Exodus 14:3 (WEB)

Passage

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

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.

Exodus 14:5 The king of Egypt was told that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards 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", "children", "israel", "entangled", "land", "wilderness", 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 to the children of Israel that..." into verse 4's "I will harden Pharaoh s heart and...", 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.