Bible Strands
Exodus 10:7
Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh’s officials address him directly after Moses leaves following the locust plague warning. They intervene to demand the Israelites' release before national infrastructure collapses.
The words — The phrase עַד־מָתַי יִהְיֶה זֶה (ad-matai yih-yeh zeh) translates literally as “until when will this one be,” expressing impatient frustration over Moses’ ongoing influence. The officials pair this with the verb יִהְיֶה (yih-yeh) to frame his presence as an active, deteriorating condition.
The thread — The officials’ fear of Moses as a “snare” parallels the warnings in Exodus 23:33 and Joshua 23:13 about foreign influence causing national ruin, and mirrors Saul’s calculated fear in 1 Samuel 18:21 that David’s rise would become a trap.
Why it lands — The text records pragmatic officials overriding royal pride to demand release before total collapse. It forces readers to recognize that delaying obedience accelerates institutional ruin and strips leadership of its remaining authority.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Pharaoh’s servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God: knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed?
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 18:21 “I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”
- Exodus 23:33 They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
- Joshua 23:13 know for sure that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become for you a snare and a trap, a scourge in your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- Exodus 8:19 “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.
- Psalms 107:34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
- Proverbs 29:6 An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.
- Isaiah 14:20 You will not join them in burial, since you have destroyed your land and slaughtered your own people. The offspring of the wicked will never again be mentioned.
- Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Jeremiah 48:4 Moab will be shattered; her little ones will cry out.