Bible Strands
Exodus 5:7
“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Pharaoh commands his taskmasters and foremen to stop providing straw for brickmaking. This order follows his initial decree to increase the Israelites' labor quota.
The words — The text employs לֹא תֹסִיפֻן (lo' to.si.Fu/n) to declare "you shall no longer give," paired with תֶּבֶן (te.ven) for "straw." These terms mark the precise moment of supply termination.
The thread — Straw functions as routine agricultural provision in Genesis 24:25 and Judges 19:19. Exodus 5:7 repurposes that common material into a confiscated resource for forced labor.
Why it lands — The verse records how administrative control can weaponize daily necessities to intensify exploitation. It requires the reader to follow the economic mechanism of oppression without spiritualizing the decree.
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
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Cross-references
- Genesis 24:25 Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”
- Judges 19:19 even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”