מדרש אויף שמות 5:15

(Exod. 5:9:) LET HEAVIER WORK BE LAID UPON THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY WORK AT IT AND NOT PAY ATTENTION TO LYING WORDS. < What is the meaning of NOT PAY ATTENTION (rt.: Sh'H)?>³⁰This sentence is taken from the parallel account in Tanh., Exod. 2:6. Similarly Exod. R. 5:18. See also M. Pss. (Buber) 119:38. That they had scrolls with which they entertained themselves (rt.: Sh'Sh') from Sabbath to Sabbath by saying: The Holy One is redeeming us. Pharaoh said to them (ibid.): AND NOT PAY ATTENTION (rt.: Sh'H) TO LYING WORDS, nor rely (rt.: Sh'N) <on them>, nor entertain themselves (rt.: Sh'Sh') <with them>, nor be idle. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 5:6): ON THAT SAME DAY PHARAOH COMMANDED THE TASKMASTERS OVER THE PEOPLE AND THEIR OFFICERS, SAYING. He said to them (in vs. 7): YOU SHALL NO LONGER GIVE THE PEOPLE STRAW…. The Holy One said: Tomorrow I am bringing plagues upon them.³¹Exod. R. 5:19. They said: Pharaoh is sinning, and we are paying. When Israel goes out to bring stubble for them to make straw, the Egyptian smites them, when he sees them in the midst of his field. Therefore (in Exod. 5:12): THEN THE PEOPLE SCATTERED THROUGHOUT ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT <TO GATHER STUBBLE FOR STRAW >. (Exod. 5:15) THEN THE OFFICERS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CAME AND {SAID} [CRIED] UNTO PHARAOH, <SAYING: WHY HAVE YOU ACTED IN THIS WAY TOWARD YOUR SERVANTS? > What did he reply to them (in vs. 17)? YOU ARE LAZY, LAZY!

“The foremen of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, saying: Why have you not fulfilled your appointed task in making bricks both yesterday and today as previously?” (Exodus 5:14).
“The foremen of the children of Israel…were beaten” – from here you learn that they were upright, they dedicated themselves on behalf of Israel, and they suffered beatings to ease their situation. Therefore, they merited the divine spirit, as it is stated: “Gather to Me seventy men from the elders of Israel [whom you know to be elders of the people and their foremen]” (Numbers 11:16). The Holy One blessed be He said: They were beaten on their behalf; therefore, they will merit the divine spirit. They were appointed prophets over them.
“The foremen of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying: Why do you deal so with your servants. Straw is not given to your servants, and bricks they say to us: Make; and, behold, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.… The foremen of the children of Israel saw them in distress, when they said: Do not diminish from your bricks, each day’s matter on its day. They met Moses and Aaron, standing in their way, as they emerged from before Pharaoh” (Exodus 5:15–20).
“The foremen of the children of Israel came and cried.… Straw is not given to your servants.… The foremen of the children of Israel saw them in distress, when they said.… they met Moses and Aaron, standing” – six months later, the Holy One blessed be He appeared to Moses in Midyan and said to him: “Go, return to Egypt” (Exodus 4:19). Moses came from Midyan and Aaron from Egypt, and they encountered the foremen of Israel as they were emerging from before Pharaoh. What is “standing [nitzavim]”? Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, say: Datan and Aviram were with them, as it is written in their regard: “Datan and Aviram emerged standing [nitzavim]” (Numbers 16:27); they began cursing and blaspheming vis-à-vis Moses and Aaron.