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1–4. First appearance of Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh. 5–20. Burdening Jews with work. 21–23. The people's murmur against Moses and his doubts. Ex.5:1. After this, Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to [him], “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, so that they may celebrate a feast for Me in the wilderness.” It is rather difficult to say what explains the absence of elders (Ex. 3:18). The opinion that it is caused by the fact that from the time of Aaron’s appointment as Moses’ assistant (Exodus 4:15–16) the latter’s rights to participate in the presentation of the purpose of the embassy (“you will say”, Exodus 3:18) passed to him does not find any basis in the Bible. Elders are not appointed to be “the mouth of Moses” (Ex. 4:16). Jewish tradition explains the lack of mention of the elders by the fact that on the way to Pharaoh they, one after another, left Moses and Aaron. The request to release the people to serve Jehovah, the national God of the Jews, should seem quite natural for Pharaoh (see above explanation of Article 18, Chapter 3) and quite usual from the point of view of the customs of that time. According to the testimony of Herodotus, confirmed by the research of Egyptologists, in Egypt there was a custom at certain times to go to a certain city to celebrate a holiday in honor of the god revered there. Ex.5:2. But 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. If Pharaoh refuses to fulfill such a legal request, then, among other things, because it is presented on behalf of the Almighty, “Whom he does not know.” Sharing the generally pagan view that the power of a known god is determined by the strength and well-being of the people who worship him (Is. 45:6, 14), Pharaoh considers the Almighty powerless in comparison with the Egyptian gods: the Egyptians are masters, and the Jews are slaves. The demands of a powerless God are not obligatory for him. Exodus 5:3. They said [to him]: The God of the Hebrews has called us; let us go into the desert for a three-day journey to offer a sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not strike us with a plague or a sword. Repeating the previous requirement, Aaron and Moses change it, firstly, in the sense that they directly indicate the obligation for themselves to fulfill it: “The God of the Jews has called us 4; let us go 5 so that He does not strike us with a plague or a sword.” Just as the will of their gods is obligatory for Pharaoh and his subjects, so for them, Moses and Aaron, the demands of the Lord are obligatory. If they fail to comply, they will be subject to His wrath, just as those of the pagans who do not want to appease them by celebrating festivals are subject to the wrath of their gods. Secondly, instead of the previous general indication of a journey into the desert, they now determine the amount of time required for it (“three days of travel”), thereby wanting to say that the removal of the Jews for such a short period of time (6–7 days round trip) will not cause significant damage to the work. Ex.5:4. And the king of Egypt said to them: Why do you, Moses and Aaron, distract [my] people from their work? go [each of you] to your work. Ex.5:5. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of this land are numerous, and ye distract them from their work. Harmful in general, such a thought becomes unusually dangerous when it spreads among the numerous “people of the earth,” i.e. among the lower working class (Jer.6:25, Ezek.7:27). It sets the stage for discontent and the ensuing resentment. Ex.5:6. And on the same day Pharaoh gave commandment to the officers over the people and the overseers, saying: Exodus 5:7. In the future, do not give the people straw to make bricks, as you did yesterday and the day before; let them go and gather straw for themselves, Straw, which the pharaoh forbade to give out, was used as a substance that binds clay: finely chopped, it was mixed with it, and a brick made from such a mass was supposed to be particularly durable. The authenticity of the biblical story is confirmed by excavations carried out in Egypt, which have shown that some of the bricks of ancient Goshen contain an admixture of chopped straw. Ex.5:8. and put on them the same prescribed number of bricks as they did yesterday and the day before, and do not decrease them; they are idle, that’s why they shout: let’s go, let’s make a sacrifice to our God; Ex.5:9. give them more work so that they work and do not engage in empty speeches. Exodus 5:10. And the officers of the people and their overseers went out and said to the people, Thus says Pharaoh: I give you no straw; Ex.5:11. Go yourselves, take straw for yourself wherever you find it, and nothing will be diminished from your work. Exodus 5:12. And the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. Exodus 5:13. The overseers urged [them], saying: Do your [duly] work every day, as when you had straw. The work was slowed down by the fact that instead of stalks, the Jews collected stubble. Exodus 5:14. And they beat the overseers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's officers had appointed over them, saying: Why are you not making the required number of bricks yesterday and today, as you have done until now? To supervise the work and report on it, Pharaoh's officers selected from among the Israelites themselves persons who knew how to write. Hence their name “shoterim”, γραμματεῖς, readers, overseers, scribes (1 Chron. 23:4). By their position, they belonged to the best people in importance. This is clear from the fact that in some places in the Bible they are listed next to elders and judges (Num. 11:16; Deut. 29:10, 31:28). Ex.5:15. And the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, Why dost thou do this to thy servants? Exodus 5:16. They do not give straw to your servants, but make bricks, they tell us. And behold, your servants are beaten; sin to your people. Exodus 5:17. But he said to [them]: You are idle, idle, that’s why you say: let’s go, let’s make a sacrifice to the Lord. Exodus 5:18. Go and work; They won’t give you straw, but give you the required number of bricks. The pharaoh's assumptions were justified. Burdened with backbreaking work, the people do not think about the holiday, but about easing their lot, and with a request of this kind they turn to the pharaoh through their overseers. Exodus 5:19. And the overseers of the children of Israel saw their trouble in the words: Do not reduce the number of bricks that is [allotted] for each day. Exodus 5:20. And when they left Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting for them, Exodus 5:21. and they said to them, “May the Lord see and judge you, because you have made us hated in the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hands to kill us.” Having received a negative answer to it, realizing that they cannot expect help from Moses and Aaron, the overseers reproach the latter, threatening them with the judgment of God for the even greater oppression that befell the people (Gen. 16:5, 31:53; 1 Kings 24:12–13; 1 Kings 8:32). Exodus 5:22. And Moses turned to the Lord and said: Lord! Why have You subjected this people to such calamity, [and] why have you sent me? Exodus 5:23. for from the time I came to Pharaoh and began to speak in Your name, he began to do worse to this people; deliver, - You have not delivered Your people. Under the influence of complaints, Moses has the same doubt about the appropriateness of his choice for the liberation of the Jewish people: “Why did you send me?” (Exodus 5:22) He personally cannot force Pharaoh to release the Israelites (Exodus 3:11), and the Lord will not help him: “to deliver, you have not delivered your people.” More precisely: “let us go.” You might be interested in: