Exodus 14:5 · Bible study
Exodus 14:5 Commentary: A Reversal of Heart
Hebrew · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Commentary on Exodus 14:5: Why Pharaoh regretted letting Israel go, and how his changed heart fits God's overarching plan of deliverance.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Pharaoh and his officials regret releasing Israel and decide to pursue them, viewing their departure as a permanent loss of slave labor.
- Key words: “fled” (barach, implying permanent departure), “changed” (haphakh, Niphal: a passive reversal of mind), “heart” (levav, seat of will and emotion).
- Main debate: Whether the reversal is purely natural regret over lost economics (Clarke) or a direct result of God’s hardening (Calvin, JFB). The two are not mutually exclusive in the text.
- Theological theme: Human rebellion persists even after miraculous deliverance; God sovereignly uses human obstinacy to accomplish His purposes.
- Best use: A warning about temporary, crisis-driven repentance, and an assurance that God’s plan advances even through human resistance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.”
WEB World English Bible 2000
The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”
KJV King James Version 1769
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people were fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And it is declared to the king of Egypt that the people hath fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants is turned against the people, and they say, `What is this we have done? that we have sent Israel away from our service.'
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his bondmen was turned against the people, and they said, Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from our service?
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said: What meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y fué dado aviso al rey de Egipto cómo el pueblo se huía: y el corazón de Faraón y de sus siervos se volvió contra el pueblo, y dijeron: ¿ Cómo hemos hecho esto de haber dejado ir á Israel, para que no nos sirva?
E foi dado aviso ao rei do Egito como o povo se fugia: e o coração de Faraó e de seus servos se voltou contra o povo, e disseram: Como fizemos isto de haver deixado ir a Israel, para que não nos sirva?
On annonça au roi d’ Égypte que le peuple avait pris la fuite. Alors le cœur de Pharaon et celui de ses serviteurs furent changés à l’ égard du peuple. Ils dirent: Qu’avons-nous fait, en laissant aller Israël, dont nous n’aurons plus les services?
Und da es dem König in Ägypten angesagt ward, daß das Volk geflohen war, ward sein Herz verwandelt und das Herz seiner Knechte gegen das Volk, und sie sprachen: Warum haben wir das getan, daß wir Israel haben gelassen, daß sie uns nicht dienten?
Toen nu de koning van Egypte werd geboodschapt, dat het volk vluchtte, zo is het hart van Farao en van zijn knechten veranderd tegen het volk, en zij zeiden: Waarom hebben wij dat gedaan, dat wij Israel hebben laten trekken, dat zij ons niet dienden?
Or fu riferito al re d’Egitto che il popolo era fuggito; e il cuore di Faraone e de’ suoi servitori mutò sentimento verso il popolo, e quelli dissero: “Che abbiam fatto a lasciar andare Israele, sì che non ci serviranno più?”
Tedy dano znać królowi Egipskiemu, że lud ucieka; i odmieniło się serce Faraonowe i sług jego przeciw ludowi, i rzekli: Cóżeśmy to uczynili, żeśmy wypuścili Izraela, aby nam nie służył?
И возвещено было царю Египетскому, что народ бежал; и обратилось сердце фараона и рабов его против народа сего, и они сказали: что это мы сделали? зачем отпустили Израильтян, чтобы они не работали нам?
有人告訴 埃及 王說：「百姓 逃跑。」法老 和他的臣僕 就向 百姓 變 心，說：「 我們容 以色列 人去，不再服事我們，這 做 的是甚麼事呢？」
And word came to Pharaoh of the flight of the people: and the feeling of Pharaoh and of his servants about the people was changed, and they said, Why have we let Israel go, so that they will do no more work for us?
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Exodus 14:5
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse describes Pharaoh’s sudden about-face after learning that Israel had not merely gone to worship but had departed permanently. The Hebrew verb nagad (Hiphil, “was told”) suggests official intelligence reached the court, and barach (“had fled”) implies a complete break from Egypt, not a temporary absence. Clarke notes that the economic loss of slave labor weighed heavily on Pharaoh. Calvin frames the regret as pride and stupidity: the wicked forget God’s judgments as soon as they are lifted. Gill adds that even Pharaoh’s servants, who earlier begged him to let Israel go (Exodus 10:7), now share his regret. The phrase “heart … was changed” translates the Niphal of haphakh, a passive verb indicating a transformation that overtakes them. The consensus sees this reversal as both human self-interest and a means by which God’s hardening (declared in v. 4 and v. 8) takes effect. The result is that Pharaoh pursues Israel, setting the stage for the Red Sea miracle.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Natural regret view: Pharaoh regrets the economic loss of slave labor; this is a natural human response. Supported by Clarke, Cambridge, and the plain sense of “from serving us.”
- Divine hardening view: The reversal is the outworking of God’s declared hardening (Exodus 14:4, 8); Calvin and JFB emphasize that Pharaoh’s forgetfulness of the plagues is supernaturally induced.
- Literary foreshadowing view: The verse sets up the contrast between human calculation and God’s plan; Keil & Delitzsch see the mention of “fled” as triggering both Pharaoh’s reaction and the fulfillment of God’s strategy to gain honor at the sea.
What is clear: Pharaoh and his officials regret letting Israel go and decide to pursue them, leading directly to the confrontation at the Red Sea.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Why Pharaoh’s heart turned | Pharaoh changed his mind because he realized Israel had fled permanently, cutting off Egypt’s supply of cheap labor. | Some commentators stress only human economic motivation (Clarke, Cambridge); others see this as the moment God’s hardening (Exodus 14:4) takes effect, using Pharaoh’s own greed as the means (Calvin, JFB). |
| Whether Pharaoh’s servants share responsibility | The text includes the servants in the regret and pursuit. | Gill notes that the same servants had begged for Israel’s release (Exodus 10:7), raising questions about collective versus individual guilt. Others see this as showing how quickly a court can reverse itself. |
| Timing of the report | The report reached Pharaoh after Israel changed route to Pi-hahiroth. | Keil & Delitzsch argue it came on the second day after the exodus; the Rabbis cited in Gill suggest it came on the fourth day. The text does not specify. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Exodus 14:5 belongs to the pivot of the exodus story. After the tenth plague, the Egyptians urged Israel to leave (Exodus 12:33). Pharaoh gave permission for a three-day journey to worship (Exodus 8:27, 28), but when Israel departed under Moses’ leadership, they did not intend to return. God then directed them to camp at Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, a position that looked tactically foolish. Keil and Delitzsch argue that this change of route prompted the report that reached Pharaoh. Barnes suggests the news came from the garrison at Etham, reaching Rameses in less than a day.
The phrase “heart … was changed” (Niphal of haphakh) pictures a turning-over or overturning of attitude. It does not mean mere regret; it signals a hostile shift. The court had earlier favored releasing Israel during the plagues, but now that the immediate terror subsided, economic and nationalistic motives resurface. Egypt’s economy depended on Israelite forced labor, as Clarke and Cambridge note. “From serving us” uses the same verb (avad) used throughout Exodus for Israel’s service to both Pharaoh and God (Exodus 4:23; 7:16). The loss is concrete: brickmaking, agriculture, housebuilding. Pharaoh’s question, “What is this we have done?”, reveals not genuine self-reflection but a cold calculation of lost profit. Jesus’ parable of the unclean spirit (Luke 11:24, 26) mirrors this pattern: when fear of judgment passes, the old rebellion returns with greater force.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for Exodus 14:5. The MT reading is consistent across the consulted commentators. The minor differences in English translations (e.g., “were fled” vs “had fled”; “heart … was turned against” vs “changed toward”) reflect differing English renderings of the same Hebrew, not textual variation.
Reception History
Exodus 14:5 has been read across Christian traditions as a case study in the psychology of unrepentant sin. Early church fathers like Augustine saw Pharaoh as a type of the hardened sinner who, granted grace, immediately returns to his old ways. Medieval commentators used the verse to illustrate the fleeting nature of fear-based repentance. In the Reformation, Calvin highlighted how the wicked suppress memory of God’s judgments once the immediate danger passes. Modern evangelical and charismatic readings often apply the verse to spiritual warfare, warning that a deliverance not followed by transformation can lead to worse bondage (Luke 11:24, 26). The verse continues to serve as a caution against trusting in crisis-based decisions that lack lasting change of heart.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The news that changes everything, The report that Israel had fled (not just gone to worship) triggers a crisis. Pharaoh sees their departure as permanent loss, not a temporary leave. This shows how human rulers interpret God’s deliverance as a threat to their power.
- The heart that turns, The Niphal of haphakh (“was changed”) shows a passive reversal. Pharaoh does not merely rethink; he is turned from reluctant permission to active pursuit. This turning fulfills God’s prior declaration (Exodus 14:4) that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart.
- The question that blinds, “What is this we have done?” They forget the ten plagues and the death of every firstborn. Calvin observes that the wicked fear God only while the rod is raised. The question they should ask is not “Why did we let them go?” but “Why did we not let them go sooner?”
Five-point outline
- Report: Israel’s flight is announced to Pharaoh.
- Reflection: The court reconsiders their permission.
- Reversal: Heart turns from favor to hostility.
- Regret: “What have we done?”
- Resolution: They act to recover their lost servants.
Illustration hooks
- A company gives an employee time off for a family emergency, then later discovers the employee has accepted another job. The manager’s frustration mirrors Pharaoh’s: “We helped him, and now he’s gone for good?”
- A person temporarily stops a bad habit during a health scare, then returns to it once the crisis passes, just as the Egyptians forgot the plagues and returned to their oppression.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God cause people to sin when He hardens their hearts? How does Pharaoh’s free choice fit with God’s decree?
- Why would Pharaoh and his servants forget the plagues so quickly? Is this realistic?
- When we repent of something but later go back to it, are we like Pharaoh?
Leading a Discussion
This verse captures a human pattern: when pressure lifts, the old self reasserts itself. Pharaoh and his servants had been broken by the plagues, but as soon as the danger passed, they recalculated the cost of obedience. The discussion below is designed to help a small group move from the text to their own lives.
Discussion questions
- What specific information caused Pharaoh’s heart to change? (Read Exodus 13:17, 14:4 for context.)
- The Hebrew word for “changed” (haphakh) is used elsewhere for transforming something completely, e.g., turning water into blood (Exodus 7:20). How does that range of meaning deepen your understanding of Pharaoh’s shift?
- Pharaoh and his servants had begged Moses to leave (Exodus 12:33). Now they say, “What have we done?” What does this tell you about human repentance that is merely fear-based?
- The New Testament connects this pattern to a person who escapes defilement but later returns to it (2 Peter 2:20, 22). In what ways is Pharaoh’s return like the “dog turning to its vomit”?
- God says He will harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 14:4). Yet the text also shows Pharaoh’s servants questioning their decision. How do you see human responsibility and divine sovereignty working together here?
- What “service” had Israel provided to Egypt (see Exodus 1:14; 5:4, 9)? Why was economic loss such a strong motive for pursuit?
- Are there areas of your life where you have let something go under pressure but then later regretted it and tried to take it back? How might this story help you trust God’s deliverance more fully?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 12:33 | The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” |
| Psalms 105:25 | He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. |
| Jeremiah 34:10 | All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go, |
| Jeremiah 34:17 | Therefore Yahweh says: “You have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor. Behold, I proclaim to you a liberty,” says Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. |
| Luke 11:24 | The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’ |
| Luke 11:26 | Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” |
| II Peter 2:20 | For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. |
| II Peter 2:22 | But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.” |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
11 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights that Pharaoh's primary motive for pursuing Israel was not ignorance of their departure but the economic loss. The king had only permitted a three-day journey, but when the people fled with Egyptian property, he realized they would never return. Their profitable service and the spoil he hoped to recover drove his pursuit.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that Pharaoh and his people had expected the Israelites to return after a festival, so the sudden change in direction signaled a permanent departure. The news reached Pharaoh quickly from the garrison, and his disciplined cavalry was ready to pursue almost immediately.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin highlights the foolish pride of Pharaoh and his court: after ten plagues forced them to let Israel go, they now act as if nothing happened and wonder why they did not resist harder. This shows how hardened sinners quickly forget God's judgments, imagining they could have overcome what God himself did.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator clarifies that "fled" means the Israelites had permanently left, not just gone on a pilgrimage. The change of heart was the Egyptians' regret at losing their labor, not a change of opinion about the permission itself.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Then it was told the King of Egypt, that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his seruants was turned against the people, and they sayde, Why haue we this done, and haue let Israel go out of our seruice?
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill draws from Jewish tradition to give a detailed timeline: the report reached Pharaoh on the fourth day after Israel's departure, he pursued on the fifth and sixth, and they crossed the sea on the seventh night. He also notes that even Pharaoh's servants, who earlier begged him to release Israel, now regretted their decision once the plagues stopped.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB emphasizes that Pharaoh’s heart was never truly changed, only temporarily overawed. Pride and revenge quickly overrode his painful experience of God’s judgments, proving that conviction without conversion leaves a person still under sin’s blinding power. Those whom God has marked for destruction are first given over to their own folly.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
God commanded a route that seemed foolish to human judgment, precisely to make Pharaoh conclude the Israelites were lost and trapped. This deception was designed to harden Pharaoh's heart so he would pursue, allowing God to glorify Himself in the judgment and death of the proud king who refused to honor Him.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange rejects both rationalism and literalism on the Red Sea crossing, arguing that God used a miraculously intensified natural event—an extraordinary ebb tide with a strong east wind—guided by Moses' prophetic assurance. He stresses that the same cloud brought light to Israel and darkness to Egypt, a symbolic barrier that cannot be reduced to a mere caravan fire.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights that God's command to turn aside toward the Red Sea was a surprising detour
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that the king either forgot or refused to admit that the people had left with his consent. He therefore allowed the news to be framed as a revolt against his authority, a portrayal that better suited his pride and made the people appear disloyal.