Exodus 5:4

4 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!"

Exodus 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 5:4

And the king of Egypt said to them
For he was not struck dumb, as Artapanus ^F7, afore cited writer, says:

wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works?
as they did when they gathered them together, and wrought signs before them; which Pharaoh it seems had heard of, and had got their names very readily:

get you unto your burdens;
meaning not Moses and Aaron, ordering them to go about their private and family business, but the people they represented, and on whose account they came; and it is highly probable the elders of the people, at least some of them, were with them, to whom these words might be more particularly directed. See ( Exodus 3:18 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 434.)

Exodus 5:4 In-Context

2 Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD? Why should I obey him? Why should I let Israel go? I don't even know the Lord. And I won't let Israel go."

3 Then Moses and Aaron said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a journey that lasts about three days. We want to go into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God. If we don't, he might strike us with plagues. Or he might let us be killed with swords."

4 But the king of Egypt said, "Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get back to work!"

5 Pharaoh continued, "There are large numbers of your people in the land. But you are stopping them from working."

6 That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers and the others who were in charge of the people.