Exodus 10:10

He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you ¹  if I release you and your dependents! ²  Watch out! ³  Trouble is right in front of you! ⁴ 

Pharaoh said, "The LORD be with you—if I let you go, along with your women and children! Clearly you are bent on evil.

Then he said to them, "Thus may the LORD be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Take heed, for evil is in your mind.

Pharaoh retorted, "The LORD will certainly need to be with you if you try to take your little ones along! I can see through your wicked intentions.

He said, "I'd sooner send you off with GOD's blessings than let you go with your children. Look, you're up to no good--it's written all over your faces.

And he said to them, May the Lord be with you, if I will let you and your little ones go! take care, for your purpose clearly is evil.

He said to them, "The LORD indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly, you have some evil purpose in mind.

Then he said to them, "The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go! Beware, for evil is ahead of you.

He said to them, “The Lord will need to be with you ¹  if I release you and your dependents! ²  Watch out! ³  Trouble is right in front of you! ⁴ 

¹ sn Pharaoh is by no means offering a blessing on them in the name of Yahweh. The meaning of his “wish” is connected to the next clause – as he is releasing them, may God help them. S. R. Driver says that in Pharaoh’s scornful challenge Yahweh is as likely to protect them as Pharaoh is likely to let them go – not at all (Exodus, 80). He is planning to keep the women and children as hostages to force the men to return. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 125) paraphrases it this way: “May the help of your God be as far from you as I am from giving you permission to go forth with your little ones.” The real irony, Cassuto observes, is that in the final analysis he will let them go, and Yahweh will be with them.

² tn The context of Moses’ list of young and old, sons and daughters, and the contrast with the word for strong “men” in v. 11 indicates that טַפְּכֶם (tappÿkhem), often translated “little ones” or “children,” refers to dependent people, noncombatants in general.

³ tn Heb “see.”

⁴ tn Heb “before your face.”

⁴ sn The “trouble” or “evil” that is before them could refer to the evil that they are devising – the attempt to escape from Egypt. But that does not make much sense in the sentence – why would he tell them to take heed or look out about that? U. Cassuto (Exodus, 126) makes a better suggestion. He argues that Pharaoh is saying, “Don’t push me too far.” The evil, then, would be what Pharaoh was going to do if these men kept making demands on him. This fits the fact that he had them driven out of his court immediately. There could also be here an allusion to Pharaoh’s god Re’, the sun-deity and head of the pantheon; he would be saying that the power of his god would confront them.