Exodus 10:10

10 He said to them, "May the Lord be with you if I [ever] let you and your families go!^[a] Look out-you are planning evil.

Exodus 10:10 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 10:10

And he said unto them, let the Lord be so with you, as I will
let you go, and your little ones
Either as mocking them, let the Lord you talk of be with you if he will, and let him deliver you if he can, as I shall let you go with your children, which I never will; or as wishing them ill, that the Lord their God may be with them, as he should dismiss them on their proposal, that is, not at all; he wishes they might never have the presence of the Lord, or receive any from him, till he should dismiss them, which he was determined never to do in the manner they desired; and therefore the sum of his wish or imprecation is, that they might never enjoy any benefits from the Lord; the first sense seems to be best:

look to it, for evil is before you;
which is either a charge of sin upon them, that they had an evil design upon him, and intended to raise a mutiny, make an insurrection, and form a rebellion against him; or a threatening to inflict the evil of punishment upon them, if they would not comply with his terms; and it is as if he should say, be it at your peril if you offer to go away in any other manner than it is my pleasure.

Exodus 10:10 In-Context

8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. "Go, worship the Lord your God," Pharaoh said. "But exactly who will be going?"

9 Moses replied, "We will go with our young and our old; we will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds because we must hold the Lord's festival."

10 He said to them, "May the Lord be with you if I [ever] let you and your families go! Look out-you are planning evil.

11 No, only the men may go and worship the Lord, for that is what you have been asking for." And they were driven from Pharaoh's presence.

12 The Lord then said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left."

Footnotes

• [a]. Pharaoh's reply is sarcastic.