New Living Translation
Exodus 5:2
2“Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”
Exodus 5:2 in other versions
- King James Version (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.
- New International Version (NIV)Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)But Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
Context of Exodus 5:2
1After this presentation to Israel’s leaders, Moses and Aaron went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” “Is that so?” retorted Pharaoh. “And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don’t know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.” 3But Aaron and Moses persisted. “The God of the Hebrews has met with us,” they declared. “So let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can offer sacrifices to the Lord our God. If we don’t, he will kill us with a plague or with the sword.” 4Pharaoh replied, “Moses and Aaron, why are you distracting the people from their tasks? Get back to work!
Read all of Exodus 5Exodus 5:2 word by word
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֔ה מִ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶשְׁמַ֣ע בְּקֹל֔וֹ לְשַׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לֹ֤א יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ אֶת־יְהוָ֔ה וְגַ֥ם אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֹ֥א אֲשַׁלֵּֽחַ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 5:2
- Exodus 3:19“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.
- 2 Kings 18:35What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?”
- 2 Chronicles 32:15Don’t let Hezekiah deceive you! Don’t let him fool you like this! I say it again—no god of any nation or kingdom has ever yet been able to rescue his people from me or my ancestors. How much less will your God rescue you from my power!”
- Job 21:15Who is the Almighty, and why should we obey him? What good will it do us to pray?’
- Psalms 10:4The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead.
- Psalms 12:4They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own—who can stop us?”
- Psalms 14:1Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!
- 1 Samuel 2:12Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels who had no respect for the Lord
- John 16:3This is because they have never known the Father or me.
- Romans 1:28Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.
- Jeremiah 44:16“We will not listen to your messages from the Lord!
Commentaries on Exodus 5:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Who 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2I know not the Lord - Either Pharaoh had not heard of Yahweh, or he did not recognize Him as a God.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2Pharaoh quickly addressed the main issue. What god could be greater than Pharaoh? What god could make him do something against his will? This is a key question for all people. Is there anyone or anything more important than my own interests?Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. 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. To demonstrate the supremacy of the true God over all the gods of Egypt, was the design of the plagues…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 5:2
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
Commentaries