“You shall no longer supply the people with straw for making bricks. They must go and gather their own straw.
Parallel translations
- WEB “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
- KJV Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
- NKJV “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
- NASB “You are no longer to give the people straw to make bricks as previously; have them go and gather straw for themselves.
- NLT “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Pharaoh decrees that the people must now gather their own straw yet make the same bricks. He devises a crushing burden to break their spirit.
Overview
By withholding the straw needed for brickmaking, Pharaoh forces Israel to find their own while maintaining quotas, multiplying their labor. The measure is calculated cruelty meant to leave no time for thoughts of worship or freedom. It illustrates how the powers of this world respond to God's claim with harsher bondage, deepening the people's need for deliverance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Judg 19:19even though there is both straw and feed for our donkeys, and bread and wine for me and the maidservant and young man with me. There is nothing that we, your servants, lack.”
- Gen 24:25Then she added, “We have plenty of straw and feed, as well as a place for you to spend the night.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 5:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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