Exodus 14:5 (LSB)

Passage

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?”

Nearby Context

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?”

Exodus 14:6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him;

Exodus 14:7 and he took six hundred choice chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Thus I will harden Pharaoh s heart..." into verse 6's "So he made his chariot ready and...", so "king" and "egypt" 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 "king" and "egypt" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.