So the Israelite foremen went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why are you treating your servants this way?
Parallel translations
- WEB Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
- KJV Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
- NKJV Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why are you dealing thus with your servants?
- NASB Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
- NLT So the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. “Please don’t treat your servants like this,” they begged.
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 Israelite foremen cry to Pharaoh, protesting their treatment. They appeal for justice to the very source of their oppression.
Overview
Driven by their beatings, the foremen bring their grievance before Pharaoh himself, seeking relief. Their cry reflects the desperation of the oppressed who, not yet trusting fully in God, turn to earthly power for redress. Pharaoh's coming refusal will teach them that no deliverance lies in their oppressor, only in the LORD.
Cross-references & the web
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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 5:15 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
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