Exodus 14:2 (WEB)

Passage

“Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea.

Nearby Context

Exodus 14:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

Exodus 14:2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea.

Exodus 14:3 Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’

Exodus 14:4 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "speak", "children", "israel", "turn", "back", "encamp", "before", and "pihahiroth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "speak" and "children", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 1's "Yahweh spoke to Moses saying..." into verse 3's "Pharaoh will say of the children of...", so "speak" 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 "speak" and "children" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.