Exodus 8:22

Complete Jewish Bible

But Moshe replied, "It would be inappropriate for us to do that, because the animal we sacrifice to Adonai our God is an abomination to the Egyptians. Won't the Egyptians stone us to death if before their very eyes we sacrifice what they consider an abomination?

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the eretz.

King James Version
And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

Lexham English Bible
But on that day I will distinguish the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, by there not being flies there, so that you will know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the land.

New Century Version
But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptian people. There will not be any flies in the land of Goshen, where my people live. By this you will know that I, the Lord , am in this land.

New English Translation
But on that day I will mark off the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land.

Amplified Bible
"But on that day I will separate and set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of insects will be there, so that you may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the earth.

New American Standard Bible
"But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land.

Geneva Bible (1587)
But ye land of Goshe, where my people are, wil I cause to be wonderfull in that day, so yt no swarmes of flies shalbe there, yt thou maiest know that I am the Lorde in the middes of the earth.

Legacy Standard Bible
But on that day I will make a distinction for the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land.

Contemporary English Version
"The Lord 's people in Goshen won't be bothered by flies, but your people in the rest of the country will be tormented by them. That's how you will know that the Lord is here in Egypt. This miracle will happen tomorrow."

Darby Translation
And I will distinguish in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no dog-flies shall be there; that thou mayest know that I Jehovah am in the midst of the land.

Easy-to-Read Version
But I will not treat the Israelites the same as the Egyptians. There will not be any flies in Goshen, where my people live. In this way you will know that I, the Lord , am in this land.

English Standard Version
But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

George Lamsa Translation
And I will set apart on that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

Good News Translation
But I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live, so that there will be no flies there. I will do this so that you will know that I, the Lord , am at work in this land.

Christian Standard Bible®
But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land.

Literal Translation
And in that day I will separate the land of Goshen with My people resting on it, that there be no swarms of flies , so that you may know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& the same daye wil I separate the londe of Gosen, wherin my people are, so yt no cruell worme shalbe there, that thou mayest knowe, that I am ye LORDE in the myddest of the earth.

American Standard Version
And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am Jehovah in the midst of the earth.

Bible in Basic English
And at that time I will make a division between your land and the land of Goshen where my people are, and no flies will be there; so that you may see that I am the Lord over all the earth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the land of Gosen where my people are, will I cause to be wonderfull in that day, so that there shal no flyes be there: wherby thou shalt know that I am the Lorde in the myddest of the earth.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Moses said: 'It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God; lo, if we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

King James Version (1611)
And I will seuer in that day the lande of Goshen in which my people dwell, that no swarmes of flies shall be there, to the end thou maiest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and I will distinguish marvellously in that day the land of Gesem, on which my people dwell, in which the dog-fly shall not be: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord the God of all the earth.

English Revised Version
And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

Berean Standard Bible
But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where My people live; no swarms of flies will be found there. In this way you will know that I, the LORD, am in the land.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And in that dai Y schal make wondurful the lond of Gessen, in which my puple is, that flies be not there; and that thou wite that Y am the Lord in the myddis of erthe;

Young's Literal Translation
`And I have separated in that day the land of Goshen, in which My people are staying, that the beetle is not there, so that thou knowest that I [am] Jehovah in the midst of the land,

Update Bible Version
And I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth.

Webster's Bible Translation
And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms [of flies] shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I [am] the LORD in the midst of the earth.

World English Bible
I will set apart in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end you may know that I am Yahweh in the midst of the earth.

New King James Version
And in that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which My people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, in order that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the land.

New Living Translation
But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I am present even in the heart of your land.

New Life Bible
But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen where My people are living so no flies will be there. Then you may know that I, the Lord, am in the land.

New Revised Standard
But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
then will I make to differ on that day, the land of Goshen wherein my people do dwell, so that there shall not be there a gad-fly! in order that thou mayest know, that I, Yahweh, am in the midst of the land;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I will make the land of Gessen wonderful in that day, so that flies shall not be there: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.

Revised Standard Version
But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there; that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land.

Contextual Overview

²⁰ Adonai did it: terrible swarms of insects went into Pharaoh's palace and into all his servants' houses — the insects ruined the entire land of Egypt. ²¹ Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said, "Go, and sacrifice to your God here in the land." ²² But Moshe replied, "It would be inappropriate for us to do that, because the animal we sacrifice to Adonai our God is an abomination to the Egyptians. Won't the Egyptians stone us to death if before their very eyes we sacrifice what they consider an abomination? ²³ No, we will go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Adonai our God, as he has ordered us to do." ²⁴ Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, so that you can sacrifice to Adonai your God in the desert. Only you are not to go very far away. Intercede on my behalf." ²⁵ Moshe said, "All right, I am going away from you, and I will intercede with Adonai ; so that tomorrow, the swarms of insects will leave Pharaoh, his servants and his people. Just make sure that Pharaoh stops playing games with the people by preventing them from going and sacrificing to Adonai ." ²⁶ Moshe left Pharaoh and interceded with Adonai , ²⁷ and Adonai did what Moshe had asked: he removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, his servants and his people — not one remained. ²⁸ But this time, too, Pharaoh made himself stubborn and didn't let the people go. ²⁹ Adonai said to Moshe, "Say to Aharon, ‘Reach out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals and ponds; and cause frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.'" Aharon put out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same with their secret arts and brought up frogs onto the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said, "Intercede with Adonai to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let the people go and sacrifice to Adonai ." Moshe said to Pharaoh, "Not only that, but you can have the honor of naming the time when I will pray for you, your servants and your people to be rid of the frogs, both yourselves and your homes, and that they stay only in the river." He answered, "Tomorrow." Moshe said, "It will be as you have said, and from this you will learn that Adonai our God has no equal. (v) The frogs will leave you and your homes, also your servants and your people; they will stay in the river only." Moshe and Aharon left Pharaoh's presence, and Moshe cried to Adonai about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. Adonai did as Moshe had asked — the frogs died in the houses, courtyards and fields; they gathered them in heaps till the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that he had been given some relief, he made himself hardhearted and would not listen to them, just as Adonai had said would happen. Adonai said to Moshe, "Say to Aharon: ‘Reach out with your staff and strike the dust on the ground; it will become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.'" They did it — Aharon reached out his hand with his staff and struck the dust on the ground, and there were lice on people and animals; all the dust on the ground became lice throughout the whole land of Egypt. The magicians tried with their secret arts to produce lice, but they couldn't. There were lice on people and animals. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, "This is the finger of God." But Pharaoh was made hardhearted, so that he didn't listen to them, just as Adonai had said would happen. Adonai said to Moshe, "Get up early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh when he goes out to the water and say to him, ‘Here is what Adonai says: "Let my people go, so that they can worship me. Otherwise, if you won't let my people go, I will send swarms of insects on you, your servants and your people, and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of insects, and likewise the ground they stand on. But I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live — no swarms of insects will be there — so that you can realize that I am Adonai , right here in the land. (vi) Yes, I will distinguish between my people and your people, and this sign will happen by tomorrow."'" Adonai did it: terrible swarms of insects went into Pharaoh's palace and into all his servants' houses — the insects ruined the entire land of Egypt. Pharaoh summoned Moshe and Aharon and said, "Go, and sacrifice to your God here in the land." But Moshe replied, "It would be inappropriate for us to do that, because the animal we sacrifice to Adonai our God is an abomination to the Egyptians. Won't the Egyptians stone us to death if before their very eyes we sacrifice what they consider an abomination? No, we will go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to Adonai our God, as he has ordered us to do." Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, so that you can sacrifice to Adonai your God in the desert. Only you are not to go very far away. Intercede on my behalf." Moshe said, "All right, I am going away from you, and I will intercede with Adonai ; so that tomorrow, the swarms of insects will leave Pharaoh, his servants and his people. Just make sure that Pharaoh stops playing games with the people by preventing them from going and sacrificing to Adonai ." Moshe left Pharaoh and interceded with Adonai , and Adonai did what Moshe had asked: he removed the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, his servants and his people — not one remained. But this time, too, Pharaoh made himself stubborn and didn't let the people go.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

sever: Exodus 9:4, Exodus 9:6, Exodus 9:26, Exodus 10:23, Exodus 11:6, Exodus 11:7, Exodus 12:13, Malachi 3:18

know: Exodus 8:10, Exodus 7:17, Ezekiel 30:19

midst: Psalms 74:12, Psalms 110:2

Reciprocal: Genesis 45:10 - in the land Genesis 47:1 - in the land Exodus 7:5 - Egyptians Exodus 33:16 - separated 1 Kings 20:28 - ye shall know Ezekiel 22:16 - thou shalt know Amos 4:7 - and I Revelation 11:4 - the God

Cross-References

Genesis 8:8
Then he sent out a dove, to see if the water had gone from the surface of the ground.

Genesis 8:9
But the dove found no place for her feet to rest, so she returned to him in the ark, because the water still covered the whole earth. He put out his hand, took her and brought her in to him in the ark.

Genesis 8:11
The dove came in to him in the evening, and there in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf, so Noach knew that the water had cleared from the earth.

Genesis 8:12
He waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, and she didn't return to him any more.

Genesis 8:16
"Go out from the ark, you, your wife, your sons and your son's wives with you.

Genesis 8:17
Bring out with you every living thing you have with you — birds, livestock and every animal that creeps on the earth — so that they can swarm on the earth, be fruitful and multiply on the earth."

Genesis 8:20
Noach built an altar to Adonai . Then he took from every clean animal and every clean bird, and he offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Genesis 45:6
The famine has been over the land for the last two years, and for yet another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest.

Exodus 34:21
"Six days you will work, but on the seventh day you are to rest — even in plowing time and harvest season you are to rest.

Jeremiah 5:24
They don't say to themselves, "Let's fear Adonai our God, who gives the fall and spring rains in season, who reserves us the weeks assigned for harvest."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell,.... Distinguish it from other parts of the land of Egypt:

that no swarms of flies shall be there; which was a very wonderful thing, and so the word may be rendered. "I will marvellously sever or separate" o, and so the Targum of Jonathan, "I will do wonders or miracles in that day": as they were to make such a difference in one part of the country from another, and so near as Goshen was to the place where Pharaoh lived, and to bound and limit such sort of creatures as flies, which move swiftly from place to place, and particularly to keep the land of Goshen clear of them; when, as Bishop Patrick observes, it was a country that abounded with cattle, whose dung is apt to breed flies:

to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth; he is God over all the earth, and rules as a King in the midst of it, and does whatsoever he pleases in it; see Psalms 74:12 and in the midst of the land of Goshen where his people dwelt, and over whom he was King in a peculiar manner, and took a peculiar care of them, to protect and defend them; and which must the more vex and distress the Egyptians, when they saw the Israelites clear of those plagues they were afflicted with.

o והפליתי "faciamque mirabilem", V. L. "miraculose agam", Fagius; "marvellously sever", Ainsworth.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

I will sever ... - This severance constituted a specific difference between this and the preceding plagues. Pharaoh could not of course attribute the exemption of Goshen from a scourge, which fell on the valley of the Nile, to an Egyptian deity, certainly not to Chepera (see the last note), a special object of worship in Lower Egypt.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 8:22. I will sever in that day — הפליתי hiphleythi, has been translated by some good critics, I will miraculously separate; so the Vulgate: Faciam mirabilem, "I will do a marvellous thing." And the Septuagint, παραδοξασω, I will render illustrious the land of Goshen in that day; and this he did, by exempting that land, and its inhabitants the Israelites, from the plagues by which he afflicted the land of Egypt.