Bible Strands
Exodus 13:17
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them along the road through the land of the Philistines, though it was shorter. For God said, “If the people face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator explains God’s routing choice immediately after Pharaoh releases the Israelites, without recording a direct address to the people at that moment.
The words — The passage hinges on בְּשַׁלְּחוֹ (be./sha.Lach, “when he let go”) and נָחָם (na.Cha/m, “he led them”) to mark the divine action of directing the crowd right after Pharaoh’s release.
The thread — The text’s note of God’s routing decision and the stated reason for avoiding the Philistine road runs forward to the Israelites’ wilderness complaints in Exodus 14:11, Numbers 14:1, and Nehemiah 9:17.
Why it lands — The text states that God deliberately chose a longer route to prevent the people from reversing their departure if they encountered war, asking the reader to observe that divine guidance prioritizes steadfast commitment over geographical convenience.
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 it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
Cross-references
- Exodus 14:11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
- Numbers 14:1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
- Luke 14:27 And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
- Deuteronomy 20:8 Then the officers shall speak further to the army, saying, “Is any man afraid or fainthearted? Let him return home, so that the hearts of his brothers will not melt like his own.”
- 1 Kings 8:47 and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done wrong; we have acted wickedly,’
- Acts 7:39 But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.
- Exodus 16:2 And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- Deuteronomy 17:16 But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
- Acts 15:38 But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.