Exodus 5
5
Pharaoh’s Hardness of Heart. 1Afterwards, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, that they may hold a feast#Hold a feast: the Hebrew verb used here, hagag (“to celebrate a feast or a festival”; see 12:14; 23:14), refers to a community celebration marked above all by a procession to the sanctuary. It is used especially of three major feasts: Unleavened Bread, Pentecost (in 23:16, “the Feast of Harvest,” but customarily “the Feast of Weeks” [Shavuot]), and Succoth/Sukkoth (in 34:16, “the Feast of Ingathering,” but more frequently “of Booths, or Tabernacles,” as in Dt 16:13, 16; 31:10; Lv 23:34; Zec 14:16; passim) and—along with the related noun hag—the Passover in 12:14. See 23:14–18; 34:18–25. for me in the wilderness.” 2Pharaoh answered, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord,#I do not know the Lord: whether or not he had heard of the Lord, the God of Israel, Pharaoh here refuses to acknowledge the Lord’s authority. See note on 1:8. and I will not let Israel go.” 3They replied, “The God of the Hebrews has come to meet us. Let us go a three days’ journey in the wilderness, that we may offer sacrifice to the Lord, our God,#Ex 3:18. so that he does not strike us with the plague or the sword.” 4The king of Egypt answered them, “Why, Moses and Aaron, do you make the people neglect their work? Off to your labors!” 5Pharaoh continued, “Look how they are already more numerous#They are already more numerous: a recollection of Pharaoh’s earlier words to his subjects in 1:9. than the people of the land, and yet you would give them rest from their labors!”
6That very day Pharaoh gave the taskmasters of the people and their foremen#The taskmasters of the people and their foremen: the former were higher officials and probably Egyptians; the latter were lower officials (perhaps recordkeepers or clerks), chosen from the Israelites themselves. Cf. v. 14. this order: 7“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for their brickmaking#Straw was mixed with clay to give sun-dried bricks greater cohesion and durability. as before. Let them go and gather their own straw! 8Yet you shall levy upon them the same quota of bricks as they made previously. Do not reduce it. They are lazy; that is why they are crying, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9Increase the work for the men, so that they attend to it and not to deceitful words.”
10So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and told the people, “Thus says Pharaoh,#Thus says Pharaoh: the standard formula for prophetic oracles, but with Pharaoh rather than the Lord as the subject. This heightens the sense of personal conflict between Pharaoh, who acts as if he were God, and the Lord, whose claims are spurned by Pharaoh. ‘I will not provide you with straw. 11Go and get your own straw from wherever you can find it. But there will not be the slightest reduction in your work.’” 12The people, then, scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw, 13while the taskmasters kept driving them on, saying, “Finish your work, the same daily amount as when the straw was supplied to you.” 14The Israelite foremen, whom the taskmasters of Pharaoh had placed over them, were beaten, and were asked, “Why have you not completed your prescribed amount of bricks yesterday and today, as before?”
Complaint of the Foremen. 15Then the Israelite foremen came and cried out to Pharaoh:#Cried out to Pharaoh: the Hebrew verb translated “cry out” and its related noun are normally used of appeals to God by Moses (8:8; 14:15; 15:25; 17:4), the people (3:7, 9; 14:10), or an oppressed individual (22:22, 26). Here, by implication, these minor Israelite officials appeal to Pharaoh as if he were their God. See v. 10. “Why do you treat your servants in this manner? 16No straw is supplied to your servants, and still we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! It is you who are at fault.” 17He answered, “Lazy! You are lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to the Lord.’ 18Now off to work! No straw will be supplied to you, but you must supply your quota of bricks.”
19The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble, having been told, “Do not reduce your daily amount of bricks!” 20So when they left Pharaoh they assailed Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them, 21and said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have made us offensive to Pharaoh and his servants, putting a sword into their hands to kill us.”
Renewal of God’s Promise. 22Then Moses again had recourse to the Lord and said, “Lord, why have you treated this people badly? And why did you send me? 23From the time I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has treated this people badly, and you have done nothing to rescue your people.”
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Exodus 5: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Exodus 5
5
Bricks Without Straw
1Later on, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh. They said, “The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Let my people go. Then they will be able to hold a feast to honor me in the desert.’ ”
2Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord? Why should I obey him? Why should I let Israel go? I don’t even know the Lord. And I won’t let Israel go.”
3Then Moses and Aaron said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he might strike us with plagues. Or he might let us be killed by swords.”
4But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!” 5Pharaoh continued, “There are large numbers of your people in the land. But you are stopping them from working.”
6That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers and the overseers in charge of the people. 7He said, “Don’t give the people any more straw to make bricks. Let them go and get their own straw. 8But require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t lower the number they have to make. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to our God.’ 9Make them work harder. Then they will be too busy to pay attention to lies.”
10The slave drivers and the overseers left. They said to the people, “Pharaoh says, ‘I won’t give you any more straw. 11Go and get your own straw anywhere you can find it. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.’ ” 12So the people scattered all over Egypt. They went to gather any pieces of straw left in the fields. 13Pharaoh’s slave drivers kept making the people work hard. They said, “Finish the work you are required to do each day. Make the same number of bricks you made when you had straw.” 14The slave drivers whipped the Israelite overseers they had appointed. The slave drivers asked, “Why haven’t you made the same number of bricks yesterday or today, just as before?”
15Then the Israelite overseers appealed to Pharaoh. They asked, “Why have you treated us like this? 16You didn’t give us any straw. But you told us, ‘Make bricks!’ We are being whipped. But it’s the fault of your own people.”
17Pharaoh said, “You are lazy! That’s why you keep saying, ‘Let us go. We want to offer sacrifices to the Lord.’ 18Now get to work. We won’t give you any straw. But you still have to make the same number of bricks.”
19The Israelite overseers realized they were in trouble. They knew it when they were told, “Don’t reduce the number of bricks you are required to make each day.” 20When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. 21They said to Moses and Aaron, “We want the Lord to look at what you have done! We want him to judge you for it! We are like a very bad smell to Pharaoh and his officials. You have given them an excuse to kill us with their swords.”
The Lord Promises to Save the Israelites
22Moses returned to talk to the Lord. He said to him, “Why, Lord? Why have you brought trouble on these people? Is this why you sent me? 23I went to Pharaoh to speak to him in your name. Ever since then, he has brought nothing but trouble on these people. And you haven’t saved your people at all.”
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