New International Version
Exodus 1:11
11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
Exodus 1:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
- New Living Translation (NLT)So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.
Context of Exodus 1:11
9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13and worked them ruthlessly.
Read all of Exodus 1Exodus 1:11 word by word
וַיָּשִׂ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מִסִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן עַנֹּת֖וֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיִּ֜בֶן עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ לְפַרְעֹ֔ה אֶת־פִּתֹ֖ם וְאֶת־רַעַמְסֵֽס׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore they did setשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: appointH7760
- over them taskmastersשַׂרώar · rulerH8269
- over them taskmastersמַסmas mis · taskworkerH4522
- to afflictעָנָה‛ânâh · to afflictH6031
- them with their burdensסִבְלָהsebâlâh · burdenH5450
- And they builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- for Pharaohפַּרְעֹהpar‛ôh · PharaohH6547
- treasureמִסְכְּנוֹתmiskenâh · storageH4543
- citiesעִיר‛îyr ‛âr ‛âyar · cityH5892
- Pithomפִּתֹםpithôm · PithomH6619
- and Raamsesרַֽעַמְסֵסra‛mesês ra‛amsês · RaamsesH7486
Cross-references for Exodus 1:11
- Exodus 3:7The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
- Exodus 5:15Then the Israelite overseers went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why have you treated your servants this way?
- Genesis 15:13Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there.
- Numbers 20:15Our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there many years. The Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors,
- Deuteronomy 26:6But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor.
- Exodus 2:11One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
- Exodus 5:4But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!”
- Psalms 68:13Even while you sleep among the sheep pens, the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver, its feathers with shining gold.”
- Psalms 81:6“I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket.
- Psalms 105:13they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
- Genesis 47:11So Joseph settled his father and his brothers in Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the district of Rameses, as Pharaoh directed.
- Proverbs 27:4Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?
Commentaries on Exodus 1:11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Set over them task-masters - מסים שרי sarey missim, chiefs or princes of burdens, works, or tribute; , Sept. overseers of the works. The persons who appointed them their work, and exacted the performance of it. The work itself being oppressive, and the manner in which it was exacted still more so, there is some room to think that they not only worked them unmercifully, but also obliged them to pay an exorbitant tribute at the same time. Treasure cities…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Taskmasters - The Egyptian “Chiefs of tributes.” They were men of rank, superintendents of the public works, such as are often represented on Egyptian monuments, and carefully distinguished from the subordinate overseers. The Israelites were employed in forced labor, probably in detachments, but they were not reduced to slavery, properly speaking, nor treated as captives of war. Amosis had special need of such laborers, as proved by the inscriptions…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-14Verses 8-14 The land of Egypt became to Israel a house of bondage. The place where we have been happy, 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. Cease from man, and say not of any place on this side heaven, This is my rest. All that knew Joseph, loved him, and were kind to his brethren for his sake; but the best and most useful services a man does to others, are…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11Archaeologists have identified Pithom and Rameses with the modern cities of Tell el-Maskhutah and Qantir. Ancient remains show people built these cities during the Late Bronze period (1550–1250 BC), when the Israelites were also present.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters--Having first obliged them, it is thought, to pay a ruinous rent and involved them in difficulties, that new government, in pursuance of its oppressive policy, degraded them to the condition of serfs--employing them exactly as the laboring people are in the present day (driven in companies or bands), in rearing the public works, with taskmasters, who anciently had sticks--now whips--to punish the indolent…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 1:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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