Exodus 14:3

Pharaoh will think ¹  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ²  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ³ 

Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’

"For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’

Then Pharaoh will think, ‘Those Israelites are confused. They are trapped between the wilderness and the sea!’

"Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are lost; they're confused. The wilderness has closed in on them.'

And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are wandering without direction, they are shut in by the waste land.

Pharaoh will say of the Israelites, ‘They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.’

"For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’

Pharaoh will think ¹  regarding the Israelites, ‘They are wandering around confused ²  in the land – the desert has closed in on them.’ ³ 

¹ tn Heb “and Pharaoh will say.”

² sn The word translated “wandering around confused” indicates that Pharaoh thought the Israelites would be so perplexed and confused that they would not know which way to turn in order to escape – and they would never dream of crossing the sea (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 115).

³ tn The expression has also been translated “the desert has shut [the way] for them,” and more freely “[the Israelites are] hemmed in by the desert.”