Bible Strands
Exodus 4:23
and I told you to let My son go so that he may worship Me. But since you have refused to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son!’”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Pharaoh through Moses, delivering a warning before the plague of the firstborn. The declaration follows the command to announce Israel as God’s firstborn son and precedes the lodging-place encounter.
The words — שַׁלַּח (sha.lach) means “let go,” and תְּמָאֵן (te.ma'en) means “you refused.” These verbs frame the confrontation: God demands release for worship, and Pharaoh’s refusal triggers judgment.
The thread — The threat to kill the firstborn son runs through Exodus 11:5, Exodus 12:29, and Psalms 105:36, where the plague executes the stated warning against Egypt. The motif ties divine sovereignty over life to the demand for covenant worship.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that refusal to release God’s chosen people invites direct judgment. It requires a reader to weigh the cost of defiance against the necessity of worship.
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 I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.
Cross-references
- Exodus 11:5 and every firstborn son in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the servant girl behind the hand mill, as well as the firstborn of all the cattle.
- Exodus 12:29 Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
- Psalms 105:36 Then He struck all the firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their vigor.
- Psalms 135:8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, of both man and beast.
- Exodus 5:1 After that, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”
- Exodus 7:16 Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.
- Psalms 78:51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt, the virility in the tents of Ham.