Bible Strands
Exodus 5:23
Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and You have not delivered Your people in any way.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the Lord immediately after his first confrontation with Pharaoh, where the ruler increased the Israelites’ labor instead of granting their request. He speaks these words directly after his own complaint in Exodus 5:22 about why God initiated the mission if the people's condition only worsened.
The words — הֵרַ֖ע (he.Ra') translates literally as "he has done harm," capturing Moses' observation that Pharaoh's response has intensified the people's suffering. בִּ/שְׁמֶ֔/ךָ (bi/sh.Me./kha) means "in your name," marking the divine authority under which Moses carried out his commission.
The thread — The tension between divine commission and adverse outcomes runs through Psalms 118:26, Isaiah 26:17, and Isaiah 28:16. These passages trace how acting under God's authority often coincides with immediate distress before any resolution appears.
Why it lands — The text demands honest lament when ministry or obedience yields immediate hardship rather than instant deliverance. It requires readers to hold both the reality of worsened conditions and the reality of God's unbroken presence without rushing to theological conclusions.
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
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
Cross-references
- Psalms 118:26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.
- Isaiah 26:17 As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
- Isaiah 28:16 So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.
- Jeremiah 11:21 Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning the people of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, “You must not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand.”
- Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.
- John 5:43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you have not received Me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will receive him.