Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh with the demand 'Let My people go,' but Pharaoh refuses, increases the labor quotas by withholding straw, and the Israelite foremen turn against Moses. Moses challenges God: 'Why have You brought harm upon this people?'
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
Two competing speech formulas collide: 'Thus says the LORD' (koh amar YHWH, v1) versus 'Thus says Pharaoh' (koh amar Par'oh, v10). The chapter stages a contest over whose word governs reality. Pharaoh dismisses God's command as divrei shaqer ('lying words,' v9) — the most truthful speech in the universe is labeled deception by the most powerful man on earth. Moses's raw complaint to God in vv22-23 uses the infinitive absolute construction: 'delivering, You have not delivered.'
Translation Friction
We rendered the Hebrew chag (v1) as 'feast' rather than 'festival' or 'pilgrimage,' though the term denotes a communal covenant worship gathering, not a banquet. Pharaoh's nitchakkemah ('let us deal shrewdly,' from 1:10, echoed here in his tactics) sits on the boundary between wisdom and cunning; we chose 'shrewdly' to preserve the ironic corruption of a wisdom-word. The phrase hiv'ashtem et-reichenu ('you have made our smell stink,' v21) we rendered as 'made us repulsive' for clarity, though the literal olfactory image is vivid.
Connections
Pharaoh's 'Who is the LORD?' (v2) echoes the king who 'did not know Joseph' (1:8) — both use yada as political refusal. Moses's complaint anticipates the lament psalms (Psalm 13:1-2; 44:23-24). God's answer comes in 6:1, completing the arc begun here.
Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Let My people go so that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness."
KJV And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
A chag is a communal worship celebration — not a banquet but a covenant gathering. Israel's first demand is not for political freedom but for the right to worship their God.
Translator Notes
Moses and Aaron open with 'Thus says the LORD' (koh amar YHWH) — the prophetic messenger formula. They speak not on their own authority but as authorized representatives. The request is specific: release for a wilderness feast (chag), a covenant worship gathering.
Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go."
KJV And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֶת־יְהוָהlo yadati et-YHWH
"I do not know the LORD"—I do not acknowledge, I do not recognize the authority of
Pharaoh's 'not knowing' YHWH parallels the king who 'did not know' Joseph (1:8). In both cases, yada means not ignorance but refusal to acknowledge — political rejection disguised as unfamiliarity.
Translator Notes
'Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice?' — Pharaoh's question is not philosophical curiosity but political defiance. He positions himself as the only sovereign whose voice matters in Egypt. 'I do not know the LORD' (lo yadati et-YHWH) uses the same verb from 1:8 ('a king who did not know Joseph'). The refusal to 'know' is a refusal to acknowledge authority.
They said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, or He may strike us with pestilence or with the sword."
KJV And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Moses and Aaron reframe the request as a matter of divine threat: failure to worship may bring pestilence or the sword. The warning shifts the dynamic from permission-request to life-or-death obedience, though Pharaoh remains unimpressed.
The king of Egypt said to them, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to your labors!"
KJV And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Pharaoh reframes the worship-request as labor disruption. In his worldview, the only relevant category for Israel is production. He reduces theology to economics: 'Why are you taking the people from their work?' The enslaver's logic recognizes only output, not worship.
Pharaoh also said, "The people of the land are now many, and you would have them stop working!"
KJV And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Pharaoh notes that the people are 'many' (rabbim) — the very population growth that alarmed him in 1:9 now makes their labor stoppage an economic threat. His fear of their numbers works in both directions: too many to release, too many to let idle.
That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, saying,
KJV And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Pharaoh's response to a worship request is to increase oppression. The pattern will repeat throughout Exodus: prophetic confrontation provokes imperial escalation.
"You shall no longer give the people straw for making bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
KJV Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Straw was the binding agent in mud bricks — chopped straw mixed with clay prevents cracking. Removing the supply while maintaining quotas is not merely cruel but structurally impossible, designed to break the people's spirit and discredit Moses.
But the quota of bricks that they were making before — you shall impose the same amount on them. You shall not reduce it, for they are lazy. That is why they cry out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
KJV And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Pharaoh diagnoses the worship request as a symptom of idleness: 'they are lazy' (nirpim hem). He weaponizes the accusation of laziness to justify intensified oppression — a strategy used by slave systems throughout history to reframe resistance as character failure.
Pharaoh calls God's own command 'lying words.' The inversion is complete: the most truthful speech in the universe is labeled deception by the most powerful man on earth.
Translator Notes
'Lying words' (divrei shaqer) — Pharaoh categorizes God's own command as falsehood. The inversion is total: truth is called a lie, worship is called laziness, and obedience to God is treated as rebellion against the state.
So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and said to the people, "Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you straw.
KJV And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The taskmasters relay Pharaoh's decree using his own formula: 'Thus says Pharaoh' (koh amar Par'oh), mimicking the prophetic 'Thus says the LORD.' The two speech formulas now stand in direct competition — whose word governs reality?
Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your workload will not be reduced at all."
KJV Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The workload remains the same; only the supply chain is disrupted. The impossible demand functions as collective punishment designed to turn the people against Moses and Aaron rather than against Pharaoh.
So the people scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
KJV So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
'The people scattered' (vayyafets ha'am) — the verb puts ('scatter') echoes the scattering at Babel (Genesis 11:8). Oppression disintegrates communal life; the people are dispersed across the land searching for raw material instead of standing together.
The taskmasters were relentless, saying, "Complete your daily work — the same amount as when straw was provided!"
KJV And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
'Complete your daily work' — the Hebrew emphasizes daily (yom beyomo), constant pressure without relief. Oppression operates through exhaustion: no moment for rest, reflection, or resistance.
The foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and asked, "Why have you not completed your required amount of bricks, both yesterday and today, as you did before?"
KJV And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen are Israelites placed in a middle position — responsible for quotas they cannot meet, beaten for failures they cannot prevent. The system turns Israelites against Israelites, using structural violence to fracture solidarity from within.
Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, "Why do you treat your servants this way?
KJV Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen appeal directly to Pharaoh, still hoping that the system can be reasoned with from inside. Their cry 'Why do you treat your servants this way?' assumes their status as servants (avadim) entitles them to fair treatment — a dignity Pharaoh has already revoked.
No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, 'Make bricks!' And your servants are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."
KJV There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen's argument is structurally sound: we lack materials, yet face punishment. 'The fault is with your own people' (vechatat ammekha) dares to assign blame upward. This is remarkable courage under oppression.
He said, "You are lazy — lazy! That is why you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.'
KJV But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Pharaoh repeats 'lazy' (nirpim) twice — the accusation hardens into a verdict. He will not engage with the argument about materials; he will only assert that the desire to worship is proof of insufficient labor. Religion is redefined as a labor-management problem.
Now go and work! No straw will be given to you, but you must deliver the full number of bricks."
KJV Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The decree is final and unyielding: no straw, full quotas. Pharaoh's word, once spoken, does not negotiate or accommodate. This rigidity will prove to be his undoing, as it positions him immovably against God's equally uncompromising demand.
The foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You shall not reduce your daily number of bricks at all."
KJV And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen understand the trap: they are caught between Pharaoh's impossible quotas and their own people's desperation. The phrase 'they were in trouble' (bera) literally means 'in evil/distress' — the situation has become structurally hopeless within the Egyptian system.
They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them as they came out from Pharaoh.
KJV And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen encounter Moses and Aaron outside Pharaoh's palace — the confrontation between those inside the system and those who challenged it from outside. The two approaches to liberation now collide.
They said to them, "May the LORD look on you and judge! You have made us repulsive in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."
KJV And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The foremen curse Moses and Aaron: 'You have made us repulsive' (hiv'ashtem et-reichenu) — literally, 'you have made our smell stink.' The accusation is painfully human: prophetic action has made life worse, not better. This is the cost of confrontation before deliverance arrives.
Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Lord, why have You brought harm upon this people? Why did You ever send me?
KJV And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Moses's complaint to God is raw and honest: 'Why have You brought harm upon this people?' (lamah hare'otah la'am hazzeh). The same Moses who was reluctant to go now challenges God for the results of going. The verb hara ('do evil/harm') charges God with causing the suffering He promised to end.
From the time I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all."
KJV For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
'You have not delivered Your people at all' (vehatsel lo-hitsalta et-ammekha) — the infinitive absolute construction intensifies the accusation: 'delivering, you have not delivered.' Moses throws God's own promise back at Him. This is not faithlessness but the anguished prayer of a man who trusted God and watched things get worse. It will receive its answer in 6:1.