ExodeChapitre 5

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Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go, so they may hold a festival for me in the wilderness."

But Pharaoh said, "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."

Then they said, "The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go three days' journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plague or with the sword."

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

And Pharaoh said, "Look how numerous the people of the land are now, and you would have them stop their labor!"

That same day Pharaoh gave orders to the slave drivers over the people and to their foremen:

"You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks, as you did before. Let them go and gather their own straw.

But require of them the same quota of bricks they made before; do not reduce it. They are lazy—that is why they cry out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

Make the work heavier for these men, so they keep at it and pay no attention to lying words."

So the slave drivers and the foremen went out and said to the people, "This is what Pharaoh says: I will no longer give you straw.

Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it—but your workload will not be reduced in the least."

So the people scattered throughout the whole land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

The slave drivers kept pressing them: "Finish your work—the same daily quota as when the straw was provided."

And the foremen of the Israelites, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had appointed over them, were beaten, and they were asked, "Why did you not complete your required quota of bricks yesterday or today, as you did before?"

Then the Israelite foremen went to Pharaoh and cried out, "Why do you treat your servants this way?

No straw is given to your servants, yet they tell us, 'Make bricks!' Your servants are being beaten, but the fault lies with your own people."

But he said, "Lazy—that's what you are, lazy! That is why you say, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.'

Now get to work! You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full number of bricks."

The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You must not reduce the daily number of bricks."

When they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron, who stood waiting for them,

and they said to them, "May the LORD look upon you and judge you! You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials—you have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, "Lord, why have you brought harm on this people? Why did you ever send me?

Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought harm on this people, and you have done nothing at all to rescue your people."

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Résumé2

Chapitre 5

Main Theme: Pharaoh rejects God’s demands and increases the oppression of the Israelites.

Content: Moses and Aaron ask Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go so they may worship God in the wilderness, but Pharaoh defiantly replies: "Who is the Lord?" He refuses and punishes the people by requiring them to gather their own straw while still producing the same amount of bricks. The Israelite overseers are beaten and complain to Moses and Aaron. Moses turns to God in frustration and asks why he was sent when it has only made things worse for the people.

Key Words/Images:

"Who is the Lord?" – Pharaoh’s arrogant rejection of the God of Israel, setting the stage for the coming conflict.
Bricks without straw – A symbol of the impossible oppression Pharaoh imposes on the Israelites.
Overseers (שֹׁטְרִים) – Israelite leaders caught between Pharaoh’s demands and the people’s suffering.
Moses’ complaint – Expresses doubt and frustration over his mission as the situation worsens.

Contexte historique

Historical and Cultural Context for Exodus 5

People

Pharaoh appears in this chapter as the powerful ruler who rejects Moses' demands. His question, "Who is the LORD?" (v. 2), reflects the Egyptian worldview in which Pharaoh himself was regarded as divine—an incarnation of the god Horus and son of the sun god Ra. For an Egyptian king, it would have been unthinkable to obey an unknown foreign deity.

Overseers and Scribes (Hebrew: nogsim and shoterim) represent a hierarchical system. The nogsim were Egyptian drivers who had overall supervision, while the shoterim were Israelite foremen who served as intermediaries. This two-tier structure is confirmed by Egyptian sources describing similar organization of forced labor, in which local leaders were held responsible for work quotas.

Events and Customs

Brickmaking is described in detail in this chapter. In Egypt, clay was mixed with straw (Hebrew: teven) to bind the material and prevent cracking during drying. The process involved trampling the clay with feet, shaping it in wooden molds, and sun-drying the bricks. Pharaoh's command to deny the Israelites straw while maintaining production quotas was a brutal punitive measure.

Religious Festival in the Wilderness – Moses requests that the people be allowed to travel three days into the wilderness to "hold a feast" (Hebrew: chagag) and "sacrifice" (Hebrew: zabach) to the LORD. This followed a common pattern in the ancient Near East where peoples traveled to holy places to perform sacrifices. A three-day journey would take them beyond Egyptian territory and control.

Key Terms

"God of the Hebrews" (Elohei ha-Ivrim, v. 3) is a designation used when Israelites spoke to foreigners. The term "Hebrew" (Ivri) may be connected with Habiru/Apiru, a social class mentioned in Egyptian and Mesopotamian texts from the second millennium B.C.—often referring to stateless, wandering peoples or forced laborers.

"Lazy/Sluggish" (Hebrew: nirpim, vv. 8, 17) – Pharaoh's accusation that the Israelites are "lazy" uses a word meaning to be slack or weakened. This was common ruler rhetoric used to justify harsher working conditions. In Egyptian thought, labor for the state was a sacred duty, and resistance was viewed as rebellion against cosmic order (maat).

"Quota/Fixed Amount" (Hebrew: matkonet, v. 8) refers to the daily production requirement. Egyptian administrative texts document careful record-keeping of work performance and materials.

Chapter-Specific Findings

The Tomb of Vizier Rekhmire (ca. 1450 B.C.) in Thebes contains wall paintings showing foreign workers—including Syro-Palestinian peoples—producing bricks. The scene depicts the entire process: mixing clay, shaping bricks, and transporting them. Inscriptions at the site show drivers supervising workers with staffs, using language reminiscent of Exodus 5.

Papyrus Anastasi III and IV (from the 13th century B.C.) contain administrative reports mentioning brick production quotas and lack of straw as a problem. One text complains: "There is no one bringing straw, and there are no bricks." These documents confirm the historical realism of the chapter's description of Egyptian labor management and the specific challenges associated with brickmaking.

Personnages2

Aaron3 Moses4

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Mots-clés9

Moses — An important prophet and leader in Hebrew history, known for receiving the Ten Commandments from God and leading the Israelites out of Egypt.
Pharaoh — The Egyptian king who refused to let the Israelites go free, which led God to send ten plagues upon Egypt.
Israelites — A people descended from the patriarch Israel (Jacob), who were slaves in Egypt and later led out by Moses.
Slavery — A practice where people are treated as property and forced to work under compulsion without freedom.
Building materials — Materials used to construct structures and monuments, such as bricks.
Brick — A building block made from clay and fired in a kiln, often used as construction material in ancient Egypt.
Straw — Dried stalks of grain that were used as a binding agent in brick production.
Workload — The amount of work or tasks imposed on an individual or group of people.
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