a person"s savour to "stink" did not occur to the writer.) Nay, ye have done more ye have put a sword in the hand of his servants to slay us. That is to say, "ye have armed them with a weapon wherewith we expect that they will take our lives." Either they will beat us to death and death is a not infrequent result of a repeated employment of the bastinado or when they find that punishment unavailing they will execute us as traitors. On the use of the bastinado as a punishment in Egypt, see Chabas, "Melanges Egyptologiques," 3 (me) serie, vol. 1. pp. 100-6.
Ver. 21. The servants of Go d liable to reproach from friends no less than enemies,
Read full note →
Moses and Aaron had borne the reproaches and scoffs of Pharaoh (vers. 48) without flinching. It was natural that an enemy should revile them. Pharaoh might tax them with idleness and insincerity in religion, if he pleased. The stab did not penetrate very deep, nor cause a very grievous smart. But when their brethren turned upon them and uttered reproaches, it was different. Then the wound went to the heart; the pain was bitter, scarce endurable. It made them misdoubt themselves. Had they really not acted for the best? Had they been self-seeking, or vainglorious, or reckless, or even injudicious? Such thoughts will always occur even to the best men, if on their plans seeming to have miscarried their friends reproach them. The best men best know their own frailty, and how easy it is for man to mar God"s work by his own imperfections. It requires a very brave soul to bear up against the reproaches of friends, especially when there seems to be a ground for them. The more careful therefore should friends be not to reproach God"s servants causelessly, or unless they can point out where they have been wrong. Actions are not to be always judged by their results, or, at any rate, not by their immediate results. Moses and Aaron had done quite right; they had obeyed God; they were bound to act as they had acted. It had not pleased God to give success to their efforts as yet. The officers should have had patience, should have prayed to God for relief, but should have forborne from reproaching the innocent.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.