Rashi on TanakhExodus 5

Afterwards Moshe and Aharon went, etc. But the elders slipped away one by one from behind Moshe and Aharon, until they had all slipped away before they reached the palace, for they were afraid to go. They received their retribution at Sinai: “Moshe, alone, drew near to Adonoy but they (the elders) did not draw near.” [for] He (God) made them turn back.

Lest He strike us. Actually, they should have said, “Lest He strike you,” but, they showed respect to the king. The term פְּגִיעָה (“יִפְגָּעֵנוּ”) denotes an occurrence of death.

Are you distracting the people from their work. I.e., “why are you disengaging and distancing them from their work, for they might listen to you and have thoughts of resting from the work.” Similarly “(פְּרָעֵהוּ) Distance yourself from it, do not pass by it,” [פְּרָעֵהוּ meaning:] keep it at a distance. Similarly: “(וַתִּפְרְעוּ) You will keep away from my advice.” [or:] כִּי פָרֻעַ הוּא — “for it has distanced itself,” [פָרֻעַ הוּא: meaning] “It has distanced itself and became repulsive.”

Get back to your burdens. [Meaning:] get back to your chores which you need to do in your homes. But the slave labor of Egypt was not [decreed] upon the Tribe of Leivi. You can know this by the fact that Moshe and Aharon came and went without permission.

Behold, the people of the land are now many upon whom rests the responsibility of working and you are stopping them from their burden. This results in a great loss [to the economy].

The task masters. They were Egyptians while the officers were Israelites. The נוֹגֵשׂ was in charge of several officers while the שׁוֹטֵר was in charge of controlling the workers.

Straw. Estoble [in Old French] — stubble. They would knead it together with the clay.

Bricks. Tiules, in Old French — tiles which are made of clay and are dried in the sun. Some are burnt out in a furnace.

As before. [כִּתְמוֹל שִׁלְשֹׁם — lit. as yesterday and the day before means:] “as you had been doing till now.”

Gather. [וְקשְׁשׁוּ is the same as:] וְלִקְּטוּ — gather.

The quota of bricks. [מַתְכֹּנֶת הַלְּבֵנִים means:] “the total number of bricks that each one made per day when the straw was distributed to them, that same quota is to be required of them, even now, so that their work will become more difficult.

For [they are] lazy. [I.e., “They have become disengaged] from their work. Therefore, their attention has turned towards idleness and they cry out, saying: ‘Let us go, etc.’”

[The word] מַתְכֹּנֶת . [The words:] “וְתוֹכֶן לְבֵנִים,” “and by him (נִתְכְּנוּ) deeds are counted,” [and] “the money (הַמְתֻכָּן) that was counted” are all terms denoting taking a count.

[The word] נִרְפִּים [means:] The work has become loose (רְפוּיָה) in their hand, and neglected by them and they have become loosened from it retreit, in Old French — loosened.

Let them not talk about false ideas. Let them not constantly think about and talk about nonsensical ideas, saying: “Let us go and sacrifice.” Similar to this is: “(וְאֶשְׁעָה) I will speak of Your Laws constantly.” [The words:] לְמָשָׁל וְלִשְׁנִינָה are translated by Onkelos as: לְשׁוֹעֵי — “[an example and a topic of] talk. ” וַיְסַפֵּר — and he related [is translated:] וְאִשְׁתָּעִי . It is impossible to say that יִשְׁעוּ has the same meaning as: “God (וַיִשַׁע) turned to Hevel, etc. but, to Kayin and his gift (לֹא שָׁעָה) He did not turn,” and, therefore וְאַל יִשְׁעוּ would mean: “Do not turn,” for if this were so, the Torah should have written: “And do not turn (אֶל) to false ideas” or לְדִבְרֵי שָׁקֶר [instead of אֶל דִבְרֵי שָׁקֶר], because this is the form of them all: [such as:] “(יִשְׁעֶה הָאָדָם עַל) Man shall turn to his Maker;” [or:] “(יִשְׁעֶה אֶל) He shall not turn to the altars.” “(שָׁעוּ עַל) They do not turn to the Holy One of Israel” Never have I found the prefix ב' following them (i.e., שָׁעָה in the sense of turn). But after words meaning speaking in the sense of being involved in speaking of something, it is appropriate to use the prefix ב' . E.g., “Those who have a discussion (בְּךָ) about you” [or:] “Miriam and Aharon spoke (בְּמשֶׁה) about Moshe” [or:] “The angel who spoke (בִּי) about me” [or:] “to speak (בָּם) about them” [or:] “I will speak (בְּעֵדֹתֶיךָ) of Your testimonies.” Here, too, אַל יִשְׁעוּ בְדִבְרֵי שָׁקֶר [means]: “Let them not talk about useless, nonsensical things.”

You [must] go get your own straw. “And you must go with zeal — but [your workload] must not be reduced — by any amount from the total number of bricks that you had been making per day, when straw was given to you, already prepared, from the king’s warehouse.”

To gather grain-chaff for straw. [לְקשֵׁשׁ קַשׁ means:] to collect a gathering, to put together a collection [לַתֶּבֶן meaning:] for the purpose of the straw for the clay.

Kash — is a term meaning: gathering. It is because it is something which disperses and requires (קשֵׁשׁ) gathering, [straw] is referred to as קַשׁ in other places.

Pressured. [אָצִים does not mean hurried, but rather] pressured.

Daily work. [I.e.] “Complete each day’s quota on time as you did when the straw was already prepared.”

The officers of the B’nei Yisrael were beaten. The officers were Israelites and they took pity on their fellow-men and did not pressure them and when they tallied the bricks for the taskmasters, who were Egyptians and they fell short of the quota, they [the Egyptians] would beat them (the officers) for not pressuring the workers. It is for this reason that these officers merited to become [members of] the Sanhedrin and some of the holy spirit which was on Moshe was set apart and put on them. As it is said: “Gather to me seventy men of the Elders of Israel” i.e., “of those about whom you know of the good that they did in Egypt, for they are the elders of the people and its officers.”

The officers of the B’nei Yisrael were beaten. [Those officers] that Pharaoh’s taskmasters appointed to be officers over them (the B’nei Yisrael). And were told, “Why, etc.?” Why were they beaten? Because they would say to them, “Why have you not completed neither yesterday, nor today the quota that has been set upon you to make bricks, [כִּתְמוֹל הַשְּׁלִישִׁי] as you did the ‘third yesterday’” which is the day before yesterday which was when the straw was given to them.

[The word] וַיֻּכּוּ — grammatically means: they were recipients of an act, [i.e.] they were beaten by others. The taskmasters beat them.

And yet we are told to make bricks. [I.e.] the taskmasters tell us, “Make bricks to equal the earlier amount.”

And it is a sin for your people. If וחטאת had been vocalized with a patach (וחטַאת), I would have said that it is in the construct state [and it would have meant:] “And this thing is the sin of your people.” But now that it is a kametz (וחטָאת), it is an [independent] noun and this is its meaning: “and this thing brings sin to your people,” as if it were written: “וְחַטָּאת לְעַמֶּךָ” “It will be a sin to your people” as in כְּבוֹאָנָה בֵּית לֶחֶם — “when they came to Beis Lechem” which is the same as לְבֵית לֶחֶם — to Beis Lechem, and there are many such instances.

Quota of bricks. [וְתֹכֶן לְבֵנִים means:] the number of bricks. Similarly: “The money (הַמְתֻכָּן)” — that was counted — as is mentioned in that narrative: “They wrapped it and counted the money.”

The officers of the B’nei Yisrael realized. that their fellow men who were ruled by them.

Bad position. They saw them in the bad and oppressive state which came upon them when they had to increase their work-load when they were told “Do not diminish, etc.”

They met. Some of the B’nei Yisrael [met] Moshe and Aharon, etc. However, our Sages explained [that] wherever נִצִּים — quarreling or נִצָּבִים — standing [appear] it is a reference to Doson and Aviram for it is said about them: “They went out (נִצָּבִים) standing.”

“Why have You brought harm to this people?” [Moshe meant:] “Should You say, ‘what concern is this of yours?’ I am complaining that You sent me.”

He has done harm [to] הֵרַע is in the hiphil (causative) form, [i.e.] “he has caused an increase of harm upon them.” Onkelos translates [הֵרַע]: אַבְאֵשׁ — he has mistreated.