Exodus 5:2

2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

Exodus 5:2 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 5:2

And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord
Jehovah, they made mention of, which, whether he took it for the name of a deity, or of a king, whose ambassadors they declared themselves to be, was a name he had never heard of before; and this being expressed and pronounced, shows that this name is not ineffable, or unlawful to be pronounced, as say the Jews:

that I should obey his voice, to let Israel go?
he knew of no superior monarch to him, whose orders he was obliged to obey in any respect, and particularly in this, the dismission of the people of Israel out of his land, though it was but for a short time:

I know not the Lord;
who this Jehovah is, that made this demand, and required Israel's dismission. The Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it,

``I have not found the name of Jehovah written in the book of angels, I am not afraid of him.''

An Egyptian book, in which, the paraphrast supposes, were written the names of gods and of angels; and no such name being there, he was the more bold and insolent:

neither will I let Israel go;
determining he would pay no regard to such an unknown Deity, or King, be he who he would.

Exodus 5:2 In-Context

1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go that they may celebrate a feast unto me in the wilderness.
2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should hearken to his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.
3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews has found us; therefore we shall go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice unto the LORD our God lest he encounter us with pestilence or with the sword.
4 Then the king of Egypt said unto them, Why do ye, Moses and Aaron, keep the people from their works? Go unto your burdens.
5 Pharaoh also said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them cease from their burdens.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010