Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 5:19
And the officers of the children of Israel did see [that] they [were] in evil [case], after it was said, Ye shall not minish [aught] from your bricks of your daily task.
19. in evil case ] in having to tell their people that there was to be no abatement from their daily task.
The description here given of Egyptian brick-making is well illustrated from the monuments. The accompanying illustration (given more completely in Wilk.-B. i. 344) from the tomb of Rekhmra, vizier of Thothmes III (1503 1449 b.c.), at ‘Abd el-urnah, opposite to Luxor, represents Asiatic captives making bricks for the temple of Amon at Thebes. On the left we see men drawing water from a tank to moisten the mud: elsewhere there are men carrying the mud in baskets, kneading it with their feet, placing it in moulds (which would usually be stamped with the name of the reigning king), exposing the bricks to dry, piling them up in rows, and building a wall with them; in the lower picture we notice an Egyptian ‘taskmaster’ with hid rod. The gangs of slaves, or captives, engaged upon such work, were organized almost like an army: they were under the superintendence of ‘standard-bearers,’ chosen out of the Egyptian army (corresponding to the ‘taskmasters’ here), and they had also officers of their own (corresponding to the sherim), who were responsible to the standard-bearers. See Erman, pp. 417 f., 128. At Tell el-Maskhuta, the site of Pithom (Exo 1:11), M. Naville found bricks, some made with chopped straw or reed, and some without it ( Pithom, p. 11 b ). Most Egyptian bricks, however, do not contain straw; and Petrie ( Egypt and Israel, 30) think that the straw here asked for was for dipping the hand in, or sprinkling over the still soft bricks, that they might not stick.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 19. Did see that they were in evil case] They saw that they could neither expect justice nor mercy; that their deliverance was very doubtful, and their case almost hopeless.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Did see that they were in evil case, or, looked upon them with sadness, or with an evil eye, i.e. with a sorrowful and angry countenance, as those that could obtain no relaxation for themselves or for their brethren.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case,…. In a bad condition and circumstances, and that there was no likelihood of their getting out of them, since Pharaoh treated them after this manner; they saw not only that the common people were in a bad condition, in great bondage, misery, and distress, to be obliged to get straw to make brick, and carry in their full tale as before; but that they themselves were in a bad situation, since for the deficiency in their people they were like to be beaten for it from time to time:
after it was said, ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task; after this had been said and confirmed by Pharaoh, they had no hope of things being better with them, but looked upon their unhappy lot as irretrievable.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
When the Israelitish overlookers saw that they were in evil ( as in Psa 10:6, i.e., in an evil condition), they came to meet Moses and Aaron, waiting for them as they came out from the king, and reproaching them with only making the circumstances of the people worse.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
19. And the officers of the children of Israel did see. Some take the Hebrew word רע (70), rang, for “grief,” but refer it to the people; as though it were said, “the officers did see the people sorrowful, when they informed them of the command of the king.” But the simpler sense, in my opinion, will be, that they saw no remedy for their evil case, and that they could not be delivered from the cruel bondage in which they were. Some also explain it, that the officers themselves felt, from their own experience, after they had been so inhumanly repulsed by the king, how unhappy was their condition. But if I must choose either meaning, I should prefer what I have above stated, that they themselves sympathized with the public calamity, whilst they could see no hope of deliverance. Unless, perhaps, it would be better thus to take it, — that, when they came into the people’s presence, they were themselves of sad countenance, and looked upon them with looks cast down by sorrow and shame, because they brought the cruel edict for doubling their labour. And certainly I willingly embrace this meaning, that when they were forced to promulgate the command of the king, their countenances betrayed their sorrow, because they could not evade the necessity of being the ministers of his ungodly tyranny and cruelty. For Moses adds immediately after, that they delivered the edict. Hence, then, their mournful aspect, because they unwillingly oppressed their brethren, whose troubles they would have preferred to lighten. The sum of the matter is, that their case was altogether desperate; because the officers themselves conveyed this message of the unchangeable cruelty of the tyrant, and by the agitation of their countenances bore witness that no mitigation could be hoped for.
(70) רע, evil; A V. , they (were) in evil (case.) The question for translators has been whether the pronoun in this clause may be rendered themselves S M has said, cum moerore; Hebraice cum malo, scilicet aspectu. Alii exponunt hic אותם pro נפשם, ut est sensus, viderunt praefecti Israelitorum se esse in magno moerore. The LXX. and the V. have rendered the pronoun by words equivalent to themselves — W
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Act 14:22 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 5:19 And the officers of the children of Israel did see [that] they [were] in evil [case], after it was said, Ye shall not minish [ought] from your bricks of your daily task.
Ver. 19. In evil case. ] For their evil courses. Eze 23:8 ; Eze 20:5 ; Eze 20:7-8 Jos 24:14 It is written as a heavy curse of God, Lev 26:17 “If ye still trespass against me, I will set princes over you that shall hate you”: Mischievous, odious princes; odious to God, malignant to the people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
evil case: Deu 32:36, Ecc 4:1, Ecc 5:8
Reciprocal: Gen 42:1 – saw Exo 5:6 – taskmasters Exo 6:12 – children Deu 26:6 – General Psa 107:12 – he brought