Exodus 5:8

8 "But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are 1lazy, therefore * they cry out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

Exodus 5:8 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 5:8

And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, you
shall lay upon them
Oblige them to make and bring in the same number of bricks they used to do, when straw was brought to them and given them; by which it appears, that their daily task was such a number of bricks:

you shall not diminish ought thereof;
not make any abatement of the number of bricks, in consideration of their loss of time and their labour in going to fetch straw from other places:

for they be idle;
and want to be indulged in a lazy disposition, which ought by no means to be connived at:

therefore they cry, let us go and sacrifice to our God;
suggesting, that this request and cry of theirs did not proceed from a religious principle, or the great veneration they had for their God, but from the sloth and idleness they were addicted to.

Exodus 5:8 In-Context

6 So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying,
7 "You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 "But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall impose on them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are lazy, therefore they cry out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'
9 "Let the labor be heavier on the men, and let them work at it so that they will pay no attention to false words."
10 So the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, "Thus says Pharaoh, 'I am not going to give you any straw.

Cross References 1

Footnotes 1

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