Exodus 5:6-8
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
6 That very day Pharaoh gave the taskmasters of the people and their foremen[a] this order: 7 “You shall no longer supply the people with straw for their brickmaking[b] as before. Let them go and gather their own straw! 8 Yet you shall levy upon them the same quota of bricks as they made previously. Do not reduce it. They are lazy; that is why they are crying, ‘Let us go to offer sacrifice to our God.’
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- 5:6 The taskmasters of the people and their foremen: the former were higher officials and probably Egyptians; the latter were lower officials (perhaps recordkeepers or clerks), chosen from the Israelites themselves. Cf. v. 14.
- 5:7 Straw was mixed with clay to give sun-dried bricks greater cohesion and durability.
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