Exodus 5:2 records Pharaoh’s flat refusal to acknowledge the LORD or release the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The verse shows a ruler who rejects the God of Israel’s command and dismisses His authority over the nation. It is spoken by Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, in reply to Moses and Aaron when they deliver God’s demand that Israel be allowed to leave and hold a feast in the wilderness.
Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should listen to his voice to let Israel go? I don’t know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
Exodus 5:2 (WEB)
What Exodus 5:2 Means
Pharaoh opens with the question “Who is the LORD?” It is less a request for information than a challenge. He is saying that he has no reason to recognize this deity, and that a foreign god’s messengers have no standing to give him orders. When he asks why he should listen to God’s voice, he treats the command as something he is free to weigh and reject, the way a powerful man might brush off a petition from people beneath him.
His next words make the refusal plain: “I don’t know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.” The word “moreover” stacks defiance on top of ignorance. He does not simply lack knowledge of God; he declares that even if this God exists, he will not yield. The verse does not promise anything to the reader. It shows what hardened self-rule looks like when it meets the word of God, which sets up the escalating plagues that follow.
The Context of Exodus 5:2
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses and tells how God rescued the descendants of Jacob from Egyptian bondage and formed them into a nation with a covenant at Sinai. Its first audience was most likely the Israelites themselves, who needed to understand where they came from and who had delivered them. Chapter 5 marks the first direct confrontation between Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh, after earlier episodes where Moses was commissioned at the burning bush.
Just before the verse, Moses and Aaron deliver the message “Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.” Just after, the king accuses them of distracting the people from their work and orders the burdens increased. Read in that setting, Pharaoh’s words are not an isolated outburst. They are the first step in a chain of cruelty that makes the coming deliverance look all the more like the work of God alone.
Key Phrases in Exodus 5:2
Exodus 7:5
The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
(WEB)
This verse comes after the plagues have begun and states the purpose behind them: Egypt will know that the LORD is God. It answers Pharaoh’s question in Exodus 5:2 by showing the knowledge he refused to acknowledge will come through God’s own acts of judgment and deliverance.
Psalm 77:14
You are the God who does wonders. You have made your strength known among the peoples.
(WEB)
The psalmist remembers God’s mighty works among the peoples, reflecting on the same deliverance that Pharaoh tried to block. This verse helps readers see that the LORD’s power to rescue is not diminished by the opposition of any earthly ruler.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 5:2
Lord, I confess that there are places in my life where I have asked, like Pharaoh, whether You truly have the right to speak into my choices. Soften my heart so that I hear Your voice clearly and do not harden myself against what You ask. Help me trust that You are faithful even when the path ahead looks uncertain or difficult. Give me courage to obey You today, and let my life show that You are the LORD over all things. Amen.
