The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, captures the moment when Pharaoh finally broke. After the tenth plague — the death of every firstborn in Egypt — Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the dead of night and cried: "Arise, go out from the midst of my people, both you and the children of Israel!" (Exodus 12:31).
The Mekhilta highlights the bitter irony in Pharaoh's words by recalling the earlier negotiation. Pharaoh had tried to bargain. After the plague of locusts, he told Moses: "Only your flocks and herds leave in place" (Exodus 10:24). Keep the animals. Go worship your God, but leave the livestock behind as collateral — a guarantee that the Israelites would return.
Moses refused with audacity: "You, too, shall place in our hands sacrifices and burnt-offerings" (Exodus 10:25). Not only would Israel take their own animals, but Pharaoh himself would supply additional offerings. The demand was outrageous. Pharaoh would not merely release his slaves — he would fund their worship.
Now, with every firstborn dead and Egypt in ruins, Pharaoh conceded everything. No more conditions. No more bargaining. Take the people. Take the children. Take the animals. Just go. The Mekhilta preserves this scene as a portrait of total capitulation — the most powerful ruler in the ancient world surrendering on every term he had fought to deny.