What Does Exodus 11:3 Mean?
And the LORD gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh's servants, and in the eyes of the people.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.THE KEY
The LORD’s gift becomes visible inside Egypt’s own gaze, where Moses is recognized as great.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks now wherever you feel measured by the eyes of people with power. Favor is given and becomes visible in others’ regard; Moses is seen as great even within Pharaoh’s circle.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that rulers alone decide whose presence carries weight gives way: even Pharaoh’s servants see Moses as great, and the Egyptians regard the people with favor.
THE ROOT
חֵן
chen
GROWS FROM
חנן
ḥānan
To show favor, to regard graciously.
English “favor” can sound like a private opinion; חֵן (chen, favor) is regard another can receive. Here that regard is given to the people in Egyptian eyes, making the shift visible.
ALSO GROWS
ḥannûn: Gracious, showing favor.
חַנּוּן
The same root describes a nature that gives favor, echoing the LORD’s action in the verse.
teḥinnah: A plea for favor; supplication.
תְּחִנָּה
A plea for favor and favor received grow from the same root, linking the asking and the regard given.
וַיִּתֵּן
vayyitten
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
To give, set, or place.
“gave” in this verse is vayyitten. The verse names favor as something the LORD gives before the Egyptians recognize it. Since נתן (natan) can also mean to set or place, favor is placed within public sight, not left as an unseen feeling.
ALSO GROWS
natan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This verb is the action in the verse: the LORD gives favor to the people.
mattānāh: A gift.
מַתָּנָה
The noun makes the connection plain: what is given can be received as a gift.
מֹשֶׁה
Moshe
GROWS FROM
משה
māšāh
To draw out.
“Moses” in this verse is Moshe. The name Moshe carries the teaching of being drawn out of water. Here the drawn-out one is seen as great even within Pharaoh’s circle, his name’s image of emergence meeting public recognition.
ALSO GROWS
māšāh: To draw out.
מָשָׁה
This is the root action carried in the name Moshe.
mĕšîtihû: I drew him out.
מְשִׁיתִהוּ
This form gives the name’s image in a sentence: drawing out is woven into Moses’s name.
THE PATTERN
Favor becomes visible in the regard a person finds before others.
So you find favor and good insight in the eyes of God and of humankind.And Jesus cut his way forward in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and humankind.THE THREAD
But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him faithful love, and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison.Both verses use חֵן (chen, favor) and נתן (natan, give): regard arrives as a gift and becomes visible in another’s eyes. Joseph finds favor in a prison keeper’s sight; here the same roots place it among the Egyptians and Pharaoh’s servants.
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