Bible Strands
Exodus 5:6
That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh addresses his taskmasters and foremen on the exact day he declares the Israelites' labor stoppage a threat to state productivity. He issues a direct command to shift brick-making responsibilities onto the enslaved workforce.
The words — The verb וַיְצַו (vayyetzav) translates to "and he commanded," establishing a binding royal decree. The noun הַנֹּגְשִׂים (han nogshim) refers specifically to the "taskmasters" or overseers charged with enforcing the labor quota.
The thread — This administrative escalation continues in Exodus 5:10 when the foremen relay the new policy, and in Exodus 5:19 when they face punishment for unmet quotas. The role of taskmasters originates in Exodus 1:11, where they are first appointed to enforce forced labor.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition of how institutional oppression operates through delegated authority and shifted burdens. It requires readers to trace the mechanical progression of policy from royal command to enforced labor without softening the administrative cruelty.
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 Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
Cross-references
- Exodus 5:10 So the taskmasters and foremen of the people went out and said to them, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I am no longer giving you straw.
- Exodus 5:19 The Israelite foremen realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce your daily quota of bricks.”
- Exodus 1:11 So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
- Exodus 3:7 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.
- Exodus 5:13 The taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”
- Numbers 11:16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Me seventy of the elders of Israel known to you as leaders and officers of the people. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting and have them stand there with you.
- Deuteronomy 1:15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.
- Deuteronomy 16:18 You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- Joshua 8:33 All Israel, foreigners and citizens alike, with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded earlier, to bless the people of Israel.
- Joshua 24:4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau Mount Seir to possess, but Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.