Exodus 1:14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 1:8-14

The land of Egypt here, at length, becomes to Israel a house of bondage, though hitherto it had been a happy shelter and settlement for them. Note, The place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our affliction, and that may prove the greatest cross to us of which we said, This same shall comfort us. Those may prove our sworn enemies whose parents were our faithful friends; nay, the same persons that loved us may possibly turn to hate us: therefore cease from man, and say not... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Exodus 1:14

And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage ,.... So that they had no ease of body nor peace of mind; they had no comfort of life, their lives and mercies were embittered to them: in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service of the field ; if Pelusium was one of the cities they built, that had its name from clay, the soil about it being clayish, and where the Israelites might be employed in making brick for the building of that and other cities: Josephus F4 Antiqu. l.... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 1:14

They made their lives bitter - So that they became weary of life, through the severity of their servitude. With hard bondage - קשה בעבדה baabodah kashah , with grievous servitude. This was the general character of their life in Egypt; it was a life of the most painful servitude, oppressive enough in itself, but made much more so by the cruel manner of their treatment while performing their tasks. In mortar, and in brick - First, in digging the clay, kneading, and preparing it,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:1-22

The prosperity of Israel. This prosperity was not a mere appearance, nor a passing spurt of fortune. It was a deep, abiding, and significant reality. Nor was it something exaggerated in order to make an excuse for the cruelties of a suspicious tyrant. There was indeed only too much to make Pharaoh uneasy; but altogether apart from his alarms there is a plain and emphatic statement of the prosperity of Israel in Exodus 1:7 . It is a very emphatic statement indeed, summoning us m the most... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:7-14

Here the real narrative of Exodus begins. The history of the Israelites from and after the death of Joseph is entered on. The first point touched is their rapid multiplication . The next their falling under the dominion of a new king . The third, his mode of action under the circumstances . It is remarkable that the narrative contains no notes of time. How long the increase continued before the new king arose, how long it went on before he noticed it, how long the attempt was made to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:7-14

Israel in Egypt. The life of a people, like that of an individual, to a great extent shaped by circumstances. In Canaan the Israelites might learn hardihood, but no room for much growth; few opportunities for national organisation; the tendency would be for the families to separate, each seeking pasturage for its own flocks (cf. Abraham and Lot). To become a nation they had to be placed To attain this object God led his people into Egypt. [Cf. (1) Hothouse where plants may strike and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:8-14

Egypt's sin. I. NATIONAL WRONG - DOING THE SEED OF NATIONAL DISASTER . The story of Egypt's suffering begins with the story of Egypt's injustice. There was wisdom in Pharaoh's statesmanship, and a sincere desire to serve his country, and yet he was his country's worst foe. The service rendered by wickedness is in the end rebuke and ruin. II. THE CARE SOUGHT TO BE REMOVED BY SIN BECOMES GREATER (10-12). 1 . The bondage was imposed to prevent... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:8-22

The policy of Pharaoh. I. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE POLICY . This is indicated in Exodus 1:9 , Exodus 1:10 . It was a policy of selfish fear, proceeding upon an unconcealed regard for the supremacy of Egypt. Whatever interfered with that supremacy was to be, if possible, swept completely out of the way. Pharaoh was dealing, not with the necessities of the present, but with the possibilities of the future. He made no pretence that Israel deserved to be dealt with in this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:11-14

The bondage. I. HOW EFFECTED ? Doubtless, partly by craft, and partly by force. To one in Pharaoh's position, where there was the will to enslave, there would soon be found the way. 1 . The Israelites were politically weak. "The patriarchal family had grown into a horde; it must have lost its domestic character, yet it had no polity a people in this state was ripe for slavery" (Maurice). 2 . And Pharaoh had no scruples. Those engaged in tillage and keeping of cattle could... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:14

They made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter and in brick . While stone was the material chiefly employed by the Egyptians for their grand edifices, temples, palaces, treasuries, and the like, brick was also made use of to a large extent for inferior buildings, for tombs, dwelling-houses, walls of towns, forts, enclosures of temples, etc. There are examples of its employment in pyramids; but only at a time long anterior to the nineteenth and even to the eighteenth dynasty. If... read more

Group of Brands