The major theme of Exodus 5 focuses on the question, “Who will serve whom?” The players and their commitments are center stage: Aaron and Moses, the pharaoh and his servants, and the Israelite foremen caught in between. The conflict that begins here will not be resolved until Exodus 12:31–33.

This chapter echoes some of the material in Exodus 1, reminding readers of the situation in Egypt: heavy work, servitude, making bricks, and numerous Hebrews. The difference here is that Moses and Aaron, as called by the Lord, have had an effect on this situation. The initial negative effect was an intensification of the pharaoh’s demands for making straw into bricks (5:7, 8, 10–14, 16, 18–19). While Moses and Aaron mention God for the first time in Pharaoh’s presence, the Lord, like the laboring peo…