Exodus 5:21

Exo 5:21 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.

Ver. 21. The Lord look upon you.] Thus we have seen dogs in a chase bark at their best friends.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 5:21. The Lord look upon you and judge — They should have humbled themselves before God, but instead of that they fly in the face of their best friends. Those that are called to public service for God and their generation, must expect to be tried not only by the threats of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends. To put a sword in their hand to slay us — To give them the occasion they have long sought for.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Read Gen. 34:30.

It is a grievous thing to the servants of God to be accused of evil, specially of their brethren, when they do as their duty requireth.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 21. The Lord look upon you, and judge] These were hasty and unkind expressions; but the afflicted must be allowed the privilege of complaining; it is all the solace that such sorrow can find; and if in such distress words are spoken which should not be justified, yet the considerate and benevolent will hear them with indulgence. God is merciful; and the stroke of this people was heavier even than their groaning.

Put a sword in their hand] Given them a pretence which they had not before, to oppress us even unto death.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(21) Ye have made our savour to be abhorred.—Heb., to stink. An idiom common to the Hebrews with the Egyptians (Comp. Gen_34:30; 1Sa_13:4; 2Sa_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Jehovah look upon you, and judge] not leave you unheeded and unpunished, for the evil you have brought upon the people.

made our savour to be abhorred, &c.] lit. made our savour to stink; as we should say, brought us into ill odour with: cf. Gen_34:30; also, in the Heb., 1Sa_13:4, 2Sa_10:6 al.

to put, &c.] They have simply, by asking permission for the pilgrimage, given the Pharaoh an opportunity to ruin us.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they said unto them, the Lord look upon you and judge,.... Or, "will look upon you and judge" (q); and so it is either a prediction of what would be done to them, or an imprecation on them that God would take notice of their conduct, and punish them, or at least chastise them for acting the part they had, if not wickedly, yet imprudently:

because you have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh; or to "stink" (r); they were become vile, abominable, and hateful to him, he could not bear the sight of them, and treated them as the filth and offscouring of all things; they had lost their good name, credit, and reputation with him; for leave being asked for them to go three days' journey into the wilderness, to offer sacrifice, and keep a feast, they were looked upon as a parcel of idle slothful fellows:

and in the eyes of his servants; not the taskmasters only, but his nobles, counsellors, and courtiers:

to put a sword in their hands to slay us; a proverbial expression, signifying that they by their conduct had exposed them to the utmost danger, and had given their enemies an occasion against them, and an opportunity of destroying their whole nation, under a pretence of disobedience and disloyalty.

(q) "videbit" "et judicabit", Rivet. (r) "fecisti foetere", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Drusius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Kill us. You are the occasion of our more cruel treatment. You have made the king have a bad opinion of us. Hebrew, "you have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharao." So Jacob said, (Genesis xxxiv. 30,) you have made me stink or become odious. Those who attempt to do a kindness, unsuccessfully, often experience a similar ingratitude, chap. xiv. 11. (Menochius) It does not appear from the original, whether the officers or Moses was coming from the king’s presence. They met in some appointed place. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To give them what they have long sought and thirsted after, to wit, an occasion to destroy and root us out.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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," 3 (me) serie, vol. 1. pp. 100-6.

Ver. 21. The servants of Go d liable to reproach from friends no less than enemies,

Moses and Aaron had borne the reproaches and scoffs of Pharaoh (vers. 48) without flinching. It was natural that an enemy should revile them. Pharaoh might tax them with idleness and insincerity in religion, if he pleased. The stab did not penetrate very deep, nor cause a very grievous smart. But when their brethren turned upon them and uttered reproaches, it was different. Then the wound went to the heart; the pain was bitter, scarce endurable. It made them misdoubt themselves. Had they really not acted for the best? Had they been self-seeking, or vainglorious, or reckless, or even injudicious? Such thoughts will always occur even to the best men, if on their plans seeming to have miscarried their friends reproach them. The best men best know their own frailty, and how easy it is for man to mar God"s work by his own imperfections. It requires a very brave soul to bear up against the reproaches of friends, especially when there seems to be a ground for them. The more careful therefore should friends be not to reproach God"s servants causelessly, or unless they can point out where they have been wrong. Actions are not to be always judged by their results, or, at any rate, not by their immediate results. Moses and Aaron had done quite right; they had obeyed God; they were bound to act as they had acted. It had not pleased God to give success to their efforts as yet. The officers should have had patience, should have prayed to God for relief, but should have forborne from reproaching the innocent.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord look upon you, and judge - They should have humbled themselves before God, but instead of that they fly in the face of their best friends. Those that are called to public service for God and their generation, must expect to be tried not only by the threats of proud enemies, but by the unjust and unkind censures of unthinking friends. To put a sword in their hand to slay us - To give them the occasion they have long sought for.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

"Jehovah look upon you and judge" (i.e., punish you, because) "ye have made the smell of us to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants," i.e., destroyed our good name with the king and his servants, and turned it into hatred and disgust. ריח, a pleasant smell, is a figure employed for a good name or repute, and the figurative use of the word explains the connection with the eyes instead of the nose. "To give a sword into their hand to kill us." Moses and Aaron, they imagined, through their appeal to Pharaoh had made the king and his counsellors suspect them of being restless people, and so had put a weapon into their hands for their oppression and destruction. What perversity of the natural heart! They call upon God to judge, whilst by their very complaining they show that they have no confidence in God and His power to save. Moses turned (ויּשׁב Exo 5:22) to Jehovah with the question, "Why hast Thou done evil to this people," - increased their oppression by my mission to Pharaoh, and yet not delivered them? "These are not words of contumacy or indignation, but of inquiry and prayer" (Aug. quaest. 14). The question and complaint proceeded from faith, which flies to God when it cannot understand the dealings of God, to point out to Him how incomprehensible are His ways, to appeal to Him to help in the time of need, and to remove what seems opposed to His nature and His will.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)