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PLA001
The Initial Confrontation Between Moses and Pharaoh
The article examines how the first confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh, before the ten plagues, symbolizes a clash of sovereignties between Yahweh and the Egyptian deities. Moses challenges Pharaoh's authority, thus revealing a struggle for divine recognition and laying the foundations for the coming judgment. This encounter highlights the divine process of redemption initiated by the word, and underscores the asymmetry of divine power in the face of human pretensions.
Exodus 5.1-5 (King James Version) :And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.NoteLet there…: Heb. Let the work be heavy upon the menAnd the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.King James Version (1769), domaine public — texte : eBible.org