Exodus 14:3 (KJV)

Passage

For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

Exodus 14:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.

Exodus 14:3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in.

Exodus 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.

Exodus 14:5 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?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "pharaoh", "children", "israel", "entangled", "land", "wilderness", "hath", and "shut". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "pharaoh" and "children", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Speak unto the children of Israel that..." into verse 4's "And I will harden Pharaoh s heart...", so "pharaoh" and "children" 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 "pharaoh" and "children" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.