Exodus 5:18

5:18 So now, get back to work! ¹  You will not be given straw, but you must still produce ²  your quota ³  of bricks!”

Exodus 32:16

32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

[5:18]  ¹ tn The text has two imperatives: “go, work.” They may be used together to convey one complex idea (so a use of hendiadys): “go back to work.”

[5:18]  ² tn The imperfect תִּתֵּנּוּ (tittennu) is here taken as an obligatory imperfect: “you must give” or “you must produce.”

[5:18]  ³ sn B. Jacob is amazed at the wealth of this tyrant’s vocabulary in describing the work of others. Here, תֹכֶן (tokhen) is another word for “quota” of bricks, the fifth word used to describe their duty (Exodus, 137).