Another interpretation (of Exod. 5:2): WHO IS THE LORD? The Holy One said to him: You have said: Who (MY)? By your life, through the letters MY you shall be punished (in Exod. 14:26–15:21). MY (who) is YM (sea) in reverse order. Through the sea (YM) you shall know who (MY) I am, because you said (in Exod. 5:2): I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD.²² 1, with reference to Exod. 15:4. By your life, some day soon²³ you shall say (in Exod. 9:27): THE LORD IS IN THE RIGHT, AND I AND MY PEOPLE ARE IN THE WRONG.²⁴ 1. You said (in Exod. 5:2): AND MOREOVER I WILL NOT LET ISRAEL GO. By your life, some day soon you shall take each and every one of them by the hand to send them away. It is therefore stated (in Exod. 13:17): [NOW IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN PHARAOH HAD LET THE PEOPLE GO.]

footnotes: ²² So Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata ²³ Literally: “tomorrow.” ²⁴ Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Beshallah

(Exod. 5:3): THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS. Moses and Aaron said: These words were necessary because (in vs. 1) we had altered the wording (of Exod. 3:18) which was difficult for us. So they repeated themselves and said: THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS.²⁵., Exod. 2:6; Exod. R.5:15. R. Simeon ben Johay says: He began to gnash his teeth at them when he said (in Exod. 5:17): YOU ARE LAZY, LAZY!….²⁶

footnotes: ²⁵ According to Exod. 3:18, the Holy One told Moses to say to Pharaoh: THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, but in Exod. 5:1: Moses and Aaron had said: THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. For that reason Moses and Aaron corrected their wording in Exod. 5:3. So Tanh ²⁶ Exod. R. 5:18.