(ג) הֱווּ זְהִירִין בָּרָשׁוּת, שֶׁאֵין מְקָרְבִין לוֹ לָאָדָם אֶלָּא לְצֹרֶךְ עַצְמָן. נִרְאִין כְּאוֹהֲבִין בִּשְׁעַת הֲנָאָתָן, וְאֵין עוֹמְדִין לוֹ לָאָדָם בִּשְׁעַת דָּחְקוֹ:
(3) Be careful about the government, as they approach a man only when they need him. They seem like good friends in good times, but they don't stay for him in time of his trouble.
Childs on Exodus:
"Perhaps the most diabolic side to the whole scheme was the calculated plan to divide the slaves into factions and sow inner discontent. Accordingly, the Hebrew foremen are pictured turning on their leaders with vicious resentment. Now Pharaoh does not have to discredit Moses directly. He is renounced by his own people, who would gladly trade the thought of freedom for a return to the earlier status quo which suddenly was made to appear quite tolerable." (p. 106)
(1) ויכו שטרי בני ישראל AND THE BAILIFFS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL … WERE SMITTEN — These bailiffs were Israelites and they spared their fellow-Israelites, not urging them on to their work. When they handed over the bricks to the taskmasters who were Egyptians and something was deficient in the total they used to beat them because they had not urged on the Israelitish workmen. On this account these bailiffs were privileged to become members of the Sanhedrin later on, and there was taken some of the prophetical spirit that was upon Moses and it was placed upon them, as it is said, (Numbers 11:16) “Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel [whom thou knowest]” — of those about whom thou knowest the kindly acts which they did in Egypt, “for they are the real elders of the people having been their bailiffs” (Exodus Rabbah 5:20). (2) ויכו שטרי בני ישראל אשר שמו נגשי פרעה THEN WERE SMITTEN THE BAILIFFS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHOM PHARAOH’S TASKMASTERS HAD PUT as bailiffs עליהם OVER THEM (i. e. over the Israelites) לאמר מדוע וגו׳ SAYING, WHEREFORE etc. — Why were they beaten? because they (the taskmasters) said to them (the bailiffs) WHEREFORE DID YE NOT FINISH (גם תמול גם היום) BOTH YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY THE TASK SET FOR YOU (חקכם) IN MAKING BRICKS as ye did yesterday-in-the-third-degree (כתמול שלשם) — which means the day before yesterday — which was the time when straw was given to them.
Alshich on Ex. 5:14 - Quoted in Leibowitz Shemot Vol. 1 (pp. 104-105)
They realized (the overseers) that it would be unwise to attribute an injustice to the king. Were one to suggest that one knew that the king was responsible for it, far from remedying the matter the king would naturally resent the confrontation. It would only make matters worse. The best policy was to pretend that they were unaware that the measure originated with the king as if to say: "Although it seems as if you are responsible, it would be utterly outrageous to impute such injustice to an upright and fair monarch like yourself. Only a thoroughly wicked person would have trumped up such measures and it is the king's duty to abolish them."
The Israelite formen adopted this tactic, pretending that they were unaware that the king was responsible for the decree: "saying why should you behave thus to your servants". In other words, on the surface, we should have said to you: "why have you done thus to your servants". It would seem to emanate from you but that is quite impossible. Such a measure -- to deprive us of straw and yet demand the same quota of bricks and make us incur a beating for not filling it -- could not emanate from the king. Others, not the king must be responsible for this injustice: "they people have sinned" not you. For you would be the last to think up such an atrocity.
Nechama Leibowitz points out Moses and Aaron's request to Pharaoh for 'leave' cannot be the pretext for Pharaoh's decision to remove supplies and maintain the workload. Before Moses, Pharaoh had already slaughtered Israelite children.
Ramban:
"The Egyptians would continue to hate us and use it as a pretext that we were rebelling against authority. They would be able to have us executed publicly and would have no need to resort to underhanded methods." (Ibid., p. 106)
Let's take a look from the Haftarah for Parshat Sh'mot, the first parshah in Exodus - the source of the material we reviewed today. Let's examine how a later prophet suggests the people respond (or not) to God's word -- as the Rabbis suggest elsewhere, Moses may not be the only one to blame for the way the people perceive the results of his message to Pharaoh and of his work in general.