Exodus 5:2

2 And Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord, that I hear his voice, and deliver Israel? I know not the Lord, and I shall not deliver Israel. (And Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not 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 After these things Moses and Aaron entered, and said to Pharaoh, The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Deliver thou my people, that it make sacrifice to me in desert (The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Let my people go, so that they can hold a Feast unto me in the wilderness).
2 And Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord, that I hear his voice, and deliver Israel? I know not the Lord, and I shall not deliver Israel. (And Pharaoh answered, Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him, and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.)
3 They said, [The] God of Hebrews called us, that we go the way of three days into wilderness, and that we make sacrifice to our Lord God, lest peradventure pestilence, or sword, befall to us. (And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath told us that we should make journey for three days into the wilderness, and that we should offer our sacrifices to the Lord our God, lest pestilence, or the sword, befall us.)
4 (And) The king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why stir ye (up) the people from their works? Go ye to your charges (Get back to your work!).
5 And Pharaoh said, The people of the land is much; ye see that the company hath increased; how much more shall it increase, if ye shall give to them rest from works. (And Pharaoh said, There be many of thy people in this land; ye see how they have increased; how much more shall they increase, if ye shall get them rest from their work.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.