Exodus 1:14

1:14 They made their lives bitter ¹  by ²  hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service ³  in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous. ⁴ 

Exodus 1:2

1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

Exodus 12:31

12:31 Pharaoh ⁵  summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said, “Get up, get out ⁶  from among my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, serve the Lord as you have requested! ⁷ 

Nahum 3:14

3:14 Draw yourselves water for a siege! ⁸ 

Strengthen your fortifications!

Trample the mud ⁹  and tread the clay!

Make mud bricks to strengthen your walls! ¹⁰ 

[1:14]  ¹ sn The verb מָרַר (marar) anticipates the introduction of the theme of bitterness in the instructions for the Passover.

[1:14]  ² tn The preposition bet (ב) in this verse has the instrumental use: “by means of” (see GKC 380 §119.o).

[1:14]  ³ tn Heb “and in all service.”

[1:14]  ⁴ tn The line could be more literally translated, “All their service in which they served them [was] with rigor.” This takes the referent of בָּהֶם (bahem) to be the Egyptians. The pronoun may also resume the reference to the kinds of service and so not be needed in English: “All their service in which they served [was] with rigor.”

[12:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:31]  ⁶ tn The urgency in Pharaoh’s words is caught by the abrupt use of the imperatives – “get up, go” (קוּמוּ צְּאוּ, qumu tsÿ’u), and “go, serve” (וּלְכוּ עִבְדוּ, ulÿkhu ’ivdu) and “take” and “leave/go” (וָלֵכוּ…קְחוּ, qÿkhu...valekhu).

[12:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “as you have said.” The same phrase also occurs in the following verse.

[3:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “waters of siege.”

[3:14]  ⁹ tn Heb “go into the mud.”

[3:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Take hold of the mud-brick mold!”