Exodus 5:19

Exo 5:19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see [that] they [were] in evil [case], after it was said, Ye shall not minish [ought] from your bricks of your daily task.

Ver. 19. In evil case.] For their evil courses. {Eze 23:8; Eze 20:5; Eze 20:7-8 Jos 24:14} It is written as a heavy curse of God, {Lev 26:17} "If ye still trespass against me, I will set princes over you that shall hate you": Mischievous, odious princes; odious to God, malignant to the people.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, looked sad on them, which said.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 19. Did see that they were in evil case] They saw that they could neither expect justice nor mercy; that their deliverance was very doubtful, and their case almost hopeless.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. in evil case] in having to tell their people that there was to be no abatement from their daily task.

The description here given of Egyptian brick-making is well illustrated from the monuments. The accompanying illustration (given more completely in Wilk.-B. i. 344) from the tomb of Rekhmâra, vizier of Thothmes III (1503–1449 b.c.), at ‘Abd el-Ḳurnah, opposite to Luxor, represents Asiatic captives making bricks for the temple of Amon at Thebes. On the left we see men drawing water from a tank to moisten the mud: elsewhere there are men carrying the mud in baskets, kneading it with their feet, placing it in moulds (which would usually be stamped with the name of the reigning king), exposing the bricks to dry, piling them up in rows, and building a wall with them; in the lower picture we notice an Egyptian ‘taskmaster’ with hid rod. The gangs of slaves, or captives, engaged upon such work, were organized almost like an army: they were under the superintendence of ‘standard-bearers,’ chosen out of the Egyptian army (corresponding to the ‘taskmasters’ here), and they had also officers of their own (corresponding to the shôṭerim), who were responsible to the standard-bearers. See Erman, pp. 417 f., 128. At Tell el-Maskhuta, the site of Pithom (Exo_1:11), M. Naville found bricks, some made with chopped straw or reed, and some without it (Pithom, p. 11b). Most Egyptian bricks, however, do not contain straw; and Petrie (Egypt and Israel, 30) think that the straw here asked for was for dipping the hand in, or sprinkling over the still soft bricks, that they might not stick.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case,.... In a bad condition and circumstances, and that there was no likelihood of their getting out of them, since Pharaoh treated them after this manner; they saw not only that the common people were in a bad condition, in great bondage, misery, and distress, to be obliged to get straw to make brick, and carry in their full tale as before; but that they themselves were in a bad situation, since for the deficiency in their people they were like to be beaten for it from time to time:

after it was said, ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task; after this had been said and confirmed by Pharaoh, they had no hope of things being better with them, but looked upon their unhappy lot as irretrievable.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Did see that they were in evil case, or, looked upon them with sadness, or with an evil eye, i.e. with a sorrowful and angry countenance, as those that could obtain no relaxation for themselves or for their brethren.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The officers did see that they were in evil case. See the "Introductory paragraph" to this section, and comp. ver.

21.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 19-21. Thoughtless smiters of a brother in adversity.

This whole chapter particularly abounds in illustrations of human ignorance and error. We have seen in what dense darkness was the mind of Pharaoh; and under what utter misapprehensions he multiplied the sorrows of Israel. Now we are introduced to the leaders of Israel, treating Moses with equal injustice, because they are not able to see the difference between the human instrument and the Divine hand that holds it. No more than Pharaoh can they pierce through Moses to the mighty God behind him. It says in Exo_4:31, that when the people saw the signs they believed; here is conduct which shows for how little their faith counted. As soon as they were set to make bricks without straw, their faith utterly vanished. Yet surely the truth of God remained. Present human cruelty, let it press ever so hard, cannot alter past manifestations of Divine power. The God who gave his Son the parable of the Sower was prepared for such a lapse into unbelief on the part of his people. His signs were like the seeds which found no depth of earth; when persecution arose because of the message of Moses, the people were straightway offended. Consider

I IN WHAT A STATE OF MIND MOSES WOULD BE WHEN THESE OFFICERS ATTACKED HIM. We know from his own language (vers. 22, 23)what his state of mind was after the attack; but even before it he must have been a prey to deep grief and gloomy apprehensions. We may be sure that when these officers came upon him, they did not find proofs of indifference and carelessness in his face. lie must have been very popular just after he had wrought the signs; as popular as Jesus was after he had fed the five thousand. Aaron, doubtless, had been instructed by him to enlarge on the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and bring out into the boldest relief the terms of the Divine promises. Thus the confidence and expectation of the people a reception altogether beyond his hopes would lift him also into a confidence and expectation all the more precious because of his previous despondency. And now, as he sees the condition of his brethren, that despondency is more painful than ever. No imagination of ours can exaggerate the perplexity and sadness into which Moses would be thrown.

II THUS WE ARE CALLED TO NOTICE THE INDIFFERENCE OF MOSES" BRETHREN TO HIS PAINFUL POSITION. He thought a great deal more upon their Sorrows than they did upon his. The grief of selfish people, in the reckless abandonment with which it speaks and acts, furnishes as painful evidence as we can find of the extent to which human nature has fallen from its first estate. It is a greedy, insatiable feeling. It is an awful thing to consider that the very concentration of our thoughts on our own sufferings makes us to increase the sufferings of others. Why, even when others are to blame, we might safely leave them to the observant, unforgetting God, to their own consciences, and to the ultimate harvest which every doer of wrong must reap; and very often they are not to blame at all. If only these smarting Israelites had been able, in a right spirit, to look at the heart of Moses, they would have seen occasion for supporting him with the greatest tenderness, gratitude, and patient endurance. What right had they to complain of Moses? lie had told them a coherent, straightforward story, given them the signs; and they, in return, had believed him for the very works" sake. If there is any time when we should be slow to speak, it is in our sorrow. We do well then to be silent, until such times as God has purged out of our minds all selfish desires and groundless expectations. When all these are gone, and the truth which he alone can plant is also ripened, then we shall be able to say, "It was good for us to be afflicted;" at present Israel said that it was bad as bad as bad could be and Moses was the convenient person on whom they could lay the blame.

III THESE OFFICERS HAD NOT INSIGHT ENOUGH TO LOOK BEYOND FIRST CONSEQUENCES. They could not look through the pain of the present to a future which was only attainable through that present. Thus the disciples spoke in deep perplexity and disappointment concerning their missing Master as if he had vanished like a dream, of the night. "We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel. So they spoke, not having appreciated his recent word, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." We shall do well to consider in every enterprise, that first consequences are very deceptive. When they bring hardship we must not, therefore, turn back; when they bring pleasure, we must not therefore conclude that still greater pleasures lie beyond. Israel had no right to make any assumptions whatever as to the first consequences of Moses" visit to Pharaoh. The true and only safe position for Israel to take up was this: "Here are these signs; they are signs that Jehovah has sent Moses, and is with him; let us accept them in full and patient reliance." A man does not dispute the truth of the finger-post which points him into the right road, because soon after he has passed it he comes to a worse bit of travelling than any he has had before. There is a profound and admonitory generalisation in that way of indicating Christian experience which puts the Slough of Despond so early in the pilgrim"s journey: and if first consequences that bring hardship are to be mistrusted, surely we must be even more cautious when the first consequences are full of pleasure. Though we be told to remember our Creator in the days of our youth his claims, his expectations, and his judgment-day the danger is that we shall only too easily forget all this, and remember only that we are strong, ambitious, able to enjoy, and with abundant opportunities for enjoyment. We must always mistrust the mere pleasure of our senses; the pleasure of tastes and likings. Liking a thing is never a sufficient reason for doing it; disliking never a sufficient reason for refusing to do it. God appeals to our prudence, to our conscience, to our pity, to our fears, but never to our tastes. And. be it ever remembered, that there is one first consequence which never deceives nor disappoints those who put themselves in the way of it. Do that which is right in the sight of God, and there is an immediate and pure pleasure at the heart, which all the waves and. billows of adversity cannot wash away. For instance, we cannot believe for a moment that Moses regretted his compliance with the commands of Jehovah. They had been clear and imperative, steady and unrelaxing in their pressure on his conscience. The pain from the reproaches of Israel was bad enough; but it would have been a far worse pain, if he had sought to flee from the test of the burning bush, and, Jonah-like, bury himself with his sheep in the very depths of the wilderness. Y.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When the Israelitish overlookers saw that they were in evil (בּרע as in Psa 10:6, i.e., in an evil condition), they came to meet Moses and Aaron, waiting for them as they came out from the king, and reproaching them with only making the circumstances of the people worse.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

when they were told

This can be stated in active form. AT: "when Pharaoh told them" (See: Active or Passive)

palace

This is a very large house that a king lives in.

you have made us offensive

The Egyptians responded to the Israelites the same way they would respond to a foul odor. AT: "you have caused them to hate us" (See: Metaphor)

have put a sword in their hand to kill us

Here "a sword" represents an opportunity to destroy enemies. AT: "have given them a reason to kill us" (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

Moses

Aaron

Pharaoh

Yahweh

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

ויראו שטרי בני ישראל The meaning is: AND THE BAILIFFS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DID SEE [THEM] i. e. their fellow-lsraelites who were ruled by them,

ברע — they saw them in the misfortune and trouble that befell them, because they had to make the labour hard upon them. לאמר לא תגרעו וגו׳ BY SAYING, YE SHALL NOT DIMINISH etc.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.