Exodus 14:3 (LSB)

Passage

And Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:1 Now Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Exodus 14:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel so that they turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.

Exodus 14:3 And Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering in confusion in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

Exodus 14:4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart with strength, and he will pursue them; and I will be glorified through Pharaoh and all his army, so that the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh.” And they did so.

Exodus 14:5 Then the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and 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?”

Study Lenses

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

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