Bible Strands
Exodus 1:13
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records Pharaoh’s administrators intensifying forced labor on the Israelites immediately after noting their continued multiplication despite prior oppression.
The words — וַיַּעֲבִדוּ (va.ya.a.Vi.du) means “and they compelled to labor,” and בְּפָרֶךְ (be.Fa.rekh) translates literally to “with harshness” or “ruthlessly.”
The thread — The text states the escalation of forced labor, which directly precedes the specific details of brick and mortar work in Exodus 1:14 and aligns with the “iron furnace” description in Deuteronomy 4:20.
Why it lands — The verse establishes the factual baseline of systematic bondage, requiring the reader to recognize the historical severity of the oppression before any subsequent claims of deliverance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 4:20 Yet the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of His inheritance, as you are today.