Exodus 10:24Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Pharaoh cannot shake his belief that the Israelites belong to him as his servants, considering all that they possess as his own. He has long overlooked, due to the oppression initiated by his forebear Amazis or Aames, that he is facing a people who are free, having arrived in Egypt as guests rather than captives from war or bought slaves. In verse 11, he seeks to claim the children as hostages, and now aims to seize at least the livestock, convinced that these animals would compensate him for the loss of his own herds, which had succumbed to plagues and hail. However, relinquishing the livestock would make their journey through the wilderness unfeasible; it directly contradicts the initial plea of the Israelites, who sought to depart for the purpose of offering sacrifices involving the slaughter of their cattle.