Exodus 5:1-8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:1

And afterward Moses and Aaron went - This chapter is properly a continuation of the preceding, as the succeeding is a continuation of this; and to preserve the connection of the facts they should be read together. How simply, and yet with what authority, does Moses deliver his message to the Egyptian king! Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, Let my people go. It is well in this, as in almost every other case where יהוה Jehovah occurs, to preserve the original word: our using the word... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:2

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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:3

Three days' journey - The distance from Goshen to Sinai; see Exodus 3:18 . And sacrifice unto the Lord - Great stress is laid on this circumstance. God required sacrifice; no religious acts which they performed could be acceptable to him without this. He had now showed them that it was their indispensable duty thus to worship him, and that if they did not they might expect him to send the pestilence - some plague or death proceeding immediately from himself, or the sword -... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:4

Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron - He hints that the Hebrews are in a state of revolt, and charges Moses and Aaron as being ringleaders of the sedition. This unprincipled charge has been, in nearly similar circumstances, often repeated since. Men who have labored to bring the mass of the common people from ignorance, irreligion, and general profligacy of manners, to an acquaintance with themselves and God, and to a proper knowledge of their duty to him and to each other, have been often... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:5

The people of the land now are many - The sanguinary edict had no doubt been long before repealed, or they could not have multiplied so greatly. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:6

The task-masters of the people and their officers - The task-masters were Egyptians, (see Clarke on Exodus 1:11 ; (note)), the officers were Hebrews; see Clarke below Exodus 5:14 ; (note). But it is probable that the task-masters Exodus 1:11 , who are called מסים שרי sarey missim , princes of the burdens or taxes, were different from those termed taskmasters here, as the words are different; נגשים nogesim signifies exactors or oppressors - persons who exacted from them an... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:7

Straw to make brick - There have been many conjectures concerning the use of straw in making bricks. Some suppose it was used merely for burning them, but this is unfounded. The eastern bricks are often made of clay and straw kneaded together, and then not burned, but thoroughly dried in the sun. This is expressly mentioned by Philo in his life of Moses, who says, describing the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, that some were obliged to work in clay for the formation of bricks, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:8

And the tale of the bricks - Tale signifies the number, from the Anglo-Saxon to number, to count, etc. For they be idle; therefore they cry - Let us go and sacrifice - Thus their desire to worship the true God in a proper manner was attributed to their unwillingness to work; a reflection which the Egyptians (in principle) of the present day cast on these who, while they are fervent in spirit serving the Lord, are not slothful in business. See Clarke below Exodus 5:17 ; (note). read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:1

Verse 1 1.And afterwards Moses and Aaron went in. Moses here begins to set forth how many and how great were the proofs of God’s power displayed in the deliverance of his people. For, since the pride, the madness, and the obstinacy of the king were indomitable, every door was closed, until broken down miraculously, and by various means. It was, indeed, possible for God to overwhelm him at once, by a single nod, so that he should even fall down dead at the very sight of Moses; but, as we have... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 5:2

Verse 2 2.And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord? It is scarcely credible that there should be such madness in a mortal as, by thus wantonly scorning God, to fly, as it were, in the face of heaven! (67) But we must observe, that the tyrant being devoted to idolatries, thus insulted the God of Israel, that he might manifest his great piety towards his false gods. For his mockery, in scornfully bandying back the name of Jehovah, must be referred to the words of Moses, as much as to say, Why do you... read more

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