Exodus 1:14
in Exodus 1and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.
KJV
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
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This verse in Exodus 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseI have already lived through many paschs, which was the fruit of a long life. But now I desire a purer pasch: to depart from this Egypt, the heavy and dark Egypt of this life, and to be freed from the clay and bricks that held us in bondage and to pass over to the land of promise.
This site's exposition
made the children of Israel to serve with rigour
on Exodus 1:13-14
The Hebrew root abad stands five times in these two verses, carried in English by serve, bondage, service, service and serve. It is the loudest repetition in the chapter and an English reader cannot hear it, because one root covers forced labour and worship alike. The rest of the book turns on that word: the demand to Pharaoh is let my people go, that they may serve me, at 4:23, 7:16, 8:1, 8:20, 9:1, 9:13 and 10:3, the passover is called this service at 12:25, and the book ends in chapter 40 with a tent, a priesthood and an order of service. Israel does not stop serving, and what changes is the master.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Perhaps it is in this sense that God is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, because the substance of his heart was obviously such as to elicit from the Sun of justice not his illumination but his power to harden and to scorch. That no doubt was the reason why this same Pharaoh afflicted the life of the Hebrews with hard work and wore them out with clay and bricks. And certainly the works that he devised came from a heart as miry and muddy! And as the visible sun contracts and hardens the substance of clay, so with the same rays by which he enlightened the people of Israel and by means of those rays' same properties the Sun of justice hardened the heart of Pharaoh that harbored muddy devices.
When the children of Israel were in Egypt, they were afflicted with mortar and brick for the works of Pharaoh the king until they cried out in their groaning to the Lord. And he heard their cry and sent his word to them by Moses and led them out of Egypt. When we were also in Egypt, I mean in the errors of this world and in the darkness of ignorance, we then did the works of the devil in lusts and desires of the flesh. But the Lord had pity on our affliction and sent the Word, his only begotten Son, to deliver us from ignorance of our error and to lead us to the light of divine law.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoTRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.9 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
We have been led out of Egypt where we were serving the devil as a pharaoh, where we were doing works of clay amid earthly desires, and we were laboring much in them. For Christ cried out to us, as if we were making bricks, "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened." Led out of here, we were led over through baptism as through the Red Sea—red for this reason, because consecrated by the blood of Christ—when all our enemies who were assailing us were dead, that is, when our sins have been wiped out.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
They made their lives bitter - So that they became weary of life, through the severity of their servitude. With hard bondage - בעבדה קשה baabodah kashah, with grievous servitude. This was the general character of their life in Egypt; it was a life of the most painful servitude, oppressive enough in itself, but made much more so by the cruel manner of their treatment while performing their tasks.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The use of brick, at all times common in Egypt, was especially so under the 18th Dynasty. An exact representation of the whole process of brickmaking is given in a small temple at Thebes, erected by Tothmosis III, the fourth in descent from Amosis. Immense masses of brick are found at Belbeis, the modern capital of Sharkiya, i. e. Goshen, and in the adjoining district. All manner of service in the field - Not merely agricultural labor, but probably the digging of canals and processes of irrigation which are peculiarly onerous and unhealthy.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Pharaoh devised many evils with which to afflict the Israelites. First he ordered them to do his work.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְמָרְר֨וּ | vaymareru | and they made bitter | H4843 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם | chaiyeihem | lives their | H2416 → | 498 times |
| בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה | baavodah | with labor | H5656 → | 145 times |
| קָשָׁ֗ה | kashah | hard | H7186 → | 36 times |
| בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ | bechomer | in mortar | H2563 → | 31 times |
| וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים | uvilvenim | and in bricks | H3843 → | 12 times |
| וּבְכָל־ | uvekhol- | and in all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲבֹדָ֖ה | ʾavodah | labor | H5656 → | 145 times |
| בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה | basadeh | in the field | H7704 → | 334 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם | ʾavodatam | labor their | H5656 → | 145 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָבְד֥וּ | ʾavedu | they labored | H5647 → | 288 times |
| בָהֶ֖ם | vahem | by <the> them | ||
| בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ | befarekh | with harshness | H6531 → |
וַיְמָרְר֨וּand they made bitter
vaymareruH4843 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
חַיֵּיהֶ֜םlives their
chaiyeihemH2416 →498 times
בַּעֲבֹדָ֣הwith labor
baavodahH5656 →145 times
קָשָׁ֗הhard
kashahH7186 →36 times
בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙in mortar
bechomerH2563 →31 times
וּבִלְבֵנִ֔יםand in bricks
uvilvenimH3843 →12 times
וּבְכָל־and in all
uvekhol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲבֹדָ֖הlabor
ʾavodahH5656 →145 times
בַּשָּׂדֶ֑הin the field
basadehH7704 →334 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔םlabor their
ʾavodatamH5656 →145 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָבְד֥וּthey labored
ʾaveduH5647 →288 times
בָהֶ֖םby <the> them
vahem
בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃with harshness
befarekhH6531 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 58:6Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?
it leads to
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
I, as well as my brothers and my servants, have been lending the people money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury.
- Isaiah 58:9
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and…
- Jeremiah 34:8–11
After King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to proclaim liberty, the word came to Jeremiah from the LORD
- 1 Timothy 6:1
All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Nehemiah 5:10–12
Through
Exodus 2:23After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
it leads to
- Genesis 18:20–21
Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,
- James 5:4
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
- Exodus 3:7–9
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the affliction of My people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I am aware of their sufferings.
- Deuteronomy 26:6–7
But the Egyptians mistreated us and afflicted us, putting us to hard labor.
- Genesis 18:20–21
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.9; Gregory of Nazianzus, LETTER 120; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2.2 and Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27.2.