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Exodus 14:5-9

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

5. And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? 6. And he made ready his chariot, and took his people with him: 7. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them. 8. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand. 9. But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses [and] chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

Exodus 14:5-9 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Exodus 14:5

Theological / Devotional

Why have we done this? Pharaoh had apparently intended his permission to be limited to a three-day journey into the eastern Egyptian desert. When it became apparent that the Israelites were pressing rapidly through the desert toward the Red Sea, Pharaoh set out in pursuit (PP 283). A short respite from suffering had given him time to recover from the horrors of the tenth plague, and he now regretted his rash act. When no further calamity followed the death of the first-born, the Egyptians may have thought the power of the Hebrew God broken, and of themselves as once more lords over their land and masters of the situation. The loss of a large body of laborers would upset the economy of the country and bring hardship upon those who remained.

By SdaBc