Exodus 5:21
New International Version
and they said, “May the LORD look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

New Living Translation
The foremen said to them, “May the LORD judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword into their hands, an excuse to kill us!”

English Standard Version
and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Berean Standard Bible
“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”

King James Bible
And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

New King James Version
And they said to them, “Let the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

New American Standard Bible
And they said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, because you have made us repulsive in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

NASB 1995
They said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

NASB 1977
And they said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, for you have made us odious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Legacy Standard Bible
And they said to them, “May Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have made us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Amplified Bible
And the foremen said to them, “May the LORD look upon you and judge you, because you have made us odious (something hated) in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and you have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Christian Standard Bible
“May the LORD take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek to Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us! ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
May the LORD take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”

American Standard Version
and they said unto them, Jehovah look upon you, and judge: because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they said to them, “May LORD JEHOVAH look upon you and judge that you have made our spirit evil in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his Servants, to make us as a sword in their hands to destroy us.”

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And they said to them, The Lord look upon you and judge you, for ye have made our savour abominable before Pharao, and before his servants, to put a sword into his hands to slay us.

Contemporary English Version
Then the men said, "We hope the LORD will punish both of you for making the king and his officials hate us. Now they even have an excuse to kill us."

Douay-Rheims Bible
And they said to them: The Lord see and judge, because you have made our savour to stink before Pharao and his servants, and you have given him a sword to kill us.

English Revised Version
and they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So they said, "May the LORD see what you have done and judge you! You have made Pharaoh and his officials hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us."

Good News Translation
They said to Moses and Aaron, "The LORD has seen what you have done and will punish you for making the king and his officers hate us. You have given them an excuse to kill us."

International Standard Version
The supervisors told them, "May the LORD look on you and judge you! You have made us repulsive to Pharaoh and his servants. You have put a sword in their hands to kill us."

JPS Tanakh 1917
and they said unto them: 'The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.'

Literal Standard Version
and say to them, “YHWH look on you, and judge, because you have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants—to give a sword into their hand to slay us.”

Majority Standard Bible
“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!”

New American Bible
and said to them, “The LORD look upon you and judge! You have made us offensive to Pharaoh and his servants, putting a sword into their hands to kill us.”

NET Bible
and they said to them, "May the LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the opinion of Pharaoh and his servants, so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!"

New Revised Standard Version
They said to them, “The LORD look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

New Heart English Bible
and they said to them, "May God look at you, and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Webster's Bible Translation
And they said to them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hands to slay us.

World English Bible
They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”

Young's Literal Translation
and say unto them, 'Jehovah look upon you, and judge, because ye have caused our fragrance to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants -- to give a sword into their hand to slay us.'

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Cry of the Israelites
20When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them. 21“May the LORD look upon you and judge you,” the foremen said, “for you have made us a stench before Pharaoh and his officials; you have placed in their hand a sword to kill us!” 22So Moses returned to the LORD and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble upon this people? Is this why You sent me?…

Cross References
Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me."

Genesis 31:53
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us." So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.

Genesis 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed."

Exodus 5:20
When they left Pharaoh, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting to meet them.

Exodus 14:11
They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us into the wilderness to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

Exodus 15:24
So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"

Exodus 16:2
And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.


Treasury of Scripture

And they said to them, The LORD look on you, and judge; because you have made our smell to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

the Lord

Exodus 4:31
And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

Exodus 6:9
And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

Genesis 16:5
And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

our savour

Ecclesiastes 10:1
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.

Joel 2:20
But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.

2 Corinthians 2:15,16
For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: …

to be abhorred.

Genesis 34:30
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

1 Samuel 13:4
And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.

1 Samuel 27:12
And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

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Exodus 5
1. Pharaoh chides Moses and Aaron for their message.
6. He increases the Israelites' task.
16. He ignores their complaints.
19. They cry out to Moses and Aaron.
22. Moses complains to God.














(21) Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.--Heb., to stink. An idiom common to the Hebrews with the Egyptians (Comp. Genesis 34:30; 1Samuel 13:4; 2Samuel 10:6, &c, with Papyr. Anastas. 1:27, 7), and very expressive. The English idiom, "to be in bad odour with a person," is similar, but lacks the force of the Hebrew phrase.

In the eyes.--Mixed metaphors occur in all languages, and may generally be accounted for by the literal meaning of some familiar expression having come to be forgotten. In Heb., liphney, "in the face of," and be'eyney, "in the eyes of," were mere prepositions, having the force of "before," "with," "in regard to."

A sword . . . to slay us.--This was not, perhaps, mere Oriental hyperbole. The officers may have feared that their inability to enforce the Pharaoh's impracticable demands would ultimately lead to their execution.

Verse 21. - They said unto them. The officers were too full of their wrongs to wait until questioned. They took the word, and, without relating the result of their interview, implied it. The Lord look upon you, and judge, they said, meaning "the Lord (Jehovah) consider your conduct, and judge it" not exactly, "condemn it and punish it" (Keil and Delitzsch) - but "pass sentence on it," "judge whether it has been right or not." We make this appeal because ye have at any rate done us a great injury - ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh. (Note the mixed metaphor, which shows- perhaps rather that "in the eyes" had lost its original meaning, and come to signify no more than "with" or "in respect of," than that the literal meaning of making a person's savour to "stink" did not occur to the writer.) Nay, ye have done more - ye have put a sword in the hand of his servants to slay us. That is to say, "ye have armed them with a weapon wherewith we expect that they will take our lives." Either they will beat us to death - and death is a not infrequent result of a repeated employment of the bastinado - or when they find that punishment unavailing they will execute us as traitors. On the use of the bastinado as a punishment in Egypt, see Chabas, 'Melanges Egyptologiques,' 3me serie, vol. 1. pp. 100-6.

CHAPTER 5:22, 23

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“May the LORD
יְהוָ֛ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

look upon you
יֵ֧רֶא (yê·re)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect Jussive - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7200: To see

and judge you,”
וְיִשְׁפֹּ֑ט (wə·yiš·pōṭ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8199: To judge, pronounce sentence, to vindicate, punish, to govern, to litigate

[the foremen] said,
וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ (way·yō·mə·rū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“for
אֲשֶׁ֧ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you have made us a stench
הִבְאַשְׁתֶּ֣ם (hiḇ·’aš·tem)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 887: To smell bad, to be offensive

before
בְּעֵינֵ֤י (bə·‘ê·nê)
Preposition-b | Noun - cdc
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

Pharaoh
פַרְעֹה֙ (p̄ar·‘ōh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 6547: Pharaoh -- a title of Egypt kings

and his officials;
עֲבָדָ֔יו (‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5650: Slave, servant

you have placed
לָֽתֶת־ (lā·ṯeṯ-)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

in their hand
בְּיָדָ֖ם (bə·yā·ḏām)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 3027: A hand

a sword
חֶ֥רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

to kill us!”
לְהָרְגֵֽנוּ׃ (lə·hā·rə·ḡê·nū)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | first person common plural
Strong's 2026: To smite with deadly intent


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OT Law: Exodus 5:21 And they said to them May Yahweh (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 5:20
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