Exodus 5:2
in Exodus 5But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.
KJV
And Pharaoh said, 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.
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This verse in Exodus 5
Commentary
7 notes on this verseWho is the Lord - Who is Jehovah, that I should obey his voice? What claims has he on me? I am under no obligation to him. Pharaoh spoke here under the common persuasion that every place and people had a tutelary deity, and he supposed that this Jehovah might be the tutelary deity of the Israelites, to whom he, as an Egyptian, could be under no kind of obligation. It is not judicious to bring this question as a proof that Pharaoh was an atheist: of this the text affords no evidence.
This site's exposition
Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice
Pharaoh's question is the one the rest of the book answers. God's stated aim in the plagues uses the same vocabulary back at him, that the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, at 7:5, 14:4 and 14:18, and at 12:31 Pharaoh himself tells Moses to go and serve the LORD and then asks to be blessed. Adam Clarke reads the question as the ordinary assumption that every nation had its own god rather than as a denial that any god exists.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 65 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Let us then become lowly, that we may be high. For most utterly doth arrogance abase. This abased Pharaoh. For, "I know not," he saith, "the Lord," and he became inferior to flies and frogs, and the locusts, and after that with his very arms and horses was he drowned in the sea. In direct opposition to him, Abraham saith, "I am dust and ashes," and prevailed over countless barbarians, and having fallen into the midst of Egyptians, returned, bearing a trophy more glorious than the former, and, cleaving to this virtue, grew ever more high. Therefore he is celebrated everywhere, therefore he is crowned and proclaimed; but Pharaoh is both earth and ashes. For nothing doth God so abhor as arrogance.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord,....
"I will have my will done," says God: "But I will do my own will," says the sinner. How resolutely he denies the demand: Neither will I let Israel go. Note, Of all sinners none are so obstinate, nor so hardly persuaded to leave their sin, as persecutors are.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord--rather "Jehovah." Lord was a common name applied to objects of worship; but Jehovah was a name he had never heard of. Pharaoh estimated the character and power of this God by the abject and miserable condition of the worshippers and concluded that He held as low a rank among the gods as His people did in the nation.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I know not the Lord - Either Pharaoh had not heard of Yahweh, or he did not recognize Him as a God.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
After Aaron did the signs. Recorded in Ex.:30. the two of them came to Pharaoh and the two of them spoke.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| פַּרְעֹ֔ה | paroh | Pharaoh | H6547 → | 274 times |
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | [is] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֶשְׁמַ֣ע | ʾeshma' | I will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּקֹל֔וֹ | bekolo | to voice his | H6963 → | 506 times |
| לְשַׁלַּ֖ח | leshalach | by letting go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֹ֤א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ | yada'ti | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְגַ֥ם | vegam | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֲשַׁלֵּֽחַ׃ | ʾashaleach | I will let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
פַּרְעֹ֔הPharaoh
parohH6547 →274 times
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יְהוָה֙[is] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֶשְׁמַ֣עI will listen
ʾeshma'H8085 →1159 times
בְּקֹל֔וֹto voice his
bekoloH6963 →506 times
לְשַׁלַּ֖חby letting go
leshalachH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֹ֤אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙I know
yada'tiH3045 →945 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְגַ֥םand also
vegamH1571 →769 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֲשַׁלֵּֽחַ׃I will let go
ʾashaleachH7971 →845 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Romans 1:21
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Jeremiah 9:6
You dwell in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to know Me,” declares the LORD.
- Romans 1:24
Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12
Through
John 16:3They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.
it leads to
- John 15:21
But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.
- John 17:25
Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, I know You, and they know that You sent Me.
- John 15:21
Through
Exodus 3:19But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
it leads to
- Exodus 6:1
But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let the people go; because of My strong hand he…
- Exodus 6:1
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 65; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.