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
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:1
After Aaron did the signs. Recorded in Ex.:30. the two of them came to Pharaoh and the two of them spoke.
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
Bricks Without Straw
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:10
Of the king’s palace to the people who were working. 77 The text does not say from where they went out, hence I.E.’s comment.
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
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:12
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
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 5:13
Atzim (urgent) is a transitive verb. 84 It means urging; i.e., the taskmasters were urging them on.
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.
| Word | Sense here | Uses | Strong’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| אָמַרʼâmar | to say | 20 | H559 |
| עַםʻam | people | 12 | H5971 |
| פַּרְעֹהParʻôh | Pharaoh | 10 | H6547 |
| תֶּבֶןteben | straw | 8 | H8401 |
| יְהֹוָהYᵉhôvâh | yahweh | 7 | H3068 |
| הָלַךְhâlak | let us go | 7 | H1980 |
| יוֹםyôwm | day | 7 | H3117 |
| יִשְׂרָאֵלYisrâʼêl | Israel | 6 | H3478 |
| נָתַןnâthan | to give | 6 | H5414 |
| שֹׁטֵרshôṭêr | foremen its | 5 | H7860 |
| לְבֵנָהlᵉbênâh | brick | 5 | H3843 |
| מֹשֶׁהMôsheh | Moses | 4 | H4872 |
| אֱלֹהִיםʼĕlôhîym | God | 4 | H430 |
| שָׁלַחshâlach | to send | 4 | H7971 |
| נָגַשׂnâgas | the taskmasters | 4 | H5065 |
| תְּמוֹלtᵉmôwl | yesterday | 4 | H8543 |
| עָשָׂהʻâsâh | to make | 4 | H6213 |
| דָּבָרdâbâr | word | 4 | H1697 |
| עֶבֶדʻebed | to servants your | 4 | H5650 |
| בּוֹאbôwʼ | they went | 3 | H935 |
| Word | Sense here | Uses | Strong’s |
|---|---|---|---|
| אַהֲרוֹןʼAhărôwn | Aaron | 3 | H175 |
| כֹּהkôh | thus | 3 | H3541 |
| זָבַחzâbach | to sacrifice | 3 | H2076 |
| שִׁלְשׁוֹםshilshôwm | three days ago | 3 | H8032 |
| גָּרַעgâraʻ | you will diminish | 3 | H1639 |
| רָפָהrâphâh | idle | 3 | H7503 |
| אַיִןʼayin | not I | 3 | H369 |
| בֵּןbên | people of | 3 | H1121 |
| מִדְבָּרmidbâr | in the wilderness | 2 | H4057 |
| קָרָאqârâʼ | meet | 2 | H7122 |
| פָּגַעpâgaʻ | to fall on | 2 | H6293 |
| חֶרֶבchereb | sword | 2 | H2719 |
| מִצְרַיִםMitsrayim | Egypt | 2 | H4714 |
| מַעֲשֶׂהmaʻăseh | work | 2 | H4639 |
| סְבָלָהçᵉbâlâh | to forced labor your | 2 | H5450 |
| עַתָּהʻattâh | now | 2 | H6258 |
| אֶרֶץʼerets | land | 2 | H776 |
| לָבַןlâban | to make bricks | 2 | H3835 |
| קָשַׁשׁqâshash | to gather | 2 | H7197 |
| שׂוּםsûwm | you will place | 2 | H7760 |
Keep studying
Studies1
Words12
Subjects1
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.
