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Selected Verse: Exodus 5:3 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ex 5:3	Strong Concordance	And they said [0559], The God [0430] of the Hebrews [05680] hath met [07122] with us: let us go [03212], we pray thee, three [07969] days [03117]' journey [01870] into the desert [04057], and sacrifice [02076] unto the LORD [03068] our God [0430]; lest he fall [06293] upon us with pestilence [01698], or with the sword [02719].
	King James	And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
The God of the Hebrews hath met with us--Instead of being provoked into reproaches or threats, they mildly assured him that it was not a proposal originating among themselves, but a duty enjoined on them by their God. They had for a long series of years been debarred from the privilege of religious worship, and as there was reason to fear that a continued neglect of divine ordinances would draw down upon them the judgments of offended heaven, they begged permission to go three days' journey into the desert--a place of seclusion--where their sacrificial observances would neither suffer interruption nor give umbrage to the Egyptians. In saying this, they concealed their ultimate design of abandoning the kingdom, and by making this partial request at first, they probably wished to try the king's temper before they disclosed their intentions any farther. But they said only what God had put in their mouths (Exo 3:12, Exo 3:18), and this "legalizes the specific act, while it gives no sanction to the general habit of dissimulation" [CHALMERS].

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

The God of the Hebrews hath met with us--Instead of being provoked into reproaches or threats, they mildly assured him that it was not a proposal originating among themselves, but a duty enjoined on them by their God. They had for a long series of years been debarred from the privilege of religious worship, and as there was reason to fear that a continued neglect of divine ordinances would draw down upon them the judgments of offended heaven, they begged permission to go three days' journey into the desert--a place of seclusion--where their sacrificial observances would neither suffer interruption nor give umbrage to the Egyptians. In saying this, they concealed their ultimate design of abandoning the kingdom, and by making this partial request at first, they probably wished to try the king's temper before they disclosed their intentions any farther. But they said only what God had put in their mouths (Exo 3:12, Exo 3:18), and this "legalizes the specific act, while it gives no sanction to the general habit of dissimulation" [CHALMERS].

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
Three days' journey - See the Exo 3:18 note. With pestilence, or with the sword - This shows that the plague was well known to the ancient Egyptians. The reference to the sword is equally natural, since the Israelites occupied the eastern district, which was frequently disturbed by the neighboring Shasous.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
three days Compare (Mat 12:38-40). By death and resurrection will God have his people separated from Egypt -- the world. (Rom 6:1-11); (Gal 6:14-15); (Heb 13:12); (Heb 13:13).

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The messengers founded their request upon the fact that the God of the Hebrews had met them (נקרא, vid., Exo 3:18), and referred to the punishment which the neglect of the sacrificial festival demanded by God might bring upon the nation. פּן־יפגּענוּ: "lest He strike us (attack us) with pestilence or sword." פּגע: to strike, hit against any one, either by accident or with a hostile intent; ordinarily construed with בּ, also with an accusative, Sa1 10:5, and chosen here probably with reference to נקרא = נקרה. "Pestilence or sword:" these are mentioned as expressive of a violent death, and as the means employed by the deities, according to the ordinary belief of the nations, to punish the neglect of their worship. The expression "God of the Hebrews," for "God of Israel" (Exo 5:1), is not chosen as being "more intelligible to the king, because the Israelites were called Hebrews by foreigners, more especially by the Egyptians (Exo 1:16; Exo 2:6)," as Knobel supposes, but to convince Pharaoh of the necessity for their going into the desert to keep the festival demanded by their God. In Egypt they might sacrifice to the gods of Egypt, but not to the God of the Hebrews.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
We pray thee, let us go three days journey into the desert - And that on a good errand, and unexceptionable: we will sacrifice to the Lord our God - As other people do to theirs; lest if we quite cast off his worship, he fall upon us - With one judgment or other, and then Pharaoh will lose his vassals.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Three days' journey - The distance from Goshen to Sinai; see Exo 3:18. And sacrifice unto the Lord - Great stress is laid on this circumstance. God required sacrifice; no religious acts which they performed could be acceptable to him without this. He had now showed them that it was their indispensable duty thus to worship him, and that if they did not they might expect him to send the pestilence - some plague or death proceeding immediately from himself, or the sword - extermination by the hands of an enemy. The original word דבר deber, from בדר dabar, to drive off, draw under, etc., which we translate pestilence from the Latin pestis, the plague, signifies any kind of disease by which an extraordinary mortality is occasioned, and which appears from the circumstances of the case to come immediately from God. The Israelites could not sacrifice in the land of Egypt, because the animals they were to offer to God were held sacred by the Egyptians; and they could not omit this duty, because it was essential to religion even before the giving of the law. Thus we find that Divine justice required the life of the animal for the life of the transgressor, and the people were conscious, if this were not done, that God would consume them with the pestilence or the sword. From the foundation of the world the true religion required sacrifice. Before, under, and after the law, this was deemed essential to salvation. Under the Christian dispensation Jesus is the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world; and being still the Lamb newly slain before the throne, no man cometh unto the Father but by him. "In this first application to Pharaoh, we observe," says Dr. Dodd, "that proper respectful submission which is due from subjects to their sovereign. They represent to him the danger they should be in by disobeying their God, but do not so much as hint at any punishment that would follow to Pharaoh."

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¹⁸ And they shall hearken [08085] to thy voice [06963]: and thou shalt come [0935], thou and the elders [02205] of Israel [03478], unto the king [04428] of Egypt [04714], and ye shall say [0559] unto him, The LORD [03068] God [0430] of the Hebrews [05680] hath met [07136] with us: and now let us go [03212], we beseech thee, three [07969] days [03117]' journey [01870] into the wilderness [04057], that we may sacrifice [02076] to the LORD [03068] our God [0430].

¹² And he said [0559], Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token [0226] unto thee, that [03588] I have sent [07971] thee: When thou hast brought forth [03318] the people [05971] out of Egypt [04714], ye shall serve [05647] God [0430] upon this mountain [02022].

¹³ Let us go forth [1831] therefore [5106] unto [4314] him [846] without [1854] the camp [3925], bearing [5342] his [846] reproach [3680].

¹² Wherefore [1352] Jesus [2424] also [2532], that [2443] he might sanctify [37] the people [2992] with [1223] his own [2398] blood [129], suffered [3958] without [1854] the gate [4439].

¹⁴ But [1161] God forbid [3361] [1096] that I [1698] should glory [2744], save [1508] in [1722] the cross [4716] of our [2257] Lord [2962] Jesus [2424] Christ [5547], by [1223] whom [3739] the world [2889] is crucified [4717] unto me [1698], and I [2504] unto the world [2889].
¹⁵ For [1063] in [1722] Christ [5547] Jesus [2424] neither [3777] circumcision [4061] availeth [2480] any thing [5100], nor [3777] uncircumcision [203], but [235] a new [2537] creature [2937].

¹ What [5101] shall we say [2046] then [3767]? Shall we continue [1961] in sin [266], that [2443] grace [5485] may abound [4121]?
² God forbid [3361] [1096]. How [4459] shall we, that [3748] are dead [599] to sin [266], live [2198] any longer [2089] therein [1722] [846]?
³ [2228] Know ye not [50], that so [3754] many of us [3745] as were baptized [907] into [1519] Jesus [2424] Christ [5547] were baptized [907] into [1519] his [846] death [2288]?
⁴ Therefore [3767] we are buried with [4916] him [846] by [1223] baptism [908] into [1519] death [2288]: that [2443] like as [5618] Christ [5547] was raised up [1453] from [1537] the dead [3498] by [1223] the glory [1391] of the Father [3962], even so [3779] we [2249] also [2532] should walk [4043] in [1722] newness [2538] of life [2222].
⁵ For [1063] if [1487] we have been [1096] planted together [4854] in the likeness [3667] of his [846] death [2288], we shall be [2071] also [235] [2532] in the likeness of his resurrection [386]:
⁶ Knowing [1097] this [5124], that [3754] our [2257] old [3820] man [444] is crucified with [4957] him, that [2443] the body [4983] of sin [266] might be destroyed [2673], that henceforth [3371] we [2248] should [1398] not [3371] serve [1398] sin [266].
⁷ For [1063] he that is dead [599] is freed [1344] from [575] sin [266].
⁸ Now [1161] if [1487] we be dead [599] with [4862] Christ [5547], we believe [4100] that [3754] we shall [4800] also [2532] live [4800] with him [846]:
⁹ Knowing [1492] that [3754] Christ [5547] being raised [1453] from [1537] the dead [3498] dieth [599] no more [3765]; death [2288] hath [2961] no more [3765] dominion over [2961] him [846].
¹⁰ For [3739] [1063] in that he died [599], he died [599] unto sin [266] once [2178]: but [1161] in that [3739] he liveth [2198], he liveth [2198] unto God [2316].
¹¹ Likewise [3779] reckon [3049] ye [5210] also [2532] yourselves [1438] to be [1511] dead [3498] indeed [3303] unto sin [266], but [1161] alive [2198] unto God [2316] through [1722] Jesus [2424] Christ [5547] our [2257] Lord [2962].

³⁸ Then [5119] certain [5100] of the scribes [1122] and [2532] of the Pharisees [5330] answered [611], saying [3004], Master [1320], we would [2309] see [1492] a sign [4592] from [575] thee [4675].
³⁹ But [1161] he answered [611] and said [2036] unto them [846], An evil [4190] and [2532] adulterous [3428] generation [1074] seeketh after [1934] a sign [4592]; and [2532] there shall no [3756] sign [4592] be given [1325] to it [846], but [1508] the sign [4592] of the prophet [4396] Jonas [2495]:
⁴⁰ For [1063] as [5618] Jonas [2495] was [2258] three [5140] days [2250] and [2532] three [5140] nights [3571] in [1722] the whale's [2785] belly [2836]; so [3779] shall the Son [5207] of man [444] be [2071] three [5140] days [2250] and [2532] three [5140] nights [3571] in [1722] the heart [2588] of the earth [1093].

⁶ And when she had opened [06605] it, she saw [07200] the child [03206]: and, behold, the babe [05288] wept [01058]. And she had compassion [02550] on him, and said [0559], This is one of the Hebrews [05680]' children [03206].

¹⁶ And he said [0559], When ye do the office of a midwife [03205] to the Hebrew women [05680], and see [07200] them upon the stools [070]; if it be a son [01121], then ye shall kill [04191] him: but if it be a daughter [01323], then she shall live [02425].

¹ And afterward [0310] Moses [04872] and Aaron [0175] went in [0935], and told [0559] Pharaoh [06547], Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], Let my people [05971] go [07971], that they may hold a feast [02287] unto me in the wilderness [04057].

⁵ After [0310] that thou shalt come [0935] to the hill [01389] of God [0430], where is the garrison [05333] of the Philistines [06430]: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither [0935] to the city [05892], that thou shalt meet [06293] a company [02256] of prophets [05030] coming down [03381] from the high place [01116] with a psaltery [05035], and a tabret [08596], and a pipe [02485], and a harp [03658], before [06440] them; and they shall prophesy [05012]: