Sforno on Exodus 5/ספורנו על שמות ה׳

1'לא ידעתי את ה; I have never heard of any Being which created something tangible out of an absolute nothing.

2וגם את ישראל לא אשלח, even if it could be proved that this Being you speak about does in fact exist, I will not release the Israelites on account of that new found wisdom.

1אלוקי העברים, concerning your statement that you never heard of such a Being, He is the G’d of the Hebrews, the ones who cleave to the religious teachings of עבר, the grandson of Shem, son of Noach. Concerning your statement that you will not release the Israelites, you would do well to listen to His instructions פן יפגענו, as He would punish both us and you.

1הן רבים עתה עם הארץ, the really smart Hebrews would not listen to your words.

1והנה עבדיך מוכים וחטאת עמך, we are the ones who are being beaten and the sinful people beating us are all we who are members of your people. It is up to you to take note of this and to intervene.

1נרפים אתם נרפים, you are the ones who are lazy and delinquent in carrying out your duties. This is why I decided to make things harder so that you will be more energetic in performing your duties.

2על כן אתם אומרים נלכה נזבחה, the fact that you dream about such things shows that you are lazy. This pretext of “we want to offer meat offerings” is clear evidence that you want to simply take a holiday.

1למה זה שלחתני?, if they were guilty of suffering such problems why did You make me the one to be the immediate cause of it?

1והצל לא הצלת, the overseers of the Israelites who are being beaten for showing empathy with the people.