Bible Strands
Exodus 14:5
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh and his officials speak to themselves after receiving news that the Israelites have fled. This moment occurs after God declares His intention to harden Pharaoh’s heart for pursuit, but before Pharaoh mobilizes his chariot and army.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וַ/יֵּהָפֵךְ לְבַ֨ב (Va/i.ye.ha.fekh le.Vav) literally translates to “and it was changed the heart of.” This denotes a sudden reversal of political calculation regarding the Israelites’ departure.
The thread — This theme of divinely directed heart changes appears in Psalms 105:25, where God turns hearts to hate His people, and contrasts with Exodus 12:33, where Egyptians initially urge Israel’s rapid departure. Jeremiah 34:10 later records officials and people attempting to free their Hebrew servants, echoing this pattern of shifting royal policy.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human political calculations are subject to divine orchestration. It requires the reader to observe how sudden reversals of power do not override sovereign purpose but fulfill it.
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 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?
Cross-references
- Psalms 105:25 whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.
- Exodus 12:33 And in order to send them out of the land quickly, the Egyptians urged the people on. “For otherwise,” they said, “we are all going to die!”
- Jeremiah 34:10 So all the officials and all the people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their menservants and maidservants and no longer hold them in bondage. They obeyed and released them,
- Luke 11:24 When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’
- 2 Peter 2:20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.