And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
Egypt, that happy shelter for Israel, became a house of bondage when a king arose who knew not Joseph. The best service rendered to men is soonest forgotten after death; but if we serve God, our labor will not be lost. Better to work for Him than for men, whose memory fails and gratitude with it.
AI summary
Commenting on Exodus 1:8-14
Their lives were embittered entirely, no ease of body, no peace of mind. The Egyptians put them to clay work, brick-making, ditch-digging, canal-cutting, and field labor day and night without rest, using not only hard work but cruel tongues and beating hands to drive them.
AI summary
The Egyptians made their servitude grievous on purpose, digging clay, kneading it, forming bricks, carrying materials, all under the cruelest treatment. This was calculated affliction: they cut channels, built walls and pyramids, forced every sort of mechanical trade upon them, and wore them out with no mercy.
AI summary