וַיֹּאמֶר֩ אֵלָ֨יו הָֽאֱלֹהִ֜ים בַּחֲלֹ֗ם גַּ֣ם אָנֹכִ֤י יָדַ֙עְתִּי֙ כִּ֤י בְתָם־לְבָבְךָ֙ עָשִׂ֣יתָ זֹּ֔את וָאֶחְשֹׂ֧ךְ גַּם־אָנֹכִ֛י אֽוֹתְךָ֖ מֵחֲטוֹ־לִ֑י עַל־כֵּ֥ן לֹא־נְתַתִּ֖יךָ לִנְגֹּ֥עַ אֵלֶֽיהָ׃
Lalu Allah berfirman kepadanya dalam mimpi: “Aku pun tahu bahwa engkau melakukan hal ini dengan hati yang tulus, dan Aku pun telah mencegah engkau berbuat dosa terhadap-Ku; sebab itu Aku tidak membiarkan engkau menyentuh dia.
Rabbeinu Bahya
מי ה' אשר אשמע בקולו, “Who is this Hashem that I should obey His instructions?” Tanchuma Vaeyra 5 comments on this that when Pharaoh heard Moses mention the name of G’d, he took out a register of all known deities and did not find the name Hashem listed there. What the Midrash means is that Pharaoh was intelligent and knowledgeable enough to be familiar with the extent to which earth was populated and civilizations had been established. He knew that the earth had been divided into 7 climatic zones and that each zone had been assigned a deity (zodiac constellation) to supervise its fate. He was also familiar with the 70 nations and what deity was responsible for their respective fates. Seeing that he could not find the name of Hashem listed anywhere in his list, he challenged Moses by saying: “who is this Hashem?” He was unaware that the Hashem Moses had spoken of was the supreme G’d who presided over all forces in the universe and without whose approval no other power could wield any influence in the universe.
Our sages in the above Midrash illustrated this by a parable. A priest had a servant who was mentally defective. Once when the priest had left the country this servant went in search of him. When he came to a cemetery he started shouting at the people assembled there: ”have you seen my master?” The people answered him: ‘is not your master a certain priest, etc.?’ The servant confirmed that this was so. Thereupon the people said to him: ”you idiot why do you look for a priest in a cemetery, a place which is out of bounds to priests?” Similarly, what business does a king have in a slaughterhouse? Moses and Aaron replied to Pharaoh that the reason he had never heard of the supreme G’d was that he had not looked for Him in the right place. Earth, which is a vast cemetery for mankind was most certainly not the place where he could expect to find the supreme G’d. The gods Pharaoh had spoken of were all dead themselves whereas the supreme G’d personified life, growth, development, etc. In answer to Pharaoh’s question what this G’d did and what He had accomplished, Moses and Aaron listed the fact that He had created the universe, the plants, the animals, man, etc., that He made mountains, covered the earth with an atmosphere, that He appoints kings, etc. After hearing this Pharaoh became angry exclaiming: “I have created myself and I am lord of the universe! The river Nile is my river. Who is this G’d that I should take orders from Him?” Thereupon G’d said: “you wicked person!” I am going to bring a plague upon you from this very river which you claim to own and to have created. This is why the first plague was the turning of the waters of the river Nile into blood.
Another explanation of the words: “who is this G’d that I should pay heed to His command?” Pharaoh did not deny G’d’s existence but he felt slighted that G’d did not communicate with him directly as he had done to the Pharaoh who had kidnapped Sarah, and to Avimelech who had wanted to marry Sarah against her will. Seeing that this G’d had revealed Himself to these two kings they had reason to obey His instructions. Seeing that this G’d had not revealed Himself to him, he saw no reason to accept what Moses said as instructions emanating from that G’d. He was angry that G’d had not given him an opportunity to defend his conduct as He had done for Avimelech. [This assumes that the Pharaoh in Genesis 13,17 was the same one as here some 400 years later. Ed.]
Our sages in the above Midrash illustrated this by a parable. A priest had a servant who was mentally defective. Once when the priest had left the country this servant went in search of him. When he came to a cemetery he started shouting at the people assembled there: ”have you seen my master?” The people answered him: ‘is not your master a certain priest, etc.?’ The servant confirmed that this was so. Thereupon the people said to him: ”you idiot why do you look for a priest in a cemetery, a place which is out of bounds to priests?” Similarly, what business does a king have in a slaughterhouse? Moses and Aaron replied to Pharaoh that the reason he had never heard of the supreme G’d was that he had not looked for Him in the right place. Earth, which is a vast cemetery for mankind was most certainly not the place where he could expect to find the supreme G’d. The gods Pharaoh had spoken of were all dead themselves whereas the supreme G’d personified life, growth, development, etc. In answer to Pharaoh’s question what this G’d did and what He had accomplished, Moses and Aaron listed the fact that He had created the universe, the plants, the animals, man, etc., that He made mountains, covered the earth with an atmosphere, that He appoints kings, etc. After hearing this Pharaoh became angry exclaiming: “I have created myself and I am lord of the universe! The river Nile is my river. Who is this G’d that I should take orders from Him?” Thereupon G’d said: “you wicked person!” I am going to bring a plague upon you from this very river which you claim to own and to have created. This is why the first plague was the turning of the waters of the river Nile into blood.
Another explanation of the words: “who is this G’d that I should pay heed to His command?” Pharaoh did not deny G’d’s existence but he felt slighted that G’d did not communicate with him directly as he had done to the Pharaoh who had kidnapped Sarah, and to Avimelech who had wanted to marry Sarah against her will. Seeing that this G’d had revealed Himself to these two kings they had reason to obey His instructions. Seeing that this G’d had not revealed Himself to him, he saw no reason to accept what Moses said as instructions emanating from that G’d. He was angry that G’d had not given him an opportunity to defend his conduct as He had done for Avimelech. [This assumes that the Pharaoh in Genesis 13,17 was the same one as here some 400 years later. Ed.]
Rashbam
ואבימלך לא קרב אליה, this conforms what G’d told him in response, that it was He, G’d, Who had prevented him from having sexual relations with her. (verse 6)
Siftei Chakhamim
For this reason. I.e., the term על כן does not mean, “since,” as in, “Since (כי על כן) I did not give her to Shailoh my son (Bereishis 38:26),” and, “Since (כי על כן) I did not allow you to touch her (ibid. 20:6).” For in those verses, the expression על כן is connected to the word כי — and every instance of כי על כן in Scripture means, “since,” as Rashi explains in Parshas Vayeirah (ibid. 18:5). But here the expression על כן means, “For this reason,” because it is written without the word כי.
Rashi
לא יתן — Translate this as the Targum does: he will not give leave. Similar uses of נתן followed by ל with the infinitive in sense of permitting are: (Genesis 20:6) “therefore I did not permit thee (נתתיך) to touch her”; (Genesis 31:7) “And God did not permit him (נתנו) to do me evil”. Still all these passages really have the sense of giving”. Some explain the phrase ולא ביד חזקה to signify: “He will not permit you to go, and this will not be because his hand is strong”, for (v. 20) “As soon as I stretch forth My hand I will smite the Egyptians [… and afterwards he will let you go]”. And so the Targum renders it: and not on account that his power is mighty. This explanation was told me in the name of Rabbi Jacob the son of Menachem.