וַיֹּ֣אמֶר פַּרְעֹ֔ה הֵן־רַבִּ֥ים עַתָּ֖ה עַ֣ם הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהִשְׁבַּתֶּ֥ם אֹתָ֖ם מִסִּבְלֹתָֽם׃
또 가로되 이제 나라에 이 백성이 많거늘 너희가 그들로 역사를 쉬게 하는도다 하고
Shemot Rabbah
“Pharaoh said: Behold, the people of the land are now many; and will you cause them to cease from their burdens?” (Exodus 5:5).
“Pharaoh said: Behold, the people of the land are now many” – he said to them: ‘If it were one thousand people that you seek or two thousand, I would allow it. Is it six hundred thousand that you seek? Go to your burdens.’
Another interpretation: Rabbi Nehorai said: From where do you derive that only two of six hundred thousand of Israel emerged from Egypt?30All the rest died in the three days of pitch darkness during the plague of darkness. Regarding the wilderness it is stated: “I said I would pour My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them” (Ezekiel 20:13), and regarding the wilderness it is stated: “I said I would pour My fury upon them, to spend My anger upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:8). Just as in the wilderness only two of six hundred thousand remained of them,31Of the six hundred thousand men who left Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua entered the land of Israel. so too, in Egypt, only two of six hundred thousand remained of them. “Behold, the people of the land are now many.”32They are many now, but ultimately they will be far fewer.
“Pharaoh said: Behold, the people of the land are now many” – he said to them: ‘If it were one thousand people that you seek or two thousand, I would allow it. Is it six hundred thousand that you seek? Go to your burdens.’
Another interpretation: Rabbi Nehorai said: From where do you derive that only two of six hundred thousand of Israel emerged from Egypt?30All the rest died in the three days of pitch darkness during the plague of darkness. Regarding the wilderness it is stated: “I said I would pour My fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them” (Ezekiel 20:13), and regarding the wilderness it is stated: “I said I would pour My fury upon them, to spend My anger upon them in the midst of the land of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:8). Just as in the wilderness only two of six hundred thousand remained of them,31Of the six hundred thousand men who left Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua entered the land of Israel. so too, in Egypt, only two of six hundred thousand remained of them. “Behold, the people of the land are now many.”32They are many now, but ultimately they will be far fewer.
Midrash Tanchuma
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.)