Key Verses: Exodus 5-6

Key Questions


1. Pharaoh responds to Moses’ call for justice by increasing oppression (questioning “rest” and adding to the labor so that the people will not regard “lying words”). What does this say about how oppressive powers react to the demands for liberation?
2. How can the Israelite response to increased hardship inform contemporary understandings of faith under oppression?


3. Egyptians perceive the Israelites as “idle.” How does derogatory language precede de-humanizing actions in the Bible and in history?

4. How does God’s reaffirmation of the covenant with the patriarchs strengthen the Israelites’ faith (especially in 6:3)? What is the role of memory in our religious practices and liturgies?


5. Why does the narrative pause in chapter 6 to add Moses’s genealogy? In what ways does the genealogy serve to legitimize his leadership and mission?

Theological Insights


“Perhaps nowhere is Pharaoh’s hardness of heart demonstrated more clearly than in the first words he utters in the Exodus narrative: ‘Who is the Lord?’ In time, of course, Pharaoh will have this question answered for him more pointedly than he ever imagined, and as such, Pharaoh’s question foreshadows the irony of Israel’s escape from his grasp.” Peter Enns, Exodus (NIVAC).

“[on 5:5 and Pharaoh’s refusal to let the people “sabbath] It may explain the economic reasons for refusing the request. The Israelites are so numerous that any interruption of their labors would entail an enormous loss of productivity. It might also take up the original theme of 1:7, 9-10 that the huge population would constitute a power to be reckoned with were they to quit working.” Nahum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, 28.

“…in this system there can be no Sabbath rest. There is no rest for Pharaoh in his supervisory capacity, and he undoubtedly monitors daily production schedules. Consequently, there can be no rest for Pharaoh’s supervisors or taskmasters; and of course there can be no rest for the slaves who must satisfy the taskmasters in order to meet Pharaoh’s demanding quotas… the “Egyptian gods” also never rested, because of their commitment to the aggrandizement of Pharaoh’s system, for the glory of Pharaoh surely redounded to the glory of the Egyptian gods. The economy reflects the splendor of the gods who legitimate the entire system, for which cheap labor is an indispensable footnote!” Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance.

“The genealogy links Moses and Aaron with the twelve sons of Jacob in 1:1-4… it serves a credentialing purpose… After Moses’ and Aaron’s failures with Pharaoh and with the resultant identity issues, in view of the accusations of some Israelites (5:20), and Aaron’s latecomer status, it may have been thought important to inform the questioning reader. Chapter 6:26-27 stresses that God addressed both Moses and Aaron and sent them on this mission… The Christian will be reminded of a comparable interweaving of genealogy and story of another savior of Israel (Matthew 1).” Fretheim, Exodus (Interpretation), 91.