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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:6
The same day. Pharaoh lost no time. Having conceived his idea, he issued his order at once-on the very day of the interview with the two leaders. It would be well if the children of light were as "wise" and as energetic…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:6-9
The picture of a tyrant-crafty, energetic, and unsparing. Scripture contains abundant portraitures, not only of good, but also of bad men, the Holy Spirit seeming to be as desirous of arousing our indignation against vi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:6-14
The increase of trouble for God's people no proof of the failure of his purpose. I. THE DEMANDS OF GOD PROVOKE THE WRATH OF THE UNGODLY. The mad persistence of Pharaoh in his injustice is marked— 1. In his haste: his co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:7
Straw to make brick. Straw was used in Egypt to bind together the clay, or mud, which was, of course, the main material of the bricks. , to raise crops of cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic (Numbers 11:5), to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:7
Bricks without straw. The requirement of "bricks without straw" is not always made by a tyrannical king. All employers of labour who expect certain results without allowing sufficient time for them, and then complain th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:9
Let there more work be laid upon the men. Rather, as in the margin, "Let the work be heavy upon the men." Let the tasks set them be such as to occupy all their time, and not leave them any spare moments in which they ma…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:9
Vain words. There can be no doubt that "vain words" are unworthy of attention, deserve contempt, are foolish, unjustifiable. But what are "vain words'? What is the test whereby we are to know whether words are vain or n…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:10-14
A blind obedience to the commands of tyrants not laudable. The Egyptian taskmasters seem to have carried out their monarch's orders to the full, if not with inward satisfaction, at any rate without visible repugnance. T…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:10-14
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:10-14
The command of Pharaoh gone forth—no straw was to be provided for the Israelites, they were themselves to gather straw. The taskmasters could not soften the edict; they could only promulgate it (Exodus 5:10, Exodus 5:11…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:10
The taskmasters … went out, i.e. quitted the royal palace to which they Had been summoned (Exodus 5:6), and proceeded to the places where the people worked. The vicinity of Zoan was probably one great brickfield. Thus s…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:10-15
Bricks without straw. Tyrants seldom lack subordinates, as cruel as themselves, to execute their hateful mandates. Not only are these subordinates generally ready to curry favour with their lord by executing his orders…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:11
Get you straw where ye can find it. Straw was not valued in Egypt. Reaping was effected either by gathering the ears, or by cutting the stalks of the corn at a short distance below the heads; and the straw was then left…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:12
The people were mattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt. The expression used is hyperbolical, and not to be understood literally. A tolerably wide dispersion over the central and eastern portions of the Delta i…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:14
Vicarious suffering. Vicarious suffering is a blessed thing only when undergone voluntarily. In all other cases it is unjust, oppressive, cruel At the English court under the early Stuarts there was a boy who had to rec…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:15-19
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:15-19
Smarting under the sense of injustice, the Israelite officers "came and cried to Pharaoh" (Exodus 5:15), supposing that he could not have intended such manifest unfairness and cruelty. They were conscious to themselves…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:15
Came and cried. The shrill "cry" of Orientals when making complaint has often been noticed by travellers, and is probably here alluded to. To Pharaoh. See the "Introductory paragraph" at the beginning of the chapter, wh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:15-20
Unheeded expostulation. Pharaoh's treatment of the officers of the children of Israel, when they appeared before him to expostulate with him on his cruelty, betrays his consciousness of the injustice of his cause. I. AN…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:15-18
A wicked man's persistence in wrong-doing. Pharaoh when he first gave the order to withhold straw (Exodus 5:7), may not have known the amount of misery he was causing. He may have meant no more than to give the people f…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:16
They say to us. Or, "they keep saying to us." The participle is used, which implies continuance or repetition. The fruit is in thine own people. Literally, "Thine own people is in fault," or "sins."
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:16
Sufferings, even at the hand of lawful authorities, not always deserved. "Thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people." Punishment often visits the wrong back. Kings commit injuries or follies, and the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:17
Ye are idle, etc. Compare Exodus 5:8. Pharaoh is evidently pleased with his "happy thought." It seems to him clever, witty, humorous, to tax overworked people with idleness; and equally clever to say to religious people…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 5:18
Go therefore now and work—i.e. "Off with you to the brickfields at once, and get to your own special work of superintendence, which you are neglecting so long as you remain here. It is useless to remain. I reject both o…