In their bondage the Israelites had to some extent lost the knowledge of God's law, and they had departed from its precepts. The Sabbath had been generally disregarded, and the exactions of their taskmasters made its observance apparently impossible. But Moses had shown his people that obedience to God was the first condition of deliverance; and the efforts made to restore the observance of the Sabbath had come to the notice of their oppressors.[* SEE APPENDIX, NOTE 1.]

I deres trældom havde israelitterne til en vis grad mistet kendskabet til Guds lov og var afveget fra dens forskrifter. Sabbatten var blevet tilsidesat, og fogedernes krav gjorde det tilsyneladende umuligt at helligholde den. Men Moses havde vist sit folk, at lydighed mod Gud var den første betingelse for befrielse og forsøgene på at genindføre sabbattens helligholdelsen var blevet bemærket af folkets undertrykkere.