Exodus 8:28

Not go very far away. The reasons presented by Moses for going into the desert commended themselves to the heathen king, from his own religious viewpoint. As a result he promised to let the people go into the wilderness and sacrifice if they would be content not to go far away, and provided of course that Moses and Aaron release him and his people from the plague. Pharaoh here revealed for the first time that his real reason for refusing to let Israel go was the fear of losing them altogether. With this in mind he proposed to compromise that they should just enter the wilderness on his eastern border, remain near the frontier, and thus be within easy reach of his army. Moses seems to have made no objection to this suggestion, since he had requested permission to leave for three days only, and this would not have taken the Hebrews very far beyond the Egyptian frontier.