What Does Exodus 5:20 Mean?
And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the road as they came out from Pharaoh.
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 they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:THE KEY
The exit from Pharaoh’s grip is already an encounter: Moses, the one drawn out, stands facing those who are coming out.
THE MEANING
Your movement out of constricting power is met by a presence already turned toward you. Moses, the one drawn out, stands facing those coming from Pharaoh; the phrase also carries the sense of being stationed toward them, ready to meet. Coming out and being met happen in the same moment.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The way out leaves you alone at the threshold; here, the ones coming out are already met by someone facing them.
THE ROOT
נִצָּבִים
nitsavim
GROWS FROM
נצב
to stand, take a position, or be stationed
“stood in the way” in this verse is nitsavim. English can make this sound like a barrier, but the Hebrew verb describes a stance or station. Paired with לִקְרָאתָם (liqratam, toward them or to meet them), it presents Moses and Aaron as positioned toward those on their way out.
ALSO GROWS
natsav: to stand or take a position
נָצַב
This is the action at the threshold: Moses and Aaron are stationed as the people emerge.
matzevah: a standing stone or pillar
מַצֵּבָה
The related noun carries the sense of something set upright, echoing the deliberate position Moses and Aaron occupy.
מֹשֶׁה
Mosheh
GROWS FROM
משה
to draw out, especially from water
The name is tied in Exodus to Moses being drawn from the water. Here the one drawn out stands before others as they come out from Pharaoh, so his name echoes the movement at the center of the scene.
ALSO GROWS
mashah: to draw out
מָשָׁה
This is the action behind Moses’s name and its image of being brought out.
Mosheh: Moses; the one drawn out
מֹשֶׁה
His name carries the same out-going movement as the people now coming out from Pharaoh.
וַיִּפְגְּעוּ
vayyifge'u
GROWS FROM
פגע
to meet, encounter, or come upon; in some forms, to intervene
“met” in this verse is vayyifge'u. This verb can describe an encounter and, in another form, intervening for someone. Here the meeting is the hinge between those coming out from Pharaoh and the men already standing to meet them.
ALSO GROWS
paga: to meet, encounter, or come upon
פָּגַע
This root names the contact that takes place at the moment of departure.
mapgia: one who intercedes or intervenes
מַפְגִּיעַ
The related form shows how meeting can carry the added sense of stepping into another’s situation.
THE PATTERN
A crossing into what is next becomes a place of encounter, with someone already moving toward the traveler.
And Jacob went on his way, and the messengers of God met him.And it happened, while they talked and searched together, that Jesus himself drew near and went with them.Then the Breath said to Philip, Go near, and cling to this chariot.THE THREAD
And Jacob went on his way, and the messengers of God met him.The Hebrew verb פגע (paga, to meet or encounter) appears in both verses. Jacob’s journey and the people’s departure each become the setting for a meeting already taking place along the way.
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