Exodus 1:14

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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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
made	וַיְמָרְר֨וּ vay.ma.re.Ru	H4843	to be (causatively · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
lives	חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם chai.yei.Hem	H2416	alive · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
bitter	מָרַר mârar	H4843	to be (causatively
hard	קָשָׁ֗ה ka.Shah	H7186	severe (in various applications) · adjective, feminine singular absolute
bondage	בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה ba.'a.vo.Dah	H5656	work of any kind · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
morter	בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ be.Cho.mer	H2563	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
brick	וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים u.vil.ve.Nim	H3843	a brick (from the whiteness of the clay) · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
service	עֲבֹדָ֖ה 'a.vo.Dah	H5656	work of any kind · noun, common feminine singular absolute
field	בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה ba.sa.Deh	H7704	a field (as flat) · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
service	עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם 'a.Vo.da.Tam	H5656	work of any kind · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
serve	עָבְד֥וּ 'a.ve.Du	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
rigour	בְּפָֽרֶךְ be.Fa.rekh	H6531	fracture · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Acts 7:19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might…
Numbers 20:15 How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:
Exodus 2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cr…
Exodus 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
Psalms 81:6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and…
Acts 7:34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. A…
Genesis 15:13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shal…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:8-14

The land of Egypt here, at length, becomes to Israel a house of bondage, though hitherto it had been a happy shelter and settlement for them. Note, The place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our affliction, and that may prove the greatest cross to us of which we said, This same shall comfort us. Those may prove our sworn enemies whose parents were our faithful friends; nay, the same persons that loved us may possibly turn to hate us: therefore cease from man, and say not concerning any place on this side heaven, This is my rest for ever. Observe here, I. The obligations they lay under to Israel upon Joseph's account were forgotten: There arose a new king, after several succes…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:13

The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick--Ruins of great brick buildings are found in all parts of Egypt. The use of crude brick, baked in the sun, was universal in upper and lower Egypt, both for public and private buildings; all but the temples themselves were of crude brick. It is worthy of remark that more bricks bearing the name of Thothmes III, who is supposed to have been the king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, have been discovered than of any other period [WILKINSON]. Parties of these brickmakers are seen depicted on the ancient monuments with "taskmasters," some standing, others in a sitting posture beside the laborers, with their u…

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Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:14

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. In mortar, and in brick - First, in digging the clay, kneading, and preparing it, and secondly, forming it into bricks, drying them in the sun, etc. Service in the field - Carrying these materials to the places where they were to be formed into buildings, and serving the builders while employed in th…

The Church Fathers

I 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.
— Gregory of Nazianzus, LETTER 120

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.
— Augustine of Hippo, TRACTATE ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28.9

In Egypt were the children of Israel; they were afflicted in the works of Pharaoh the king with clay and brick, until, groaning, they cried out to the Lord, and He, hearing their groaning, sent to them His word through Moses and led them out of Egypt. And we too, therefore, when we were in Egypt — I mean in the errors of this world and in the darkness of ignorance, working the works of the devil in the desires and pleasures of the flesh — the Lord had mercy on our affliction and sent His Word, His only-begotten Son, to rescue us from the ignorance of error and lead us to the light of the divine law.
— Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON NUMBERS 27.2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Bitter — Bitterness is symbolical of affliction, misery, and servitude (Ex. 1:14; Ruth 1:20; Jer. 9:15). The Chaldeans are called the “bitter and hasty nation” (Hab. 1:6). The “gall of bitterness” expresses a…
Brick — (Genesis 11:3) The brick in use among the Jews were much larger than with us, being usually from 12 to 13 inches square and 3 1/2 inches thick; they thus possess more of the character of tiles.…
Bricks — The making of, formed the chief labour of the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. 1:13, 14). Those found among the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh are about a foot square and four inches thick. They were usually…
Exodus — The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8; Ps 114; 136), about…
Mason — An artificer in stone. The Tyrians seem to have been specially skilled in architecture (1 Kings 5:17, 18; 2 Sam. 5:11). This art the Hebrews no doubt learned in Egypt (Ex. 1:11, 14), where ruins of…
Mortar — (Heb. homer), cement of lime and sand (Gen. 11:3; Ex. 1:14); also potter’s clay (Isa. 41:25; Nah. 3:14). Also Heb. ‘aphar, usually rendered “dust,” clay or mud used for cement in building (Lev.…
Moses — Drawn (or Egypt. mesu, “son;” hence Rameses, royal son). On the invitation of Pharaoh (Gen. 45:17-25), Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt. This immigration took place probably about 350 years…
Pharaoh — The official title borne by the Egyptian kings down to the time when that country was conquered by the Greeks. (See EGYPT.) The name is a compound, as some think, of the words Ra, the “sun” or…
Bondage · Of Israelites in Egypt — Of Israelites in Egypt
Bondage, Spiritual · Typified: Israel in Egypt — Typified: Israel in Egypt

Exodus 1:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:8-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:13

Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 1:14

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:8-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:13

Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:14

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on Exodus 1:14

John Calvin on Exodus 1:12-14

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 1:8-14

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 1:14

Rashi on Exodus 1:13