1 And afterward H310 Moses H4872 and Aaron H175 went in, H935 and told H559 Pharaoh, H6547 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel, H3478 Let my people H5971 go, H7971 that they may hold a feast H2287 unto me in the wilderness. H4057
2 And Pharaoh H6547 said, H559 Who is the LORD, H3068 that I should obey H8085 his voice H6963 to let Israel H3478 go? H7971 I know H3045 not the LORD, H3068 neither will I let Israel H3478 go. H7971
3 And they said, H559 The God H430 of the Hebrews H5680 hath met H7122 with us: let us go, H3212 we pray thee, three H7969 days' H3117 journey H1870 into the desert, H4057 and sacrifice H2076 unto the LORD H3068 our God; H430 lest he fall H6293 upon us with pestilence, H1698 or with the sword. H2719
4 And the king H4428 of Egypt H4714 said H559 unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses H4872 and Aaron, H175 let H6544 the people H5971 from their works? H4639 get H3212 you unto your burdens. H5450
5 And Pharaoh H6547 said, H559 Behold, the people H5971 of the land H776 now are many, H7227 and ye make them rest H7673 from their burdens. H5450
6 And Pharaoh H6547 commanded H6680 the same day H3117 the taskmasters H5065 of the people, H5971 and their officers, H7860 saying, H559
7 Ye shall no more H3254 give H5414 the people H5971 straw H8401 to make H3835 brick, H3843 as heretofore: H8032 H8543 let them go H3212 and gather H7197 straw H8401 for themselves.
8 And the tale H4971 of the bricks, H3843 which they did make H6213 heretofore, H8032 H8543 ye shall lay H7760 upon them; ye shall not diminish H1639 ought thereof: for they be idle; H7503 therefore they cry, H6817 saying, H559 Let us go H3212 and sacrifice H2076 to our God. H430
9 Let there more work H5656 be laid H3513 upon the men, H582 that they may labour H6213 therein; and let them not regard H8159 vain H8267 words. H1697
10 And the taskmasters H5065 of the people H5971 went out, H3318 and their officers, H7860 and they spake H559 to the people, H5971 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 Pharaoh, H6547 I will not give H5414 you straw. H8401
11 Go H3212 ye, get H3947 you straw H8401 where H834 ye can find H4672 it: yet H3588 not ought H1697 of your work H5656 shall be diminished. H1639
12 So the people H5971 were scattered abroad H6327 throughout all the land H776 of Egypt H4714 to gather H7197 stubble H7179 instead of straw. H8401
13 And the taskmasters H5065 hasted H213 them, saying, H559 Fulfil H3615 your works, H4639 your daily H3117 tasks, H1697 as when there was H1961 straw. H8401
14 And the officers H7860 of the children H1121 of Israel, H3478 which Pharaoh's H6547 taskmasters H5065 had set H7760 over them, were beaten, H5221 and demanded, H559 Wherefore have ye not fulfilled H3615 your task H2706 in making brick H3835 both yesterday H8543 and to day, H3117 as heretofore? H8032 H8543
15 Then the officers H7860 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 came H935 and cried H6817 unto Pharaoh, H6547 saying, H559 Wherefore dealest H6213 thou thus with thy servants? H5650
16 There is no straw H8401 given H5414 unto thy servants, H5650 and they say H559 to us, Make H6213 brick: H3843 and, behold, thy servants H5650 are beaten; H5221 but the fault H2398 is in thine own people. H5971
17 But he said, H559 Ye are idle, H7503 ye are idle: H7503 therefore ye say, H559 Let us go H3212 and do sacrifice H2076 to the LORD. H3068
18 Go H3212 therefore now, and work; H5647 for there shall no straw H8401 be given H5414 you, yet shall ye deliver H5414 the tale H8506 of bricks. H3843
19 And the officers H7860 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 did see H7200 that they were in evil H7451 case, after it was said, H559 Ye shall not minish H1639 ought from your bricks H3843 of your daily H3117 H3117 task. H1697
20 And they met H6293 Moses H4872 and Aaron, H175 who stood H5324 in the way, H7125 as they came forth H3318 from Pharaoh: H6547
21 And they said H559 unto them, The LORD H3068 look H7200 upon you, and judge; H8199 because ye have made our savour H7381 to be abhorred H887 in the eyes H5869 of Pharaoh, H6547 and in the eyes H5869 of his servants, H5650 to put H5414 a sword H2719 in their hand H3027 to slay H2026 us.
22 And Moses H4872 returned H7725 unto the LORD, H3068 and said, H559 Lord, H136 wherefore hast thou so evil entreated H7489 this people? H5971 why is it that thou hast sent H7971 me?
23 For since I came H935 to Pharaoh H6547 to speak H1696 in thy name, H8034 he hath done evil H7489 to this people; H5971 neither hast thou delivered H5337 thy people H5971 at all. H5337
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 5
Commentary on Exodus 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Ex 5:1-23. First Interview with Pharaoh.
1. Moses and Aaron went in—As representatives of the Hebrews, they were entitled to ask an audience of the king, and their thorough Egyptian training taught them how and when to seek it.
and told Pharaoh—When introduced, they delivered a message in the name of the God of Israel. This is the first time He is mentioned by that national appellation in Scripture. It seems to have been used by divine direction (Ex 4:2) and designed to put honor on the Hebrews in their depressed condition (Heb 11:16).
2. And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord—rather "Jehovah." Lord was a common name applied to objects of worship; but Jehovah was a name he had never heard of. Pharaoh estimated the character and power of this God by the abject and miserable condition of the worshippers and concluded that He held as low a rank among the gods as His people did in the nation. To demonstrate the supremacy of the true God over all the gods of Egypt, was the design of the plagues.
I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go—As his honor and interest were both involved he determined to crush this attempt, and in a tone of insolence, or perhaps profanity, rejected the request for the release of the Hebrew slaves.
3. The God of the Hebrews hath met with us—Instead of being provoked into reproaches or threats, they mildly assured him that it was not a proposal originating among themselves, but a duty enjoined on them by their God. They had for a long series of years been debarred from the privilege of religious worship, and as there was reason to fear that a continued neglect of divine ordinances would draw down upon them the judgments of offended heaven, they begged permission to go three days' journey into the desert—a place of seclusion—where their sacrificial observances would neither suffer interruption nor give umbrage to the Egyptians. In saying this, they concealed their ultimate design of abandoning the kingdom, and by making this partial request at first, they probably wished to try the king's temper before they disclosed their intentions any farther. But they said only what God had put in their mouths (Ex 3:12, 18), and this "legalizes the specific act, while it gives no sanction to the general habit of dissimulation" [Chalmers].
4. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? &c.—Without taking any notice of what they had said, he treated them as ambitious demagogues, who were appealing to the superstitious feelings of the people, to stir up sedition and diffuse a spirit of discontent, which spreading through so vast a body of slaves, might endanger the peace of the country.
6. Pharaoh commanded—It was a natural consequence of the high displeasure created by this interview that he should put additional burdens on the oppressed Israelites.
taskmasters—Egyptian overseers, appointed to exact labor of the Israelites.
officers—Hebrews placed over their brethren, under the taskmasters, precisely analogous to the Arab officers set over the Arab Fellahs, the poor laborers in modern Egypt.
7. Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick—The making of bricks appears to have been a government monopoly as the ancient bricks are nearly all stamped with the name of a king, and they were formed, as they are still in Lower Egypt, of clay mixed with chopped straw and dried or hardened in the sun. The Israelites were employed in this drudgery; and though they still dwelt in Goshen and held property in flocks and herds, they were compelled in rotation to serve in the brick quarries, pressed in alternating groups, just as the fellaheen, or peasants, are marched by press gangs in the same country still.
let them go and gather straw for themselves—The enraged despot did not issue orders to do an impracticable thing. The Egyptian reapers in the corn harvest were accustomed merely to cut off the ears and leave the stalk standing.
8. tale—an appointed number of bricks. The materials of their labor were to be no longer supplied, and yet, as the same amount of produce was exacted daily, it is impossible to imagine more aggravated cruelty—a perfect specimen of Oriental despotism.
12. So the people were scattered—It was an immense grievance to the laborers individually, but there would be no hindrance from the husbandmen whose fields they entered, as almost all the lands of Egypt were in the possession of the crown (Ge 47:20).
13-19. And the taskmasters hasted them … officers … beaten—As the nearest fields were bared and the people had to go farther for stubble, it was impossible for them to meet the demand by the usual tale of bricks. "The beating of the officers is just what might have been expected from an Eastern tyrant, especially in the valley of the Nile, as it appears from the monuments, that ancient Egypt, like modern China, was principally governed by the stick" [Taylor]. "The mode of beating was by the offender being laid flat on the ground and generally held by the hands and feet while the chastisement was administered" [Wilkinson]. (De 25:2). A picture representing the Hebrews on a brick field, exactly as described in this chapter, was found in an Egyptian tomb at Thebes.
20, 21. they met Moses … The Lord look upon you, and judge—Thus the deliverer of Israel found that this patriotic interference did, in the first instance, only aggravate the evil he wished to remove, and that instead of receiving the gratitude, he was loaded with the reproaches of his countrymen. But as the greatest darkness is immediately before the dawn, so the people of God are often plunged into the deepest affliction when on the eve of their deliverance; and so it was in this case.