Exodus 5:4

Summary

The king of Egypt confronts Moses and Aaron, accusing them of causing the Israelite people to cease their work. He orders them to return to their forced labor (siv.lo.tei.khem, "your forced labor", H5450).

Key words

Yo.mer ("he said", H0559) — qal narrative imperfect, marking the next event in the story sequence ("and then he said").

Me.lekh ("king of", H4428G) — masculine singular construct, linking directly to mitz.Ra.yim ("Egypt", H4714G) to form "king of Egypt."

taf.Ri.'u ("you cause to refrain", H6544B) — hiphil (causative) imperfect, 2nd person masculine plural. The causative stem indicates that Moses and Aaron are not merely observing but actively causing the people to stop working.

ma.'a.Sa ("works of", H4639G) — masculine plural construct with a 3rd person suffix ("his/its"), referring to the people's labor from which they are being made to cease.

le.Khu ("go", H1980G) — qal imperative, masculine plural, a direct command issued to Moses and Aaron (or, contextually, to the people) to return to labor.

What the text says

The verse opens with the standard narrative construction va-yo.mer ("and he said"), introducing direct speech from me.lekh mitz.Ra.yim ("the king of Egypt"). The construct chain me.lekh mitz.Ra.yim places "king" in construct state governing "Egypt," a standard way of expressing possession or association in Hebrew ("king of Egypt").

The king's question begins with the interrogative la.mah ("why?", H4100), followed by the vocative naming of mo.Sheh ve.'a.ha.Ron ("Moses and Aaron"). The core verb taf.Ri.'u is in the hiphil stem, which is causative: rather than saying the people "cease" (which would be a simple qal), the text specifically attributes causation of the cessation to Moses and Aaron. The direct object marker 'et- precedes ha.'Am ("the people", H5971A), marking it as the object being acted upon. The phrase mi-ma.'a.Sav ("from his works") uses the preposition min ("from") to indicate separation — the people are being drawn away from their labor.

The command that follows, le.khu le.siv.lo.tei.khem ("go to your forced labor"), uses the construct noun siv.lo.tei ("forced labor of") with a 2nd person plural suffix, specifying whose labor is meant.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the king's address as "ὶ Ἀαρών" (a vocative form addressing Aaron, though the text shows an apparent gap where "Moses" may be expected), and translates taf.Ri.'u with διαστρέφετε ("you distort/turn aside"), a broader semantic range than the Hebrew's causative "cause to refrain." The LXX's closing command, ἀπέλθατε ἕκαστος ὑμῶν πρὸς τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ("let each of you go to his own works"), individualizes the command ("each of you"), differing from the Hebrew's collective plural imperative le.khu. The Vulgate's sollicitatis ("you stir up/incite") also diverges from the Hebrew's specific causative sense of "causing to cease," leaning toward agitation rather than cessation of labor.