What does Exodus 5:1 mean?
Moses (Exodus 3:4–6, 10) and Aaron (Exodus 4:14–16) have their first encounter with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Their ultimate goal is to free Israel from slavery (Exodus 1:13–14). Yet, according to God's instructions, they begin by making a much less dramatic request (Exodus 3:18). For now, they ask that Israel be given leave to travel three days away, in order to worship the Lord. This is very specifically given as a command from YHWH 'elōhe' yisrāēl': "the Lord, the God of Israel." From the very start, this conflict is presented as a question of obedience to God.Readers may wonder why Moses and Aaron are requesting a temporary break, rather than complete freedom. It's possible that this is one way the Lord demonstrates how hardened Pharaoh is. If he refuses to allow them several days, there is no chance he will allow them to go entirely free. God knew that Pharaoh would refuse, no matter what (Exodus 3:20).
At this point, it seems Moses and Aaron have not performed any of the miraculous signs they were given (Exodus 4:2–9). Those will be used in their next meeting with the Egyptian king (Exodus 7:10–13). The book of Exodus uses the expression "let my people go" repeatedly (Exodus 7:16; 8:1, 20, 21; 9:1, 13; 10:3, 4).
Exodus 5:1–14 describes the first encounter between Moses and Egypt's ruler, Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21–23). When Moses asks that Israel be released for a period of worship (Exodus 3:18), Pharaoh flatly refuses. In fact, he retaliates against the Hebrews by forcing them to make the same quota of bricks (Exodus 1:13–14) without being provided the usual raw materials. This is impossible; the cruel punishments which follow are exactly what Pharaoh intended with his spiteful command.
Moses and Aaron have their first meeting with Egypt's king, the pharaoh. Though they are there to free Israel entirely (Exodus 3:10), they begin with a much less dramatic request: three days to worship their God in the wilderness (Exodus 3:18). Pharaoh refuses. Instead, he spitefully cuts off supply of raw materials—straw—while demanding the same output from the Hebrew slaves. This increases the peoples' burden and gives Pharaoh's taskmasters excuse to abuse them. When the Israelites turn against Moses, he expresses confusion to God.