Brickmaking without Straw
Background and Printed Text: Exodus 5:1-6:1
Exodus 5:1 And afterward Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] Came. And they said unto Pharaoh, “So said Yehovah Gods of Israel, ‘Send my people. And they solemnized to me in the desert.’” 2And Pharaoh said, “Who is Yehovah whom I will hearken via his voice to send Israel? I didn’t know Yehovah. And I will also not send Israel.” 3And they said, “Gods of the Crossers [Hebrews] was called upon us. We will walk, na, a way of three days into the desert. And we sacrificed to Yehovah our Gods lest He suddenly-meet us via pestilence or via the sword.” 4And the king of Double-Adversity [Egypt] said unto them, “Why, Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon], do ye unbridle the people from his works? Walk-ye to your burdens!”
5And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land now are many. And ye cease them from their burdens.” 6And Pharaoh commanded the rigour-masters and his officers into the people that day to say, 7 “Ye shall not gather to give straw to the people to brick-make the brick as yesterday, three-days-ago! They shall walk. And they shall stubble-gather to them! 8And ye shall put upon them the allotment of the bricks that they are making yesterday three-days-ago. Ye shall not diminish from him. For they are idle. Therefore they are screaming to say, ‘We will walk! We will sacrifice to our Gods!’ 9The slavery shall be heavy upon the men! And they did via her! And they shall not do via speeches of a lie!” 10And the taskmasters of the people exited, and his officers.
And they said unto the people to say, “So said Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving straw to you. 11Ye– Walk ye! Take straw to you from wherever ye shall find! For there is no slacking from your slavery to speak!’” 12And the people were scattered in all the land of Double-Adversity [Egypt] to stubble-gather stubble to straw.
13And the rigour-masters are hastening to say, “Finish your works, a speech of a day in his day just-as via [there] being the straw!” 14And they smote the officers of the children of Israel whom Pharaoh’s rigour-masters put over them to say, “Why didn’t ye finish your statute to brick-make as yesterday three-days-ago, also yesterday, also today?”
15And the officers of the children of Israel came. And they screamed unto Pharaoh to say, “Why wilt thou do so to thy slaves? 16No straw was given to thy slaves! And bricks– they say to us, make! And, behold, they are smiting thy slaves! And the sin is of thy people!” 17And he said, “Idle! Ye are idle! Therefore ye are saying, ‘We will walk! We will sacrifice to Yehovah!’ 18And now, walk ye! Slave ye! And straw will not be given to you! And ye shall give the establishment of bricks!”
19And the officers of the children of Israel saw them via bad to say, “Ye shall not slack from your bricks, a speech of a day in his day!” 20And they-suddenly met Draw [Moshe] and Oy!-Conception! [Aharon] positioning to meet them when via their exiting from with Pharaoh. 21And they said unto them, “Yehovah shall see concerning you! And He judged that ye made- our smell -stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his slaves to give a sword via their hand to slay us!”
22And Draw [Moshe] returned unto Yehovah. And he said, “My Lords! For what hast Thou bad-caused to this people? This is for what Thou hast sent me? 23And the bad is to this people from then [that] I came unto Pharaoh to speak via Thy name! And delivering, Thou hast not delivered Thy people!” 6:1And Yehovah said unto Draw [Moshe], “Now thou wilt see what I will do to Pharaoh! For he shall send them via a grasping hand! And he will drive them from his land via a grasping hand!”
I. Respectfully Commanding Pharaoh (verses 1-4)
Moshe and Aharon came to Pharaoh. They told him, “So said Yehovah Gods of Israel, ‘Send my people. And they solemnized to me in the desert.’” Pharaoh responded to them: “Who is Yehovah whom I will hearken via his voice to send Israel? I didn’t know Yehovah. And I will also not send Israel.”
Moshe and Aharon next identified their deity: Gods of the Crossers (Gods of the Hebrews). They told Pharaoh that He was called upon the Hebrews.
Moshe and Aharon continued, “We will walk, na, a way of three days into the desert. And we sacrificed to Yehovah our Gods lest He suddenly-meet us via pestilence or via the sword.”’
The king of Egypt asked them a question: “Why, Moshe and Aharon, do ye unbridle the people from his works?”
He then commanded them to walk to their burdens!
Questions
1. The text states, “And afterward Moshe and Aharon came.” After what did they come?
2. How did they manage to get to see Pharaoh?
3. Both Moshe and Aharon said, “So said Yehovah Gods of Israel, ‘Send my people. And they solemnized to me in the desert.’” Did Yehovah really say exactly that?
4. What were Moshe and Aharon commanding to Pharaoh when they said that Yehovah said, “Send my people”?
5. Was this a reasonable command?
6. What does “And they solemnized to me in the desert” mean?
7. Didn’t Pharaoh know who Yehovah was (verse 2)?
8. Was Pharaoh’s question, “Who is Yehovah whom I will hearken via his voice to send Israel,” a good question?
9. Pharaoh next stated, “I didn’t know Yehovah. And I will also not send Israel.” Was this response reasonable?
10. What did Aharon and Moshe mean by ““Gods of the Hebrews was called upon us”?
11. What does “We will walk, na, a way of three days into the desert” mean?
12. Explain “And we sacrificed to Yehovah our Gods lest He suddenly-meet us via pestilence or via the sword:”
13. Moshe and Aharon described Yehovah as being ready to attack the Israelis if they don’t comply. Is this a right picture of Yehovah’s character?
14. Pharaoh asked this question: “Why, Moshe and Aharon, do ye unbridle the people from his works?” What is wrong with a question like this?
15. What did he mean by, “Walk ye to your burdens”?
II. Increased Work (verses 5-10)
Pharaoh wasn’t finished. He continued, “Behold, the people of the land now are many. And ye cease them from their burdens.” That bothered Pharaoh quite a bit. He commanded the rigour-masters and his officers to go into the people of Israel that day and to say to them, “Ye shall not gather to give straw to the people to brick-make the brick as yesterday, three-days-ago!” He changed the way of life to make it much harder.
“They shall walk. And they shall stubble-gather to them!” They had to do their own gathering as well as making the bricks.
“And ye shall put upon them the allotment of the bricks that they are making yesterday three-days-ago.” They had to deliver the very same amounts of bricks as before.
“Ye shall not diminish from him. For they are idle. Therefore they are screaming to say, ‘We will walk! We will sacrifice to our Gods!’”
Pharaoh then commanded, “The slavery shall be heavy upon the men! And they did via her! And they shall not do via speeches of a lie!”
At this point, the taskmasters of the people and Pharaoh’s officers exited to do Pharaoh’s commands.
Questions
1. Who are the people of the land, and what does this expression mean?
2. What does “Pharaoh commanded the rigour-masters and his officers into the people” mean?
3. What does gather mean in, “Ye shall not gather to give straw”?
4. What does yesterday, three-days-ago mean?
5. The text says, “They shall walk.” Where and why shall they walk?
6. What does stubble-gather mean?
7. What is an allotment?
8. Pharaoh said, “Ye shall not diminish from him.” Who is him?
9. What gave Pharaoh the impression that the Israelis were idle?
10. What does “The slavery shall be heavy upon the men” mean?
11. What does “And they did via her” mean, and who is her?
12. Explain, “And they shall not do via speeches of a lie:”
13. Where did the taskmasters and officers go once they exited?
III. The Terrible Announcement (verses 10-12)
The taskmasters and officers communicated Pharaoh’s orders to the Israelis: “So said Pharaoh, ‘I am not giving straw to you. Ye– Walk ye! Take straw to you from wherever ye shall find! For there is no slacking from your slavery to speak!’” The Israelis were then scattered throughout all Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw.
Questions
1. Who are they who said unto the people what Pharaoh told them?
2. Pharaoh said, “I am not giving straw to you.” Was he giving straw before?
3. Where were the Israelis supposed to find straw, now?
4. How long would obtaining this straw take?
5. What was Pharaoh communicating when he said, “For there is no slacking from your slavery to speak”?
6. What is involved in gathering stubble?
IV. Israelis against Israelis (verses 13-14)
The rigour-masters were responsible to make certain that the Israelis produced just as many bricks as before: “Finish your works, a speech of a day in his day just-as via [there] being the straw!”
The rigour-masters smote the officers of the children of Israel. The rigour-masters had put those officers over the Israelis. As they beat them, they asked, “Why didn’t ye finish your statute to brick-make as yesterday three-days-ago, also yesterday, also today?”
Questions
1. What does “a speech of a day in his day” mean?
2. What does “just as their being the straw” mean?
3. The text states, “And they smote the officers of the children of Israel whom Pharaoh’s rigour-masters put over them.” Who smote the officers, and what does this mean?
4. What does “Why didn’t ye finish your statute” mean?
5. How many days were they behind in verse 14?
V. Confronting Pharaoh (verses 15-18)
The officers of the children of Israel came directly to Pharaoh, and they screamed to him: “Why wilt thou do so to thy slaves? No straw was given to thy slaves! And bricks– they say to us, make! And, behold, they are smiting thy slaves! And the sin is of thy people!”
Pharaoh’s response was brief: “Idle! Ye are idle! Therefore ye are saying, ‘We will walk! We will sacrifice to Yehovah!’ And now, walk ye! Slave ye! And straw will not be given to you! And ye shall give the establishment of bricks!”
Questions
1. Did the officers have direct access to Pharaoh?
2. What did the officers mean by “the sin is of thy people”?
3. Pharaoh responded, “Idle! Ye are idle!” What was Pharaoh not doing?
4. What was his proof (in his mind) that the Israelis were idle?
5. What type of response did Pharaoh portray by saying, “And now, walk ye! Slave ye! And straw will not be given to you”?
6. What does “the establishment of bricks” mean?
VI. Anger against Moshe and Aaron (verses 19-21)
The officers of the children of Israel saw Moshe and Aharon as bad when they heard Pharaoh say, “Ye shall not slack from your bricks, a speech of a day in his day!” They suddenly met Moshe and Aharon who set themselves to meet them at the time they exited from Pharaoh. They said to Moshe and Aharon, “Yehovah shall see concerning you! And He judged that ye made- our smell -stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his slaves to give a sword via their hand to slay us!”
Questions
1. Who are them in, “the officers of the children of Israel saw them via bad”?
2. How and why did they suddenly meet Moshe and Aharon?
3. What did the officers mean by, “Yehovah shall see concerning you”?
4. The officers said that Moshe and Aharon made their smell stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s slaves. What does this mean?
5. Explain “…to give a sword via their hand to slay us:”
VII. Moshe and Yehovah Discuss (verse 22-23, Exodus 6:1)
Moshe returned to Yehovah. He set the blame at Yehovah’s feet: “My Lords! For what hast Thou bad-caused to this people? This is for what Thou hast sent me?” This made no sense.
“And the bad is to this people from then [that] I came unto Pharaoh to speak via thy name! And delivering, Thou hast not delivered Thy people!” Moshe was angry!
Yehovah responded to Moshe, “Now thou wilt see what I will do to Pharaoh! For he shall send them via a grasping hand! And he will drive them from his land via a grasping hand!”
Questions
1. How did Moshe feel toward Yehovah after he heard from the officers?
2. What does “For what hast Thou bad-caused to this people” mean?
3. Moshe then asked, “This is for what Thou hast sent me?” What was he expressing?
4. Moshe continued, “And the bad is to this people from then [that] I came unto Pharaoh to speak via thy name!” Word this in more modern English:
5. What had Moshe expected to occur?
6. What did Moshe mean by, “And delivering, Thou hast not delivered Thy people”?
7. Was Yehovah angry at Moshe for being so blunt with Yehovah, and for basically accusing Him of making a mess?
8. What was Yehovah expressing when He told Moshe, “Now thou wilt see what I will do to Pharaoh”?
9. What does “For he shall send them via a grasping hand” mean?
10. What does “And he will drive them from his land via a grasping hand” mean?
11. Some teach that asking Yehovah a ‘why’ question is not right. Is this true?