So the people scattered all over the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
Parallel translations
- WEB So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
- KJV So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
- NKJV So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
- NASB So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
- NLT So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The people scatter across Egypt to gather stubble for straw. Their desperate labor shows the burden Pharaoh has imposed.
Overview
Forced to search the land for any usable stubble, the Israelites are scattered and exhausted in pursuit of an impossible quota. The picture of a people frantically scavenging captures the depth of their bondage. Their plight magnifies the contrast between Pharaoh's oppression and the freedom and rest God intends for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Exod 15:7You overthrew Your adversaries by Your great majesty. You unleashed Your burning wrath; it consumed them like stubble.
- Isa 47:14Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside.
- Nah 1:10For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard—like stubble that is fully dry.
- 1 Cor 3:12If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
- Obad 1:18Then the house of Jacob will be a blazing fire, and the house of Joseph a burning flame; but the house of Esau will be stubble—Jacob will set it ablaze and consume it. Therefore no survivor will remain from the house of Esau.” For the LORD has spoken.
- Isa 5:24Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
- Joel 2:5With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 5:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.