Exodus 8:28 - Exposition

Only ye shall not go very far away . Here for the first time Pharaoh shows his real objection to letting the Israelites go—he is afraid that they will escape him. So he suggests the compromise, that they shall just enter the wilderness on his eastern border, remaining near the frontier, and therefore within his reach. Moses seems to have made no objection to this proviso. As Kalisch says, "he committal himself entirely to the guidance and direction of God." The three days' journey which he had requested by Divine command ( Exodus 3:18 ) would not take him far beyond the Egyptian frontier. Entreat for me . Compare Exodus 8:8 . An abbreviated form is now used, as sufficiently intelligible.