Exodus 14:5 (DBY)

Passage

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?

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:3 And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness has hemmed them in.

Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he may pursue after them; and I will glorify myself in Pharaoh, and in all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so.

Exodus 14:5 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?

Exodus 14:6 And he yoked his chariot, and took his people with him.

Exodus 14:7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "told", "king", "egypt", "people", "fled", "heart", "pharaoh", and "bondmen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "told" and "king", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart that..." into verse 6's "And he yoked his chariot and took...", so "told" and "king" belong inside that flow. In Exodus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "told" and "king" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.