Exodus 5:4
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you to your burdens.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you to your burdens.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people away from their work? get back to your work.
Webster's Revision
And the king of Egypt said to them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people from their works; go you to your burdens.
World English Bible
The king of Egypt said to them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!"
English Revised Version (ERV)
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, loose the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Definitions for Exodus 5:4
Clarke's Exodus 5:4 Bible Commentary
Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron - He hints that the Hebrews are in a state of revolt, and charges Moses and Aaron as being ringleaders of the sedition. This unprincipled charge has been, in nearly similar circumstances, often repeated since. Men who have labored to bring the mass of the common people from ignorance, irreligion, and general profligacy of manners, to an acquaintance with themselves and God, and to a proper knowledge of their duty to him and to each other, have been often branded as being disaffected to the state, and as movers of sedition among the people! See Clarke on Exodus 5:17 (note).
Let the people - תפריעו taphriu, from פרע para, to loose or disengage, which we translate to let, from the Anglo-Saxon lettan, to hinder. Ye hinder the people from working. Get ye to your burdens. "Let religion alone, and mind your work." The language not only of tyranny, but of the basest irreligion also.
Barnes's Exodus 5:4 Bible Commentary
Let - i. e. hinder.
