Exodus 5

2. Who is the Lord? That is, “I acknowledge Him not as my God.” He regarded Jehovah only as the national God of the Hebrews, powerless in comparison with the gods of Egypt.

4 let. An old English word, meaning “hinder.” Cp. Rom. i. 13.

7 straw. The bricks commonly used in Egypt were not burnt, but dried in the sun, and mixed with chopped straw to make them more durable.

12 instead of straw. Heb., “for straw,” i.e., to serve as straw (so R.V.). The stubble was gathered from the reaped fields; the straw, more plentifully and easily, from the threshing-floors.