Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Torah

LEST HE FALL UPON US WITH PESTILENCE. “Moses and Aaron wanted to say [to Pharaoh], ‘Lest He fall upon thee,’ but they showed respect to royalty.” Thus the language of Rashi. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “‘Lest He fall upon us; that is, including us Israelites, also you Pharaoh and all Egypt.’ Therefore when the Egyptians saw the slaying of the firstborn, they said, ‘We are all dead men,’ for the words of Moses now became clear to them when he said, Lest he fall upon us with pestilence, and therefore they drove them to go to sacrifice [to G-d].” This explanation of Ibn Ezra is not correct, for Moses and Aaron were not commanded to say that Israel too would share in the punishment of pestilence or sword if they would not sacrifice [to G-d], and Moses and Aaron would by no means change anything in the mission of G-d. By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], this is the secret of the offerings, as they constitute a redemption from punishment, for before Him goeth the pestilence.. Ramban then proceeds to explain the end of the verse: or with the sword. Or with the sword, this means the harsh [attribute of justice]. Moses said this because the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded them, saying, And you shall say unto him: ‘The Eternal, the G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us. And now let us go … that we may sacrifice to the Eternal our G-d.’ and they said to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Eternal, the G-d of Israel: ‘Let My people go.’ Now Pharaoh was indeed a very wise man. He knew [of the existence of] G-d and acknowledged Him, as he — or his predecessor (above, 1:8). One Rabbi said that he was really a new king; the other said that it was the same king but he decreed new edicts, and comported himself as though he did not know him. — said to Joseph: Forasmuch as G-d had shown thee all this; a man in whom the spirit of G-d is., Verse 38. But Pharaoh did not know the Proper Name of G-d, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton], and accordingly, he answered, I know not the Eternal. Therefore they replied and said to him, as they were commanded, The G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us, mentioning to him only the G-d of the Hebrews, which is equivalent to E-il Sha-dai. They said, He hath met with us, relating to Pharaoh the exact language of the message they were commanded to bring him, and they explained to him that in this meeting which they would have [with G-d], it would be necessary for them to sacrifice before Him, lest the meeting be with pestilence, or with the sword. In a similar vein did Scripture set forth in connection with Balaam, as it is said, And G-d met Balaam, and he said unto Him: I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.

WHEREFORE DO YE, MOSES AND AARON…? Pharaoh asked them for their names, and he mentioned them by name in a manner indicating respect.
TAPHRI’U’ THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR WORK. Onkelos translated: t’vatlu (you cause them to idle from their work). Similarly: ‘porei’a’ (refuseth) instruction; as meaning: “taking them away.” Ramban therefore calls attention to Onkelos, who interpreted it as meaning “idle,” “making to nought all their work.” ‘vatiphr’u’ (and ye have set at nought) all my counsel., 1:25.
GET YOU TO YOUR BURDENS. If we follow the simple interpretation of Scripture, reference here is to the work for the king, since Moses and Aaron were part of the [Hebrew] people for at this time they came before him with all the people. But he did not listen to them and commanded them: “Return you all to the work.” Later when Moses and Aaron returned before Pharaoh and he said to them, Show a wonder for you, and they did so, they appeared to him like the magicians, sorcerers, and wise men, and he showed them respect. Still later, when the plagues began coming upon him, he was in dread fear of them. It appears furthermore that not all the children of Israel worked all the time for Pharaoh in mortar and in brick, for in that case they would have filled the whole land of Egypt with cities. Rather, they worked in levies, and he pressed his yoke upon them by taking many of the Israelites [into his labors].
Now Rashi explained: “Get you to your burdens, i.e., ‘to your work which you have to do in your homes.’ But [it cannot signify ‘go to your labors as slaves,’ for he was speaking to Moses and Aaron, who were of the tribe of Levi, and] the work of Egyptian slavery was not imposed upon the tribe of Levi. You may know that this was so because Moses and Aaron went and came as they pleased.” This is correct. All man’s work whether at home or in the field is so called [sebel (labor)], just as in the verse: over all the ‘sebel’ (labor) of the house of Joseph. And it is customary among all people to have wise men who teach them their laws. Therefore Pharaoh did not impose slavery upon the tribe of Levi, who were the teachers and the elders of the children of Israel, and it was all caused by G-d. I have seen in V’eileh Shemoth Rabbah: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said that the tribe of Levi was free from servile labor. Pharaoh said to them, ‘It is because you are free [from the forced labor] that you therefore say, Let us go and sacrifice to our G-d. Get ye unto your burdens for Israel.’ Another interpretation: Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, ‘It is enough for you that you are free! Perhaps you are displeased because you are not doing this forced labor; [if so], get ye unto your burdens.’” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the verse, Get ye unto your burdens, as meaning the burdens of the entire people, since Pharaoh spoke to them for all Israel.

ADO-NOY’, WHEREFORE HAST THOU DEALT ILL WITH THIS PEOPLE? The Divine Name is here written Aleph Dalet, for through the Proper Name of G-d, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton], which is the attribute of mercy, no evil would befall the people. However, above [in Chapter 4, Verses 10 and 13], Moses twice mentioned the Divine Name written Aleph Dalet — [Bi Ado-noy (O G-d)] — since he was praying that the anger of G-d would not be kindled against him [for refusing to undertake the mission to go to Pharaoh]. Perhaps Moses was afraid to mention the Great Divine Name that was then being revealed to him and speaking to him.
WHEREFORE HAST THOU DEALT ILL WITH THIS PEOPLE? [It should be asked]: After G-d twice informed Moses that the king of Egypt would not let them go, why did he complain? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that Moses had thought that from the moment he would speak to Pharaoh in the name of G-d, he would ease the burden from upon the children of Israel, and that G-d would begin to redeem them, but Pharaoh hardened and increased their woes. This is the sense of the expression, Wherefore has Thou dealt ill…? “It is the opposite of what Thou hast told me, i.e., I have surely seen the affliction of My people., 3:7. And I am come down to deliver them.”, Verse 8. But this [explanation of Ibn Ezra] does not appear to me to be correct because [Moses said], Neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all, and “delivery” means only their going forth from exile. In my opinion, Moses our teacher thought G-d had told him that Pharaoh would not let them go immediately at his command, nor by sign and wonder until He would perform His many wonders among them. But Moses thought that G-d would bring them upon Pharaoh in uninterrupted succession in a few days. When Pharaoh said, I know not the Eternal, He would immediately command him to execute the sign of the serpent before the king, and [if] the king would still not listen, He would smite him on that very day with the plague of blood, followed by all the rest of the plagues. But when Moses saw that three days passed and the king increased their woes every day and G-d did not rebuke him, nor did He reveal Himself to Moses to inform him what he should do, then Moses thought that [the captivity] is a long one. It is possible that there was a long period of time to this story recounted here by Scripture. When the officers of the children of Israel were beaten, days passed until they spoke to Pharaoh himself, saying to him, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? It is not every person that has a right to come into the inner chambers of the king’s palace and speak to him face to face, and all the more the officers of those people abhorrent to him. Thus they suffered in their burden and oppression many days, and they would come even before the king’s gate until their outcry was heard before the king and he commanded that they come before him and speak with him. It is likewise possible that Moses returned to the Eternal and said, Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill…, many days after the officers of the children of Israel met him. The Rabbis have said in V’eileh Shemoth Rabbah: “And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh: I will not give you straw. When this was decreed by Pharaoh, Moses went to Midian and stayed there six months while Aaron remained in Egypt. At that time, Moses took his wife and sons back to Midian.” The Rabbis have furthermore said: “And they met Moses and Aaron. After six months, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses in Midian and said to him, Go, return unto Egypt. Moses then came from Midian, and Aaron from Egypt, when they were met by the officers of Israel as they came forth from Pharaoh.” I have furthermore seen a similar [tradition] in Midrash Chazit: “My beloved is like a gazelle. Just as a gazelle appears [and hides] and reappears, so did the first redeemer, [i.e., Moses], appear to the children of Israel, then he disappeared, and then he appeared to them again. For how long was he away from them? Rabbi Tanchuma said three months. It is this which Scripture says, And they met Moses and Aaron. And Rabbi Yehudah Beribi said that [he was away from them] for periods of time.” That is to say, the word “meeting” — [and they ‘met’ Moses and Aaron] — indicates periods of time. Thus many days passed between G-d’s speaking to Moses and Moses’ coming to Pharaoh. Therefore when Moses returned to G-d he said, “Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people, hurrying to send me before the time [of redemption] had come? It was not fitting to send me until You wanted to deliver them, but now You have dealt ill with them and You have not delivered them. And if You deal thus with them, they will perish in the affliction that will come upon them.” Therefore G-d answered Moses at this time: “Soon shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh, for I will not prolong it for him to the extent that you thought, and his time is near to come, and his days shall not be prolonged.” Va’eira