Exodus 8:26

ESV But Moses said, "It would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to the Lord our God are an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offerings abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

NIV But Moses said, "That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the Lord our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?

NASB But Moses said, 'It is not permissible for us to do so, because we will sacrifice to the Lord our God that which is an abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is an abomination to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?

CSB But Moses said, "It would not be right to do that, because what we will sacrifice to the Lord our God is detestable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice what the Egyptians detest in front of them, won’t they stone us?

NLT But Moses replied, 'That wouldn’t be right. The Egyptians detest the sacrifices that we offer to the Lord our God. Look, if we offer our sacrifices here where the Egyptians can see us, they will stone us.

KJV 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, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

NKJV And Moses said, “It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then will they not stone us?

What does Exodus 8:26 mean?

Moses rejects Pharaoh's offer for the Israelites to worship the Lord without leaving the Goshen territory. Israel settled there when they first came into Egypt (Genesis 45:10). Pharaoh has resisted commands to release the Hebrews (Exodus 5:1–4) despite multiple plagues (Exodus 3:19–20). Moses' first objection is that this is not what God wants (Exodus 8:27)—it would be wrong to accept anything less than total obedience.

Second, while Goshen is somewhat separate from other Egyptian regions, it is not entirely distinct. Israel settled in Goshen because some of their cultural practices were deeply offensive to Egyptians (Exodus 46:34). It's entirely possible that the nation had not offered animal sacrifices for the entire time they were enslaved. If the Jews were to begin conducting major sacrifices, those disagreements could bring violent reactions. Israel is already under brutal oppression (Exodus 1:11–14). Nothing good will come of antagonizing the Egyptian population.

Scholars offer several explanations of why Jewish offerings would be so offensive to Egyptians. Cows and bulls were worshiped in Egypt. Hathor, an Egyptian goddess, and Apis, a bull and supposed incarnation of the god Ptah, were especially revered. If the Israelites killed cattle so close to Egyptian populations, it would result in outrage. Similar suggestions exist regarding goats. For one reason or another, Egyptians considered the entire concept of shepherding to be distasteful. It's likely sheep sacrifices would also fall under this same opinion.

Earlier passages indicate that Aaron was the one to physically speak these words, after receiving them from Moses (Exodus 7:2).

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