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Exodus 5

Exodus 5:1–23, World English Bible

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  1. 1 Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
  2. 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahweh, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know Yahweh, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
  3. 3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to Yahweh, our God, lest he fall on us with pestilence, or with the sword.”
  4. 4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Why do you, Moses and Aaron, take the people from their work? Get back to your burdens!”
  5. 5 Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens.”
  6. 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
  7. 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
  8. 8 You shall require from them the number of the bricks which they made before. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to our God.’
  9. 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it. Don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”
  10. 10 The taskmasters of the people went out with their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw.
  11. 11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
  12. 12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
  13. 13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!”
  14. 14 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”
  15. 15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
  16. 16 No straw is given to your servants, and they tell us, ‘Make brick!’ and behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”
  17. 17 But Pharaoh said, “You are idle! You are idle! Therefore you say, ‘Let’s go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’
  18. 18 Go therefore now, and work; for no straw shall be given to you; yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”
  19. 19 The officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble when it was said, “You shall not diminish anything from your daily quota of bricks!”
  20. 20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood along the way, as they came out from Pharaoh.
  21. 21 They said to them, “May Yahweh look at you and judge, because you have made us a stench to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us!”
  22. 22 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?
  23. 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people. You have not rescued your people at all!”

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8 passages from writers of 2 traditions, in their own words, each with their dates and tradition. The site doesn’t say who is right: read them beside the verses. About these

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  • Josephus37–c. 100JewishAntiquities of the Jews · on Exodus 5:6–21he commanded him that was the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give them no relaxation from their labors, but to compel them to submit to greater oppressions than before; and though he allowed them chaff before for making their bricks, he would allow it them no longer, but he made them to work hard at brick-making in the day-time, and to gather chaff in the night. Now when their labor was thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame upon Moses, because their labor and their misery were on his account become more severe to them. But Moses did not let his courage sink for the king's threatenings; nor did he abate of his zeal on account of the Hebrews' complaints; but he supported himself, and set his soul resolutely against them both, and used his own utmost diligence to procure liberty to his countrymen.
    he commanded him that was the chief taskmaster over the Hebrews, to give them no relaxation from their labors, but to compel them to submit to greater oppressions than before; and though he allowed them chaff before for making their bricks, he would allow it them no longer, but he made them to work hard at brick-making in the day-time, and to gather chaff in the night. Now when their labor was thus doubled upon them, they laid the blame upon Moses, because their labor and their misery were on his account become more severe to them. But Moses did not let his courage sink for the king's threatenings; nor did he abate of his zeal on account of the Hebrews' complaints; but he supported himself, and set his soul resolutely against them both, and used his own utmost diligence to procure liberty to his countrymen.

    Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Antiquities 2.13.4; translated by William Whiston (1737); the text of Project Gutenberg. The edition

    A Jewish priest from Jerusalem who fought Rome in the war of 66–70 and afterwards wrote the history of his people for Greek readers.

  • Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Exodus 5:1AND AFTERWARDS MOSES AND AARON CAME — But the elders slipped away one by one from behind Moses and Aaron until every-one of them had slipped away before they arrived at the palace, because they were afraid to go there. At Sinai they were punished for this, for it is stated (Exodus 24:2) “And Moses alone shall draw near unto the Lord, but they, (the elders; cf. Exodus 24:1) shall not draw near” — He bid them stay behind. (Exodus Rabbah 5:14)
    AND AFTERWARDS MOSES AND AARON CAME — But the elders slipped away one by one from behind Moses and Aaron until every-one of them had slipped away before they arrived at the palace, because they were afraid to go there. At Sinai they were punished for this, for it is stated (Exodus 24:2) “And Moses alone shall draw near unto the Lord, but they, (the elders; cf. Exodus 24:1) shall not draw near” — He bid them stay behind. (Exodus Rabbah 5:14)

    Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 5:1; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition

    Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.

  • Rashi1040–1105JewishCommentary on the Torah · on Exodus 5:14AND THE BAILIFFS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL … WERE SMITTEN — These bailiffs were Israelites and they spared their fellow-Israelites, not urging them on to their work. When they handed over the bricks to the taskmasters who were Egyptians and something was deficient in the total they used to beat them because they had not urged on the Israelitish workmen. On this account these bailiffs were privileged to become members of the Sanhedrin later on, and there was taken some of the prophetical spirit that was upon Moses and it was placed upon them, as it is said, (Numbers 11:16) “Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel [whom thou knowest]” — of those about whom thou knowest the kindly acts which they did in Egypt, “for they are the real elders of the people having been their bailiffs” (Exodus Rabbah 5:20).
    AND THE BAILIFFS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL … WERE SMITTEN — These bailiffs were Israelites and they spared their fellow-Israelites, not urging them on to their work. When they handed over the bricks to the taskmasters who were Egyptians and something was deficient in the total they used to beat them because they had not urged on the Israelitish workmen. On this account these bailiffs were privileged to become members of the Sanhedrin later on, and there was taken some of the prophetical spirit that was upon Moses and it was placed upon them, as it is said, (Numbers 11:16) “Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel [whom thou knowest]” — of those about whom thou knowest the kindly acts which they did in Egypt, “for they are the real elders of the people having been their bailiffs” (Exodus Rabbah 5:20).

    Rashi, Commentary on the Torah, on 5:14; translated by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann (London: Genesis 1929, Exodus 1930). The edition

    Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki of Troyes, in France, whose commentary on the Torah is still the first that Jewish readers turn to.

  • John Calvin1509–1564ReformedCommentaries · on Exodus 5:20–23It is not indeed wonderful that they were so brutalized by the weight of their sorrows as to lose all sense of justice … this outbreak arose from want of faith; because they measure the favor of God by their immediate success. … This return unto the Lord is here used in a bad sense for forsaking his office; for Moses is not related to have either calmly prayed, or, as in a difficult emergency, to have humbly sought counsel of the Lord; but, leaving the men with whom he had to do, to have gone back in disgust to God, to demand his dismissal. … yet I doubt not but that he rather sorrowfully recounted the complaints of the people than spoke his own sentiments. Still his bitterness is not altogether excusable, when he repents of his vocation, and is indignant, because an unsuccessful charge had been intrusted to him. … He had been forewarned in good time of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart; he had heard that he would not yield until crushed by God's mighty hand; now, forgetting of all, he marvels that their redemption is not complete.
    It is not indeed wonderful that they were so brutalized by the weight of their sorrows as to lose all sense of justice … this outbreak arose from want of faith; because they measure the favor of God by their immediate success. … This return unto the Lord is here used in a bad sense for forsaking his office; for Moses is not related to have either calmly prayed, or, as in a difficult emergency, to have humbly sought counsel of the Lord; but, leaving the men with whom he had to do, to have gone back in disgust to God, to demand his dismissal. … yet I doubt not but that he rather sorrowfully recounted the complaints of the people than spoke his own sentiments. Still his bitterness is not altogether excusable, when he repents of his vocation, and is indignant, because an unsuccessful charge had been intrusted to him. … He had been forewarned in good time of the hardness of Pharaoh's heart; he had heard that he would not yield until crushed by God's mighty hand; now, forgetting of all, he marvels that their redemption is not complete.

    John Calvin, Commentaries, on 5:20 and 5:22; Calvin Translation Society (Edinburgh, 1843–1855); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    The French reformer of Geneva, from whose teaching the Reformed and Presbyterian churches come.

  • Matthew Henry1662–1714English PresbyterianCommentary on the Whole Bible · on Exodus 5:2Being summoned to surrender, he thus hangs out the flag of defiance, hectors Moses and the God that sends him, and peremptorily refuses to let Israel go … How scornfully he speaks of the God of Israel: "Who is Jehovah? I neither know him nor care for him, neither value him nor fear him:" it is a hard name that he never heard of before, but he resolves it shall be no bug-bear to him. Israel was now a despised oppressed people, looked on as the tail of the nation, and, by the character they bore, Pharaoh makes his estimate of their God, and concludes that he made no better a figure among the gods than his people did among the nations. … How proudly he speaks of himself: "That I should obey his voice; I, the king of Egypt, a great people, obey the God of Israel, a poor enslaved people? Shall I, that rule the Israel of God, obey the God of Israel? No, it is below me; I scorn to answer his summons." … Here is the core of the controversy: God must rule, but man will not be ruled.
    Being summoned to surrender, he thus hangs out the flag of defiance, hectors Moses and the God that sends him, and peremptorily refuses to let Israel go … How scornfully he speaks of the God of Israel: "Who is Jehovah? I neither know him nor care for him, neither value him nor fear him:" it is a hard name that he never heard of before, but he resolves it shall be no bug-bear to him. Israel was now a despised oppressed people, looked on as the tail of the nation, and, by the character they bore, Pharaoh makes his estimate of their God, and concludes that he made no better a figure among the gods than his people did among the nations. … How proudly he speaks of himself: "That I should obey his voice; I, the king of Egypt, a great people, obey the God of Israel, a poor enslaved people? Shall I, that rule the Israel of God, obey the God of Israel? No, it is below me; I scorn to answer his summons." … Here is the core of the controversy: God must rule, but man will not be ruled.

    Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 5:1–2; 1706–1714; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    An English Presbyterian minister whose commentary on the whole Bible Protestants have read for three centuries.

  • John Gill1697–1771BaptistAn Exposition of the Old and New Testament · on Exodus 5:22–23Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? or afflicted them, and suffered them to be thus afflicted; which to ascribe to God was right, whatever were the means or instruments; for all afflictions are of him, and who has always wise reasons for what he does, as he now had; to try the faith and patience of his people … why is it that thou hast sent me? he seems to wish he had never been sent, and could be glad to be recalled … since no end was answered by his mission, no deliverance wrought, yea, the people were more afflicted and oppressed than before … now this was a stumbling and a temptation to Moses, to wish he had never been sent; but if he had called to mind, which he seems to have forgotten, that Pharaoh would not let the people go at first, until all the wonders were wrought he had given him power to do, Exodus 4:2 it would have relieved him, and removed his objections, and put a stop to his expostulation with God, who gives an answer to them in the following chapter, without expressing any displeasure at them.
    Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? or afflicted them, and suffered them to be thus afflicted; which to ascribe to God was right, whatever were the means or instruments; for all afflictions are of him, and who has always wise reasons for what he does, as he now had; to try the faith and patience of his people … why is it that thou hast sent me? he seems to wish he had never been sent, and could be glad to be recalled … since no end was answered by his mission, no deliverance wrought, yea, the people were more afflicted and oppressed than before … now this was a stumbling and a temptation to Moses, to wish he had never been sent; but if he had called to mind, which he seems to have forgotten, that Pharaoh would not let the people go at first, until all the wonders were wrought he had given him power to do, Exodus 4:2 it would have relieved him, and removed his objections, and put a stop to his expostulation with God, who gives an answer to them in the following chapter, without expressing any displeasure at them.

    John Gill, An Exposition of the Old and New Testament, on 5:22–23; 1746–1763; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    An English Baptist pastor in London and a scholar of Hebrew and the rabbis, who wrote a verse-by-verse commentary on the whole Bible.

  • Adam Clarkec. 1760–1832MethodistCommentary on the Holy Bible · on Exodus 5:2Who is the Lord - Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice? What claims has he on me? I am under no obligation to him. Pharaoh spoke here under the common persuasion that every place and people had a tutelary deity, and he supposed that this Jehovah might be the tutelary deity of the Israelites, to whom he, as an Egyptian, could be under no kind of obligation. It is not judicious to bring this question as a proof that Pharaoh was an atheist: of this the text affords no evidence.
    Who is the Lord - Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice? What claims has he on me? I am under no obligation to him. Pharaoh spoke here under the common persuasion that every place and people had a tutelary deity, and he supposed that this Jehovah might be the tutelary deity of the Israelites, to whom he, as an Egyptian, could be under no kind of obligation. It is not judicious to bring this question as a proof that Pharaoh was an atheist: of this the text affords no evidence.

    Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible, on 5:2; 1810–1826; the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    A Methodist preacher and scholar from Ulster, whose commentary on the whole Bible took him nearly forty years.

  • Keil and Delitzsch1807–1888 and 1813–1890LutheranBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament · on Exodus 5:21–23"Jehovah look upon you and judge" (i.e., punish you, because) "ye have made the smell of us to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants," i.e., destroyed our good name with the king and his servants, and turned it into hatred and disgust. … What perversity of the natural heart! They call upon God to judge, whilst by their very complaining they show that they have no confidence in God and His power to save. Moses turned … to Jehovah with the question, "Why hast Thou done evil to this people," - increased their oppression by my mission to Pharaoh, and yet not delivered them? "These are not words of contumacy or indignation, but of inquiry and prayer" (Aug. quaest. 14). The question and complaint proceeded from faith, which flies to God when it cannot understand the dealings of God, to point out to Him how incomprehensible are His ways, to appeal to Him to help in the time of need, and to remove what seems opposed to His nature and His will.
    "Jehovah look upon you and judge" (i.e., punish you, because) "ye have made the smell of us to stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants," i.e., destroyed our good name with the king and his servants, and turned it into hatred and disgust. … What perversity of the natural heart! They call upon God to judge, whilst by their very complaining they show that they have no confidence in God and His power to save. Moses turned … to Jehovah with the question, "Why hast Thou done evil to this people," - increased their oppression by my mission to Pharaoh, and yet not delivered them? "These are not words of contumacy or indignation, but of inquiry and prayer" (Aug. quaest. 14). The question and complaint proceeded from faith, which flies to God when it cannot understand the dealings of God, to point out to Him how incomprehensible are His ways, to appeal to Him to help in the time of need, and to remove what seems opposed to His nature and His will.

    Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, on 5:21–23; translated by James Martin and others (Edinburgh, 1866–1891); the text of the Free Use Bible API. The edition

    Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, two German Lutheran scholars of Hebrew whose commentary on the Old Testament is still read for its learning.