Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 5:4
And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
4. The Pharaoh regards the pilgrimage as merely an excuse for a holiday; and bids Moses and Aaron no longer unsettle the people.
burdens ] Exo 1:11, Exo 2:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let – i. e. hinder.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 5:4
Get you unto your burdens.
Wrong judgment
Good men are often wrongly judged:–
1. In respect to their motives.
2. Actions.
3. Writings. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The claims of religion
You will observe that God gave a command, and Pharaoh refused either to obey the command, or to pay anything like respect unto it,
I. Let us consider what it is that God requires. In the case of Israel we see that He requires what I may sum up in three particulars.
1. He requires that they should acknowledge Him publicly as their God; that is the first principle. Let My people go, that they may hold, etc.
2. He requires of Israel that there should be a marked acceptance of His way of reconciliation. Let us go and sacrifice unto the Lord our God. From the very first when man sinned, there was Gods revealed way by which the sinner must come near to Him; and, therefore, the feast that was to be held unto Jehovah, was a feast that was to be founded upon sacrifice.
3. God requires that everything else should give way and yield to the discharge of these required duties. They were to go at once to Pharaoh, and ask his permission to go and obey Gods commands, and to sacrifice unto Him as their Lord. They were not to be withheld from doing this by their knowledge of Pharaohs tyrannical disposition. They were not to be withheld by the remembrance of their worldly duties, or of the hardships and the toils connected with these duties. Now is there anything peculiar to Israel and to Gods requirements of Israel in all this? Do we not see, underlying this narrative, a principle which is universally applicable to all those to whom Gods message comes? What doth the Lord require of us, to whom the word of this salvation is sent? Does He not demand of us acknowledgment, acceptance of His salvation, and immediate decision?
II. But now what does man think of the requirements of God? Let us answer this question by referring to the case of Pharaoh. Pharaoh said, Ye be idle; therefore ye say, let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore now go and work. And then again, Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And again, Let more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein, and let them not regard vain words. What is the meaning of this language? May I not render it truly, but simply, when I say that in Pharaohs mind there was an opinion that there was no need of so much religion? Let them go and work; there was no need of going to sacrifice to the Lord their God. And then when he heard Gods threatenings to those who neglected His commands, how did Pharaoh feel then? He maintains that there is no danger in neglecting the supposed commands of God in this matter. He thinks them vain words, all about Gods threatenings to those who do not acknowledge Him, and who do not accept His terms of reconciliation. All these are vain words, pay no attention to them, go and work. That was Pharaohs way of thinking. And then, further, he thought that there was no sincerity in those who professed to want to worship God. Ye are idle; therefore ye cry, Let us go and sacrifice. You do not mean to go and sacrifice; you do not want to go and sacrifice; it is your idleness, your hypocrisy. So that you will observe Pharaoh thought thus of Gods requirements; first, that there was no need of them; secondly, that there was no danger in neglecting them; and thirdly, that those who professed did not intend to worship, they did not mean what they said. Now is Pharaoh at all singular in the ideas which are thus attributed to him? Is it not still the case that an unconverted man acts in the same way as Pharaoh acted? And then when Pharaoh is reminded of the awful language in which God speaks to those who neglect His requirements, and His judgments against those who know not the Lord, and who obey not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does Pharaoh, and what do unconverted men now say, but that in their opinion all these are vain words? Pharaoh thought they were vain words; and so do men now. (W. Cadman, M. A.)
Egyptian bondage in the metropolis
I. Now, dark as this picture is, I do not hesitate to say that it is faithfully reproduced at the present time. You may see the same thing any day in this metropolis. The bondsmen, whose lives are now made bitter with hard bondage, are the artizans who make the garments you now have on; the men, the women, the children, who minister to your fashions and your luxuries; the shopmen and shopwomen who wait on your convenience, the industrial classes in general, by whose toil this country is rich and luxurious, who are forced to spend the marrow of their strength, and make their lives short and bitter, in providing superfluities for others. The Pharaoh at whose bidding all this is done is the spirit of commerce, that lust of filthy lucre, that morbid and unbridled zeal of competition, which reigns supreme over so large a portion of the world of business.
II. Let us therefore inquire whether any remedy can be applied to these great and sore evils? Can we individually or collectively do anything towards delivering our brethren from these oppressions and wrongs? Now, it appears to me that there is but one perfect and thorough remedy, and that is the dethronement of the Pharaoh who tyrannizes so cruelly over his subjects; I mean the overthrow of that vicious commercial spirit which has enslaved the great mass of the public. If this were done, if every one traded in a fair and legitimate manner, if every one dealt by others as he would wish to be dealt by himself, if no one entered into the arena of dishonest and ruinous competition, if every employer were as determined to give fair wages to his workpeople, as to secure a fair profit to himself; if these principles were universal, then oppressions would cease in our midst, and our courts and alleys would be the abodes of happiness. But this is not to be yet. The evil and the good will be mingled together until the harvest, which is the end of the world. We can only hope at present for improvements and palliatives. Now–
1. With respect to shopkeepers, much evil might be remedied if all the members of each several trade would meet together and bind themselves by a mutual covenant not to keep their shops open beyond a certain reasonable hour.
2. To shop-assistants and operatives, I would suggest that the members of each trade or establishment might with great ]propriety express their opinions on the subject in a manly and temperate spirit to their employers.
3. And now to the large class of persons who are ordinary purchasers–the public in general–I would say, it is in supplying your wants or conveniences, that all this competition, and oppression, and cruelty is engendered. Much good might be effected by a determination on the part of purchasers never to buy after a certain reasonable hour.
III. The restricting of the hours of labour. Within just and reasonable limits would be the cause of immense benefit not only to the labouring man, but to all classes. I believe that the employers would be gainers even in a money point of view by the improvements now advocated. The men would work with more spirit and energy, because they would feel that they were men, because they would be in a much higher physical condition than when they were overtasked; they would labour with more cheerfulness and good will; the work would be done more skilfully, because with more sustained attention. There would be less drunkenness amongst the men, because in the intervals of labour they would feel less exhausted and have less craving for stimulus. Then, again, the public would be gainers. They would be better served; articles of commerce would not be cheaper possibly, but they would be better in quality, and therefore really cheaper in the end. Moreover, the country would be a gainer, by having a strong, energetic, and numerous race of labouring men, in the stead of thy present pale, jaded, and dyspeptic race. Lastly, the Church of Christ would gain many members. There is scarcely any greater hindrance to the progress of religion amongst our industrial classes than this Egyptian system of overtasking the strength. How can that man give due attention to his religious duties on Sunday who is exhausted and prostrate by a week of excessive toil? (J. Tagg, M. A.)
Folly of unwise exaction
The llama, or guanaco (Auchenia llama), is found among the recesses of the Andes. In the silver mines his utility is very great, as he frequently carries the metal from the mines in places where the declivities are so steep that neither asses nor mules can keep their footing. The burden carried by this useful animal, the camel of the New World, should not exceed from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five pounds. If the load be too heavy he lies down, and no force or persuasion will induce him to resume his journey until the excess be removed. Thus he teaches us the uuwisdom of endeavouring to exact too much from those who are willing to serve us well. (Scientific Illustrations.)
Pharaohs complaint
That complaint has been made by a good many interested employers since the days of Pharaoh. How these evangelists do hinder trade! What a clog on business this revival is! How much money these missionary causes do divert from the shopkeepers! This Sunday-go-to-meeting notion takes the profits off of the menagerie; or of the agricultural fair! These thanksgivings and fast-days interfere wretchedly with steady work! Why cant things go on regular, week in and week out, without any bother about religion? This is the way the Pharaoh class looks at attention to Gods service. But is it the right way? (S. S. Times.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 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 laboured 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 branded as being disaffected to the state, and as movers of sedition among the people! See Clarke on Ex 5:17.
Let the people] taphriu, from para, to loose or disengage, which we translate to let, from the Anglo-Saxon [Anglo-Saxon] lettan, to hinder. Ye hinder the people from working. Get ye to your burdens. “Let religion alone, and mind your work.” The language not only of tyranny, but of the basest irreligion also.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either,
1. Ye, the elders of Israel, who are here come with Moses and Aaron: see Exo 5:1. Or,
2. Ye, Moses and Aaron. So far am I from granting the liberty which you desire for the people, that as a just punishment upon you for your seditious attempt, I command you also to go with the rest, and to take your share in their burdens, and to perform the task which shall be required of you. And that so cruel a tyrant did not proceed further against them, must be ascribed to the mighty power of God, who governs the spirits and restrains the hands of the greatest kings when he pleaseth.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron,let the people from their works? &c.Without taking anynotice of what they had said, he treated them as ambitiousdemagogues, who were appealing to the superstitious feelings of thepeople, to stir up sedition and diffuse a spirit of discontent, whichspreading through so vast a body of slaves, might endanger the peaceof the country.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the king of Egypt said to them,…. For he was not struck dumb, as Artapanus g, 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 Ex 3:18.
g Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 27. p. 434.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But Pharaoh would hear nothing of any worship. He believed that the wish was simply an excuse for procuring holidays for the people, or days of rest from their labours, and ordered the messengers off to their slave duties: “ Get you unto your burdens.” For as the people were very numerous, he would necessarily lose by their keeping holiday. He called the Israelites “ the people of the land, ” not “as being his own property, because he was the lord of the land” ( Baumgarten), but as the working class, “land-people,” equivalent to “common people,” in distinction from the ruling castes of the Egyptians (vid., Jer 52:25: Eze 7:27).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verse 4-9:
Pharaoh did not reply directly to the request. Instead, he charged Moses and Aaron with an offense against the state. The Israelites were slaves of the king, and interference with their labor would in’ effect deprive Pharaoh of the revenues they produced. The great number of the people increased the damage done to Pharaoh’s revenues.
The king curtly dismissed Moses and Aaron with a harsh refusal of their request.
Pharaoh sought to crush any further talk of Israel’s leaving their labors to go into the wilderness and worship Jehovah. The “taskmasters” nagasim were the numerous Egyptian superintendents over the Israelites. The “officers” shatar, “writers,” were likely Hebrews who were to keep a record of bricks produced. Pharaoh ordered that the quota of bricks was not to be reduced, but that straw would no longer be provided for their use in manufacturing the bricks. They must go into the fields and gather the straw themselves. The object: that the Hebrews would not have idle time on their hands, to think about leaving their work to worship.
The text implies that Pharaoh regarded Moses and Aaron as trouble makers, who enticed the Hebrews by raising vain and illusive hopes. He was spiritually blind to the real import of their request.
Many today consider the worship of the God of Heaven as vain and meaningless. They are spiritually blind to the importance of this vital activity, 2Co 4:3, 4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. And the king of Egypt said unto them. It is surprising that the king, in the excess of his arrogance, did not more cruelly entreat these servants of God, whom he accounted the ringleaders of sedition. But he was undoubtedly restrained by God from proceeding at once to destroy them. By his pertinacity in resisting their departure, he will more clearly shew by and bye how important to his interests he considered it that the people should remain in Egypt; how comes it then that he is contented with verbal reproof, and refrains from shedding their blood, if it were not that God protected his servants under the shield of His defense? He harshly reproves them, indeed, and condemns them to the same labors, by which the rest of the people were oppressed; but since it is notorious that moderate rigor never satisfies tyrants, we conclude that they were preserved under the guardianship of God, and would otherwise have died a hundred times over. But let us learn from his accusation against them, as the promoters of rebellion, to bear patiently, after their example, calumnies and false imputations; only, in reliance on God’s command, let us be fully conscious that we are unjustly accused. The next verse, wherein he says, that “the people of the land are now many,” is intended to aggravate their guilt; both because they would inflict a deeper injury on the public, than as if they had withheld a few from their work; and also, because, by inflaming a large number of people, they would bring greater danger on the country.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
4. Wherefore do ye Rather, Wherefore make ye the people cease from their work, by this conference with them and agitation? Then to the elders of Israel, who stood with Moses and Aaron, he says, Get you unto your burdens.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 5:4. Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron Though the elders of Israel were with them, Pharaoh addresses and considers Moses and Aaron as the principals: and so far from attending to, or granting their petition, he treats them as ringleaders of a seditious multitude; and, with haughty insolence, remands them to those labours which he had so severely enjoined, and which he seems to think his just tribute. It is evident that the cruel edict for destroying the infants had been long abolished; as, otherwise, the people could not well have been many, as Pharaoh asserts they were, Exo 5:5 nor could their resting from their burdens, i.e. their ceasing from their labours, have been of any material consequence.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
This complaint of the idleness of the Israelites was false. See Exo 1:11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 5:4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Ver 4. Let the people from their works. ] Moses talks of sacrifice; Pharaoh of work. Anything seems due work to a carnal mind, saving God’s service; nothing superfluous but religious duties. a Seneca saith the Jews cast away a seventh part of their time upon a weekly Sabbath. “To what end is this loss?” said Judas.
a Aug., De Civit. Dei.
the king of Egypt. See on Exo 5:1, and App-37. Wherefore. Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6.
let. A. S. to hinder.
wherefore: Jer 38:4, Amo 7:10, Luk 23:2, Act 16:20, Act 16:21, Act 24:5
let: Taphreeoo, from pard, to loose, disengage; and which we render let, from the Anglo-Saxon lettan, to hinder. Ye hinder the people from their work: “Get you unto your burdens.” “Let religion alone and mind your work.” The language not only of tyranny, but of thoughtless irreligion.
burdens: Exo 1:11
Reciprocal: Exo 6:7 – from under Exo 10:11 – And they Jer 32:3 – Wherefore
Exo 5:4. Get you to your burdens These words were not addressed to Moses and Aaron, but to the Israelites, the elders of whom went with Moses, several others also probably following him, when he went in unto Pharaoh, impatient to see what the end would be.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments