Midrash for Exodus 5:17

(Exod. 5:3): THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS. Moses and Aaron said: <These words were necessary> because (in vs. 1) we had altered the wording (of Exod. 3:18) which was difficult for us. <So> they repeated <themselves> and said: THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS.²⁵According to Exod. 3:18, the Holy One told Moses to say to Pharaoh: THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, but in Exod. 5:1: Moses and Aaron had said: THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. For that reason Moses and Aaron corrected their wording in Exod. 5:3. So Tanh., Exod. 2:6; Exod. R.5:15. R. Simeon ben Johay says: He began to gnash his teeth at them when he said (in Exod. 5:17): YOU ARE LAZY, LAZY!….²⁶Exod. R. 5:18.

And Pharaoh said: Behold, the people of the land are now many (ibid., v. 5). R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: What did he do to them? He began to gnash his teeth furiously against them, and he called out to them, saying: You are idlers (nirpim) (ibid., v. 17). Nirpim means “uncleanness.” May his bones be ground up. “So you claim that you are holy men? and you say: Let us go (ibid., v. 17)?” R. Joshua the son of Levi said: The tribe of Levi was exempted from hard labor, and therefore Pharaoh said to them: “Perhaps it is because you are exempted from hard labor that you dare say: Let us go and sacrifice to our God (ibid., v. 8) (Get you unto your burdens.)

(Lev. 17:3-4:) “If any single person from the House of Israel slaughters […]. And does not bring it unto the entrance of the tent of meeting.” Isaiah has said (in Is. 66:3), “One who slaughters the bull slays a human.” Whenever anyone steals his comrade's bull and slaughters it, it is as if he slays its owner. Another interpretation of “One who slaughters (shohet) the bull slays a human”: (Zev. 14:4:) Before the tabernacle was set up, all high places (bamot) were permitted and the service was with the firstborn; but since the tabernacle has been set up, the high places have been forbidden, and the service is with the priests. The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Whoever sacrifices a bull apart from the tent of meeting is like one who slays a person, it is as though he has taken (shohet) a life. Thus it is stated (in Lev. 17:4), ‘bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man; he has shed blood.’ So whoever slaughters (shohet) at the tabernacle honors me, as stated (in Ps. 50:23), ‘Whoever sacrifices a thank offering honors Me.’ Now what reward shall I repay to him? When I bring salvation to Israel, he will have the right to see it, as stated (ibid., cont.), ‘and to the one who sets his way aright I will show the salvation of God.’” R. Abbahu said, “All salvation that comes to Israel is of the Holy One, blessed be He, as stated (in Ps. 91:15-16), ‘I will be with him in distress … and show him My salvation.’” Israel said, “Master of the world, inasmuch as you said, ‘I will be with him in distress,’ (in the words of Ps. 60:7), ‘save with Your right hand and answer me.’” [Thus] if You answer us, salvation is Yours, as stated (in Ps. 80:3) “come to save us”; such that Your right hand not be behind, as stated (Lamentations 2:3), “He placed His right hand behind.” R. Berekhyah the Priest beRabbi said, “See what is written (in Zech. 9:9), ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion […]; behold your king comes to you righteous and saved.’⁷⁷A more traditional translation would read: VICTORIOUS AND TRIUMPHANT. [The active voice,] ‘saving’ is not written here, but [the passive] ‘saved.’⁷⁸Thus implying that God himself was saved. See Exod. R. 30:24, which interprets this verse and Ps. 91:15 to imply that even apart from good deeds, salvation comes for its own sake. And so it [says] (in Is. 62:11), ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your salvation is coming.”’ ‘Your savior’ is not written here, but ‘your salvation.’ He, as it were, is saved.” R. Meir said, (concerning Exod. 14:30), “’So the Lord saved (wywsh', voweled as wayyosha') Israel on that day’: the written text (ketiv) [reads] ‘so [the Lord] was saved (wywsh', voweled as wayyiwwasha').’ As it were, He was saved [on that day] with Israel.”⁷⁹Above, 6:13; below, Numb. 1:10; and the notes in both places. R. Ammi said, “Moses praised the congregation of Israel (in Deut. 33:29), ‘Fortunate are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved through the Lord.’ ‘A people the Lord saved’ is not written here, but ‘a people saved through the Lord.’ It is comparable to a person who had a seah of wheat for a second tithe. What does he do? He gives coins to redeem it. So [it was] in the case of Israel. Through what were they redeemed? Through the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, ‘a people saved through the Lord.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, “In this world you are saved by means of flesh and blood: In Egypt by means of Moses and Aaron; in the days of Sisera by means of Barak and Deborah; among the Midianites by means of Shamgar ben Anath, as stated (Jud. 3:31), ‘and he also saved Israel’⁸⁰According to Jud. 3:31, Shamgar delivered Israel, not from Midianites, but from Philistines.; and likewise through the Judges. But because they were flesh and blood, you again became enslaved. However, in the world to come, I myself will redeem you, and you will never again be enslaved. Thus it is stated (in Is. 45:17), ‘Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation.’”⁸¹Cf. above, Exod. 5:17; M. Pss. 31:2; 50:3; Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 1; Mekhilta d’Rabbi Simeon b. Johay, pp. 72, 78.