Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 5:7

Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

Some of the most ancient buildings in Egypt were constructed of bricks not burned, but dried in the sun; they were made of clay, or more commonly of mud, mixed with straw chopped into small pieces. An immense quantity of straw must have been wanted for the works on which the Israelites were engaged, and their labors must have been more than doubled by this requisition.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Exo 5:7-12

Ye shall no more give the people straw.

Requiring the impossible

I. That there are some people in society who strive to make those under them do the impossible. Pharaoh tried to make the Israelites do the impossible, when he commanded them to make bricks without providing them with straw. This demand of tyranny is heard to-day, in our large factories, and amongst our agricultural population.

1. All require men to do the impossible who wish them to work beyond their capabilities.

(1) Physical strength.

(2) Intellectual ability.

(3) Moral energy.

2. All require men to do the impossible who wish them to work beyond their opportunity. Every man must have time, and a proper time to do his work. He must not be expected to do two things at once.

3. Contemplate the method employed to get men to do the impossible. These methods are various. Some will condescend to flattery and cant to get men to do that for which they are wholly unadapted. Others will use force and persecution.

(1) They set taskmasters over us. To watch our conduct. To inspect our work. To augment our burden. To darken our sorrow.

(2) They abuse us. They say we are idle, and that even after we have made the best attempt within our power to fall in with their unjust demands.

(3) They mock our religious sentiment. Therefore, ye say, let us go and do sacrifice unto the Lord. They impeach our religious motives. These, then, are the ways and methods in which we are treated, when tyrants endeavour to compel us to do the impossible.

(4) Some people will attempt to accomplish the impossible. It will involve you in utter failure and distress at last, when you will get no sympathy from those who urged you to it.

II. That the people who strive to make those under them do the impossible are throwing society into an attitude of pain and complaint. Then the officers of the Children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants.

1. The requirement of the impossible tends to throw society into an attitude of pain. National happiness is to a very large extent the outcome of a free and sympathetic employment of the working classes.

2. The requirement of the impossible tends to throw society into an attitude of complaint.

III. That the people who strive to make those under them do the impossible, and who throw society into an attitude of pain are but little affected by the woe they occasion, and generally resent any mention of it to them. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

1. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant demands renewed work. Go therefore now, and work.

2. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant adheres to his cruel measures. There shall no straw be given you.

3. Notwithstanding the outcry of the oppressed, the tyrant mocks their woe, and treats them with contempt.

Lessons:

1. Never require the impossible.

2. Never attempt the impossible.

3. Adapt methods to ends.

4. Cultivate kindly dispositions toward your employers. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Lacking the essential

Writing on the treatment of his brother, General A. S. Johnston, Mr. W. P. Johnston says: His command was imperial in extent, and his powers and discretion as large as the theory of the Confederate Government permitted. He lacked nothing except men, munitions of war, and the means of obtaining them! He had the right to ask for anything, and the State executives had the power to withhold everything. (H. O. Mackey.)

Strawless bricks

I. An illustration of the painful aggravations of the lot of the toilers of every age.

II. An illustration of the unsatisfactory efforts of men seeking for happiness apart from religion.

III. An illustration of the powerlessness of all religious systems not possessed of a living Christ.

IV. An illustration of futile endeavours to attain Christian peace without exercising living faith. (F. Hastings.)

The world and Satan opposed to the Christians spiritual progress

If thou come to serve the Lord, saith the wisdom of the Son of Sirach, prepare thy soul for temptation. Have you listened to the gracious pleading of the Spirit of God, in sincere anxiety for a complete and eternal deliverance? You will meet with hindrances, one of the first will arise from those who make a mock at sin, who deride the privileges and duties of pure and undefiled religion.

I. The prejudices of the careless and worldly against sincere and vital godliness.

1. It is regarded as the dream and vision of a heated and enthusiastic imagination.

2. It is regarded as inconsistent with a proper attention to the duties of active life.

II. Another temptation which satan employs to oppose an entire devotion of the heart to God, is by exaggerating the importance of worldly pursuits. Let there be more work laid upon the men. What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, if he shall lose his own soul? A double caution may be deduced:

1. To those who would hinder the spiritual freedom of others whom they may control or influence; as Pharaoh would have impeded the political deliverance of Israel. You may settle from Scripture and prayer whether the resolutions and desires you oppose arise from the inspiration of God, or the imagination of men. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker.

2. You who are thus hindered, remember that Scripture addresses you with a cautionary voice Be not slothful in business. (J. R. Buddicom.)

The burdens increased

Note that–

I. Benefactors may expect misrepresentation. Moses was censured; Christ rejected by His own. The enemy will slander. Our hope is in working only for God.

II. Sin asks to be let alone. Pharaoh blamed Moses; Ahab blamed Elijah; the Jews blamed the disciples.

III. Sin becomes more terrible with age. Pharaoh grew more exacting, and the people weaker; he answers prayers with falsehoods and insults. Sin toys with youth, but scourges manhood.

IV. All appeal must be made to God. Moses turned to God; he did not censure the elders.

V. It is darkest just before day. Sin grows worse till it breaks down. It threatens in order to drown conscience. (Dr. Fowler.)

Sin more tyrannical when men would escape from it

When Moses demanded from Pharaoh the liberation of the Hebrews, the tyrant increased their burdens; and in like manner, when the soul rises to expel evil from its domain, it then for the first time discovers the full bitterness of its bondage. Its earliest impulse thereon is to blame the truth which awakened it to a sense of its degradation, for causing the misery which it only revealed. The preacher is accounted cruel when he has been only faithful; and his hearer accuses him of personal malice when he has been only holding up a mirror wherein the angry one caught a glimpse of himself. But all these are hopeful signs. They are, indeed, when rightly regarded and fostered, the prophecies of a coming conversion. The docile slave, who is contented with his condition, is petted and made much of by his master; but if he tries to run away, he is immediately put into fetters. So, when we are roused to battle with sin, it is then that, most of all, we feel its power. Satan does his worst on the soul just as he is about to be expelled from its possession. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)

Means necessary to work

I. That man cannot accomplish work without means. A man cannot write a book without intellect, or build a church without money, or save souls without intimate communion with God. Folly to make the attempt.

II. That one man has often the power to intercept the means by which another man works.

III. that when men are robbed of their means of work, they are thrown into great straits.

IV. Any man who intercepts the wore. Of another takes a fearful responsibility upon himself. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The Church cast upon her own resources

I. That the church is often cast upon her own resources. Times of dark depression.

II. That when human aid is thus withdrawn, men expect from the church the same amount of work that she accomplished before.

III. That when the church does not accomplish her work is fully and speedily under these difficult circumstances, she is persecuted and slandered by the world. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The discipline of failure

The intervention of Moses in behalf of his people was not, at first, attended with happy results. The people themselves were abject and spiritless, and Pharaoh was stubborn and unyielding. The condition of the Hebrews grew worse instead of better. And yet, it was but passing through a stage as helpful to its ultimate success as any other. Great enterprises are wont to encounter such cheeks in their initial stages. The worm that is to be a butterfly must go into the condition of a chrysalis, and lie motionless, and seemingly dead. The seed that is to be a plant must fall into the ground and die. Men want the rapid, the grand, and noticeable; and the kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation. Men desire deliverance, but they do not like the process of deliverance. Yet such checks are tests of character, trials of mens faith and earnestness. Moses did not despair of a cause because it had met with a reverse. He believed that the cause was Gods. He believed in himself as Gods instrument to make it victorious. Now I have said that this sort of discipline is common; and doubtless it is needful and salutary. A defeat at the outset, duly used, is the security of an augmented success. Yet, at no age is the trial that is ever repeating itself, though it be with diminished force, an unprofitable subject of contemplation–the trial of an over-sanguine expectation followed by painful and disheartening failure. Such an one, starting with a full, strong confidence in his own sincerity and earnestness, looks for large and speedy results. The strong man armed keepeth his house, and his goods are in safety. He looks at him over the ramparts with placid contempt. And now comes the hour of despondency. His ministry is a failure. He is nothing; he can do nothing. Men will not heed his message. The trial of your faith is more precious than of gold that perisheth. Try it again. Thou shalt see greater things than these. God will help thee, and that right early. And thou shalt come again with joy, and bring thy sheaves with thee. (R. A. Hallam, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 7. Straw to make brick] There have been many conjectures concerning the use of straw in making bricks. Some suppose it was used merely for burning them, but this is unfounded. The eastern bricks are often made of clay and straw kneaded together, and then not burned, but thoroughly dried in the sun. This is expressly mentioned by Philo in his life of Moses, who says, describing the oppression of the Israelites in Egypt, that some were obliged to work in clay for the formation of bricks, and others to gather straw for the same purpose, because straw is the bond by which the brick is held together, . – PHIL. Oper., edit. MANG., vol. ii., p. 86. And Philo’s account is confirmed by the most intelligent travellers. Dr. Shaw says that the straw in the bricks still preserves its original colour, which is a proof that the bricks were never burned. Some of these are still to be seen in the cabinets of the curious; and there are several from ancient Babylon now before me, where the straw which was amalgamated with the clay is still perfectly visible. From this we may see the reason of the complaint made to Pharaoh, Ex 5:16: the Egyptians refused to give the necessary portion of straw for kneading the bricks, and yet they required that the full tale or number of bricks should be produced each day as they did when all the necessary materials were brought to hand; so the people were obliged to go over all the cornfields, and pluck up the stubble, which they were obliged to substitute for straw. See Ex 5:12.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The straw was used either to mingle with the clay, that it might not be too brittle; or to cover the clay when it was formed into bricks, that the heat of the sun might not dry them too much, which might easily be done in that hot country; or for fuel, either wholly or in part, to burn their bricks with, straw being abundant there, and much used for that purpose.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

7. Ye shall no more give the peoplestraw to make brickThe making of bricks appears to have been agovernment monopoly as the ancient bricks are nearly all stamped withthe name of a king, and they were formed, as they are still in LowerEgypt, of clay mixed with chopped straw and dried or hardened in thesun. The Israelites were employed in this drudgery; and though theystill dwelt in Goshen and held property in flocks and herds, theywere compelled in rotation to serve in the brick quarries, pressed inalternating groups, just as the fellaheen, or peasants, aremarched by press gangs in the same country still.

let them go and gather strawfor themselvesThe enraged despot did not issue orders to do animpracticable thing. The Egyptian reapers in the corn harvest wereaccustomed merely to cut off the ears and leave the stalk standing.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick,…. Whether this was given and used to mix with the clay, as is done in some places h, that the bricks made thereof might be firmer and stronger, or to burn them with in the furnaces, or to cover them from the heat of the sun, that they might not dry too soon and crack, is not easy to determine; though it is said that the unburnt bricks of Egypt formerly were, and still are made of clay mixed with straw. The Egyptian pyramid of unburnt brick, Dr. Pococke i observes, seems to be made of the earth brought by the Nile, being of a sandy black earth, with some pebbles and shells in it; it is mixed up with chopped straw, in order to bind the clay together, as they now make unburnt bricks in Egypt, and many other eastern parts, which they use very much in their buildings. He says he found some of these bricks (of the pyramid) thirteen inches and a half long, six inches and a half broad, and four inches thick; and others fifteen inches long, seven broad, and four inches three quarters thick. But be the straw for what use it will, it had been dealt out to them by proper persons to be used in one way or another; but now it was forbidden to be given them,

as heretofore it had been done:

let them go and gather straw for themselves; out of the fields where it lay, after the corn had been reaped and gathered in, or in barns, where it had been threshed; to do which must take up a good deal of their time, and especially if the straw lay at any distance, or was hard to be come at.

h Vide Vitruvium de Architectura, l. 2. c. 3. p. 46. & Philander in ib. i Observations on Egypt, p. 53.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(7) Straw to make brick.The use of crude brick was general in Egypt for dwelling-houses, tombs, and ordinary buildings, the walls of towns, fortresses, and the sacred enclosures of temples, and for all purposes where stone was not required, which last was nearly confined to temples, quays, and reservoirs (Wilkinson, in Rawlinsons Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 213). These crude bricks were always made of the mud of the Nile, mixed with chopped straw, which served to bind them together (Rosellini, Monumenti Civili, vol. ii. p. 252).

Let them go and gather straw.It has been estimated that this requirement would more than double the peoples toils (Canon Cook). They would have to disperse themselves over the harvest fields, often lying at a considerable distance from the brick-fields, to detach the straw from the soil, gather it into bundles, and convey it to the scene of their ordinary labours. Having done this they were then required to complete the ordinary tale.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 5:7. Straw to make brick The straw was mixed with clay and mud: “The composition of bricks in Egypt,” Dr. Shaw tells us, “was only a mixture of clay, mud, and straw, slightly blended and kneaded together, and afterwards baked in the sun. Paleis cohaerent lateres, (the sides of the bricks cohere to the straw,) says Philo, in his life of Moses. The straw which keeps these bricks together, in Egypt, and still preserves its original colour, seems to be a proof, that these bricks were never burnt, or made in kilns.” Travels, p. 136.

REFLECTIONS.They who have no fear of God, will have little compassion for man. Observe, 1. Moses and Aaron entreat Pharaoh for three days’ respite, lest God be angry for the neglect of his service. Note; We have need to fear the visitations of the Lord, when we are found disusing his ordinances. 2. Pharaoh will not part with them for an hour; nay, reproaches them as idle, and adds to their burdens: nor shall Moses and Aaron fare better than the rest. Learn, (1.)That faithful ministers must expect, in dangerous times, to be the first to suffer. (2.) The service of God often bears, from the enemies of it, the reproach of idleness. (3.) When we have to deal with men of perverse minds, like Pharaoh, we must expect such unreasonable demands.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Exo 5:7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

Ver. 7. Ye shall no more give the people straw. ] Speculum tyrannidis semper augescentis atque invalescentis. “The matter mends with us,” said those martyrs in prison, “as sour ale doth in summer.” a

a Act. and Mon.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)