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Scripture: The text alone. Study: The verses explained. Original: The Hebrew and Greek, and the tradition.

Exoduschapter 5

23 verses · Moses, by tradition · 15th or 13th century BC · The Law

In Jewish life

The reading

Weekly portion 13 of 54

שְׁמוֹת Shemot, Exodus 1:1 to 6:1

Read with it: Isaiah 27:6 to 28:13 and 29:22 to 29:23 in Ashkenazi use, and Jeremiah 1:1 to 2:3 in Sephardi use.

The verse numbers here are the ones a Hebrew Bible carries, which differ from an English Bible by a verse or two in several places. The Sephardi reading is named only where this site records a difference; communities vary beyond what is listed. What these books are, and how a Christian reader meets them →

How it is read

Rashi reads the chapter as a study in who stood and who slipped away. The elders set out with Moses and Aaron, he says, and dropped back one by one "because they were afraid to go there". At Sinai they were kept at a distance for it (Rashi on Exodus 5:1:1). He notes that the two brothers say the plague may light on us rather than on Pharaoh, "but they showed respect to royalty" (Rashi on Exodus 5:3:1). He divides the two ranks of overseer in verse 6, holding the taskmasters to be Egyptians and the bailiffs under them Israelites (Rashi on Exodus 5:6:1). At verse 14 he reads the beating of those bailiffs as the price of mercy. They "spared their fellow-Israelites, not urging them on to their work", and the seventy elders of Numbers 11 were later drawn from them (Rashi on Exodus 5:14:1). The text is the Rosenbaum and Silbermann Rashi of 1929 to 1934, in the public domain. Ibn Ezra's notes on Pharaoh's answer and on the bailiffs' complaint stand by reference alone (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:2:1 and 5:15:1).

What the rabbis say

The rabbis take up the demand for a feast in the wilderness at Chagigah 10b:3 and 10b:9. On the heavier load laid on the people they taught in Shemot Rabbah 5:19 and Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 5:10:1. On the scattering of the people to gather stubble they taught at Berakhot 9a:14. The Mekhilta carries this chapter at Tractate Nezikin 1:9 and Tractate Vayehi Beshalach 3:17.

The text, verse by verse

Each word shows the Hebrew, the English under it, how it sounds and its Strong’s number. A rule between verses marks where the Hebrew manuscripts end a paragraph.

Let My People Go, Pharaoh Refuses

Bricks Without Straw

5:12

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:12

Ibn EzraSpain, 1089–1167· Commentary
Va-yafetz (were scattered) is a transitive verb. 80 In the hifil, meaning he scattered. Pharaoh, who caused them to scatter, is the subject.

Read it in full at Sefaria · Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

Why Have You Dealt Ill With Us?

Hebrew words in this chapter

The 40 most used Hebrew words of the chapter, counted by lemma. The article, the object marker, the negatives and the common prepositions are left out.

WordSense hereUsesStrong’s
אָמַרʼâmarto say20H559
עַםʻampeople12H5971
פַּרְעֹהParʻôhPharaoh10H6547
תֶּבֶןtebenstraw8H8401
יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâhyahweh7H3068
הָלַךְhâlaklet us go7H1980
יוֹםyôwmday7H3117
יִשְׂרָאֵלYisrâʼêlIsrael6H3478
נָתַןnâthanto give6H5414
שֹׁטֵרshôṭêrforemen its5H7860
לְבֵנָהlᵉbênâhbrick5H3843
מֹשֶׁהMôshehMoses4H4872
אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîymGod4H430
שָׁלַחshâlachto send4H7971
נָגַשׂnâgasthe taskmasters4H5065
תְּמוֹלtᵉmôwlyesterday4H8543
עָשָׂהʻâsâhto make4H6213
דָּבָרdâbârword4H1697
עֶבֶדʻebedto servants your4H5650
בּוֹאbôwʼthey went3H935
WordSense hereUsesStrong’s
אַהֲרוֹןʼAhărôwnAaron3H175
כֹּהkôhthus3H3541
זָבַחzâbachto sacrifice3H2076
שִׁלְשׁוֹםshilshôwmthree days ago3H8032
גָּרַעgâraʻyou will diminish3H1639
רָפָהrâphâhidle3H7503
אַיִןʼayinnot I3H369
בֵּןbênpeople of3H1121
מִדְבָּרmidbârin the wilderness2H4057
קָרָאqârâʼmeet2H7122
פָּגַעpâgaʻto fall on2H6293
חֶרֶבcherebsword2H2719
מִצְרַיִםMitsrayimEgypt2H4714
מַעֲשֶׂהmaʻăsehwork2H4639
סְבָלָהçᵉbâlâhto forced labor your2H5450
עַתָּהʻattâhnow2H6258
אֶרֶץʼeretsland2H776
לָבַןlâbanto make bricks2H3835
קָשַׁשׁqâshashto gather2H7197
שׂוּםsûwmyou will place2H7760

Keep studying

Sources for this chapter

The Hebrew text

STEP Bible, the tagged Hebrew text and its English glosses and James Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

In Jewish life

Rashi, Rashi on Exodus 5:1:1, 5:3:1, 5:6:1 and 5:14:1, Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A. M. Silbermann, 1929 to 1934 (public domain); Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:2:1 and 5:15:1, cited by ref alone under the corpus licence rule; The Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 10b:3 and 10b:9, and Berakhot 9a:14, cited by ref and The Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 5:19, Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 5:10:1, and Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Nezikin 1:9 and Tractate Vayehi Beshalach 3:17, cited by ref.

The rabbinic texts

Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004 and Sefaria, texts and citation data.