INTRODUCTION:

(Deuteronomy 4:2 [KJV])
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

(Proverbs 30:5, 6 [KJV])
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

(Isaiah 28:10 [KJV])
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

(Isaiah 28:13 [KJV])
But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

(2 Peter 1:20 [KJV])
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

All of the studies found here, whether book studies or topical studies, are done with research with mainly two things: The KING JAMES BIBLE and a plain old, 1828 Webster's Dictionary. Why? Outside of actually studying secular and Jewish history, archaeology, one needs nothing more. You do not need foreign, dead languages that no one speaks, nor lexicons, nor concordances, nor commentaries, because they differ not only with one another and with the KING JAMES BIBLE, they create division, confusion, debate, and unbelief, apostasy, and a falling away from God Himself. We do not need them. That Word of God written and preserved for us in our own language is supposed to be enough, like the Old Testament was for the Jews, and as the New Testament was for the early Christians in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German, etc.

Tyndale Bible
Coverdale Bible
Matthew's Bible
Great Bible
Geneva Bible
Bishop's Bible
King James/Authorized Bible

There are studies within as tangents on words, subjects found within the two testaments, as to broaden the scope of the study, to learn more, deeper truths. This is not an intellectual site with PhDs, theologians, and no worldly wisdom.. Check everything out, everything. Not just here, but with everything you read and see and hear. Be Bereans:

(Acts 17:11 [KJV])
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

(1 Thessalonians 2:13 [KJV])
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Always research for yourself, use all of the context, and never privately interpret!

Start of study

Exodus Chapter 5: THE FIRST MEETING WITH PHARAOH: NOT WELL, BUT JUST AS PLANNED

God said earlier to Moses that He was sure that pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go, not without God Himself showing Himself strong on their behalf. So now it starts, as God planned, not as Israel, Moses, Aaron wanted, not even as we would have wanted, but all in God's Plan, in God's Hands. Nothing is cryptic in this chapter, in this entire account written in this entire book, but all is clear and straightforward. IT merely takes the context of the rest of God's Word to see who the Israelites deal with throughout their long history, who Egypt is and will be to God, forever, this type of the world we live in.

(Exodus 5:1 [KJV])
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

Notice God calls them, "MY people", not just these people, not just the people, not just any people, not just The Israelites, the Hebrews
"Thus saith the LORD God of Israel"......now, there's a phrase Pharaoh has not heard, having his own false gods of Egypt all of his life
He is about to find out Who God is, the real God
These people are people who have God, the real God, as their God and are His people, foreign to Pharaoh

(Exodus 5:2 [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.

Not being the same as the false, pagan gods of the Egyptians, Pharaoh seems to have no desire to listen, as God foretold to Moses
This God verbally spoke by mouth, with a voice, unlike a pagan god that just is manmade, a piece of wood, stone, etc. which sits there and the people blindly bow down, ask for things
"I know not the LORD", as in acknowledging that he is not a believer in the Israelite God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob/Israel
Egypt had gods of things and animals, birds, habitats such as the sea, gods of the weather etc.
This God of Israel is a personal God, a God of a people, a people Pharaoh did not worship, like he himself was worshipped by the pagan Egyptian people
No fear of God........yet.

(Psalms 36:1 [KJV])
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David the servant of the LORD. The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

(Romans 3:18 [KJV])
There is no fear of God before their eyes.

(Exodus 5:3 [KJV])
And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

The LORD God of Israel is now also introduced to Pharaoh as The God of the Hebrews
It is unsure whether God said this part about to Moses, the pestilence or the sword in his ears, as it is unrecorded in Exodus 3:18, or that Moses was foretold this about God, but this for sure happened, as in their recorded history in Scripture, and worse, in their captivities and judgments, this was fulfilled many timers for abominations, grumbling against God, etc.
God is Holy, God is a spirit, a loving God, merciful and gracious, but He is the I AM, and created us to worship Him and no one else, as he is the Creator God of it all

(Exodus 5:4-5 [KJV])
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. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

Pharaoh was all about himself and his projects to build pyramids, temples, monuments to his false, pagan gods
If he lets Moses do God's will, his own will falter, be shelved for a time, production will stop and he will look bad in front of his own people, his image marred
God ultimately is going after his pride, to show Himself strong, to humble Pharaoh and Egypt
The bigger the pride, the bigger the need, the miracle, the vengeance, the repayment, the judgment to produce humility, all giving God the Glory and the Victory
When Pharaoh said, "get you unto your burdens", he probably turned around to the Israelite workers or taskmasters (more likely) at that time to say this. Today we would say, "GET BACK TO WORK!"
The word "let" as in "let the people from their works" simply means to forbear, to permit them not to work, to retard, to hinder, to be in the way as an obstacle, an impediment, to delay. them
Pharaoh is complaining that there is a lot of work and a lot of workers, so he wants it all down as fast as possible; so that this is "no time to request vacation time!"

LET, v.t. pret. and pp. let. Letted is obsolete. [To let out, like L. elocare, is to lease.]

To permit; to allow; to suffer; to give leave or power by a positive act, or negatively, to withhold restraint; not to prevent. A leaky ship lets water enter into the hold. Let is followed by the infinitive without the sign to.
Pharaoh said, I will let you go. Exo 8. When the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. Acts 27.
To lease; to grant possession and use for a compensation; as, to let to farm; to let an estate for a year; to let a room to lodgers; often followed by out, as, to let out a farm; but the use of out is unnecessary.
To suffer; to permit; with the usual sign of the infinitive.
There's a letter for you, Sir, if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. [Not used.]
In the imperative mode, let has the following uses. Followed by the first and third persons, it expresses desire or wish; hence it is used in prayer and entreaty to superiors, and to those who have us in their power; as, let me not wander from thy commandments. Psa 119. Followed by the first person plural, let expresses exhortation or entreaty; as, rise, let us go. Followed by the third person, it implies permission or command addressed to an inferior. Let him go, let them remain, are commands addressed to the second person. Let thou, or let ye, that is, do thou or you permit him to go. Sometimes let is used to express a command or injunction to a third person. When the signal is given to engage, let every man do his duty. When applied to things not rational, it implies allowance or concession. O'er golden sands let rich Pactolus flow.
To retard; to hinder; to impede; to interpose obstructions. 2 Th 2. [This sense is now obsolete, or nearly so.]
To let alone, to leave; to suffer to remain without intermeddling; as, let alone this idle project; let me alone.
To let down, to permit to sink or fall; to lower. She let them down by a cord through the window. Josh 2.
To let loose, to free from restraint; to permit to wander at large.
To let in or into, to permit or suffer to enter; to admit. Open the door, let in my friend. We are not let into the secrets of the cabinet.
To let blood, to open a vein and suffer the blood to flow out.
To let out, to suffer to escape; also, to lease or let to hire.
To let off, to discharge, to let fly, as an arrow; or cause to explode, as a gun.

LET, v.i. To forbear. Obs.
LET, n. A retarding; hinderance; obstacle; impediment; delay. [Obsolete, unless in some technical phrases.] LET, a termination of diminutives; as hamlet, a little house; rivulet, a small stream. [See Little.]

(Exodus 5:6-7 [KJV])
And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

Taskmasters=Egyptians
Officers=Israelites
Straw/stubble gatherers=Israelites slaves
Straw=dried stalks or stems of grains which are large and somewhat hollow
Stubble=that which is left after already taking the straw, leftover scraps
the purpose of the straw is to make the bricks stronger
One way today, as then, to get people who hate God without reason to hate Him even more is to tell them what He said
Then it was through Moses by mouth; today it is through the writings of Moses, the prophets, the apostles, all of the writers of God's Word
It often works the same results: They get saved or they react the opposite, and then go after you

(Exodus 5:8 [KJV])
And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

Calling the Israelites, the Hebrews, the Jews, lazy again shows clearly that Pharaoh has no idea Who God really is and, not seeing this God in some sort of idol made with mans' hands, he thinks that Moses, Aaron and the Israelites made this God up to get out of working, having some time off, some vacation days
Therefore, the reaction is to be expected, as Pharaoh thinks that this is all just an excuse, not realizing much yet
That is the key word........YET

(Exodus 5:9 [KJV])
Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

Pharaoh is himself heaping to himself more judgment upon himself and his nation, in spiritual blindness and arrogance, pride
The fact that he regards this request as "vain words" shows, once again, that he has no idea Who God is, having no regard for any other God of the Israelites, of the Hebrews, of Moses, and Aaron
The only gods he acknowledges are his own and now is preparing himself an even bigger surprise judgment to come

(Exodus 5:10-11 [KJV])
And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.

More work, same amount of time, same amount and same people, a punishment for asking to worship God-PERSECUTION of the highest order
This response, result is what is commonly referred to as, "from bad to worse"
Straw strengthens bricks of clay, mud, like baking them does, but with no ovens baking them
This sort of brick making is still done today in poorer countries worldwide

(Exodus 5:12 [KJV])
So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

Scattered to gather, required to return home and to work
Stubble........in other words, the straw was gone; this was short pieces which were left to them
Add to this the factt that the actual straw with length which was left was too far away, the stubble being the only thing left nearby, having been picked previously by the Egyptians for them to make bricks with
You have to work much harder to gather a lot more stubble to equal the same amount of straw

(Exodus 5:13 [KJV])
And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

And here is the acknowledgement in the phrase, "as when there was straw", that there is, indeed, no straw remaining, only stubble, and still the Egyptians not caring, fearing the wrath of Pharaoh over the wrath of God

(Exodus 5:14 [KJV])
And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

These are Israelite officers, chosen by the Egyptian taskmasters, to be over the workers of the children of Israel, over the Israelite people, not wanting to be beaten, passing the wrath back to them who they were over
They knew why the tally was no filled; they were simply grumbling because they were beaten

(Exodus 5:15-16 [KJV])
Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

Bypassing the taskmasters, these officers to straight to the source of the problem, the source of their problem-Pharaoh
The officers know that Pharaoh and his taskmasters know that this is amiss, that there can be no reasonable expectation of the same amount of time, people, strength and straw material to do more work, without more people, time, strength, straw
Pharaoh had no need, no reason to care about their problems, nor did he care

(Exodus 5:17 [KJV])
But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

Not knowing God, people of this world think the same way, that the only reason a person would want to go sacrifice to the LORD three days into the wilderness is because they are lazy, not that God is worthy
Pharaoh, not knowing God, thinks that the Israelites merely want a vacation, because he does not acknowledge Who God is, that He deserves worship, because he himself, as Pharaoh, thinks only HE deserves the worship and adoration of all of the people, his Egyptian people and the Israelites
Therefore he calls them idle, why? Because they are not getting done what He wants them to get done

"YE ARE IDLE!", SAID THE MAN WHO WORSHIPS IDOLS

I'DLE, a.

Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing.
Why stand ye here all the day idle? Mat 20. To be idle, is to be vicious.
Slothful; given to rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; as an idle man; an idle fellow.
Affording leisure; vacant; not occupied; as idle time; idle hours.
Remaining unused; unemployed; applied to things; as, my sword or spear is idle.
Useless; vain; ineffectual; as idle rage.
Unfruitful; barren; not productive of good.
Of antres vast and idle desarts. Idle weeds.
Trifling; vain; of no importance; as an idle story; an idle reason; idle arguments.
Unprofitable; not tending to edification.
Every idle word that men shall speak,they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. Mat 12. Idle differs from lazy; the latter implying constitutional or habitual aversion or indisposition to labor or action, sluggishness; whereas idle, in its proper sense, denotes merely unemployed. An industrious man may be idle, but he cannot be lazy.

(Exodus 5:18 [KJV])
Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

If one does the math, this task is pretty much impossible: Same amount of people, same amount of time, same amount of clay, less straw as a raw material additive, more time to gather it, using the same people out of the whole group who made bricks, to now gather straw, now less straw and only stubble, simply means less bricks

(Exodus 5:19 [KJV])
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

Working is one thing, but this added burden, this extra work, with the same no-pay, same everything, was evil conditons (case) to work under
Today we often say, "there is no rest for the weary"

(Exodus 5:20 [KJV])
And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

Moses and Aaron were outside the meeting between the officers and Pharaoh, like today a person not invited, standing in the hallway
These officers and Israelite workers maybe were not told by Moses and Aaron that God said,

"And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand." -Exodus 3:19
Not understanding that God was doing this, they blame Moses and Aaron for their troubles, for causing more of it
Therefore, they blamed Moses and Aaron for their problems, not Pharaoh
As leaders in Israel, as Aaron was the messenger, s Moses was their deliverer for God, they blamed, ultimately, God for their problems, not recognizing yet what God was going to do FOR them, they thought that Moses and Aaron, ultimately God, were AGAINST them

(Exodus 5:22 [KJV])
And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

So the response back is along this order: the taskmasters and officers of Israel to the people of Israel, the officers to Pharaoh, the officers then back to the people, the people then back to Moses, Moses then back to God
This complaint is what is commonly referred to as, "From bad to worse"

(Exodus 5:23 [KJV])
For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Today we say, "You said that this would happen; it did not and, instead, that happened and that is much worse, the very opposite!"
Moses is relating back to God that he went to speak to Pharaoh in His (God's) Name, in His place, and not on his own, not his idea
He, Moses, is not happy that he is being blamed for all of this by the people
This is a lesson in irresponsibility, false accusations, blaming the wrong parties/persons as, ultimately, this is the fault of Pharaoh and Egypt, it is a work God is doing, using Pharaoh's pride to ultimately destroy him and his kingdom, but blaming Moses and Aaron, then, ultimately, God for all of this, which is misplaced blame

Links to studies by book or topic are on the top menu.

Exodus Chapter 6