{"id":"01KFXVBJG45J5XRXH6FJTV0R6K","cid":"bafkreig47jwcxospcxbxtwiuhb7ae57lkl3bzif6wvjlj76j7agxxzohkm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":580,"extracted_at":"2026-01-26T19:09:13.418Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KFXVA454RTKCJEQJMP0QKNKY","start_line":555,"text":" 390\tISRAELITES IN THE BRICKYARDS OF EGYPT\n\n\n 391\t^{}[]\n\n\n 392\t71\n 393\t\n 394\t“Ah! just the thing I feared. They want to get away out of the land,” although this three days’ journey would not have implied crossing its borders. Accordingly he made the orders more rigorous. Straw was not to be given. The brick-makers must find it, and at the same time produce the same “tale of bricks” as before. There were two classes of officers over them, showing how well organized the system had become. There were, first, the taskmasters, apparently of two classes, one above the other, the latter called overseers; then there were “officers of the children of Israel” (v. 14), held responsible no doubt for “the tale of bricks.” In a papyrus of the nineteenth dynasty the writer complains, “I have no one to help me in making bricks, no straw.” The poor Hebrews had to roam over the land to get stubble. Here the scholars have made out two things which it is enough to state as results without trying our young readers with the process. The first is that this work would\n\n\n 395\t72\n 396\t\n 397\tbe done after the harvest, the Egyptians then as now cutting off the ears, not the stalks of the grain. The second is that this period of the year, running over fifty days, is often most unhealthy, a pestilential sand wind blowing over the land. We can fancy their sufferings.\n 398\t\n 399\tStill the orders were for the full “tale” as when they had straw, but filled up they could not be. What then? The overseer, according to a representation of the whole plan found in a temple at Thebes, is armed with a heavy lash, and cries out, “Work without fainting.” The lash was laid on the Hebrew officers, who remonstrated and (v. 14) appealed to Pharaoh in vain. The order was renewed, the straw was still withheld, and the charge was made that their plea about sacrificing to Jehovah was only a pretence, “Ye are idle, ye are idle” (v. 17). So Egypt became emphatically the “land of bondage” to Israel, and—showing how hard it is to interfere between the oppressed and the oppressor—the Hebrew officers say to\n\n\n 400\t73\n 401\t\n 402\tMoses and Aaron in effect: “Why, look at what you have done! The Lord look upon you and judge. Instead of getting us relief, you have made our case worse than ever.” It is a curious illustration of the simple truthfulness of the Bible story that it has the language which we now know from other quarters was common at the time. For instance, an Egyptian of rank who had a secretary to write his history thus berates the unhappy scribe: “Thou hast made my name offensive, stinking, to all men.” Read Exodus, v. 21, and you will see the point.\n 403\t\n 404\tWe have now seen the condition of the toiling Hebrews in the years before they were set free. One or two things naturally suggested may be briefly indicated:\n 405\t\n 406\t1. The Hebrews learned something that was of use to them no doubt when they had to settle in Palestine. In the time of David they had brickkilns (2 Sam. xii. 31), and they forced on the Ammonites the very labors through\n","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KFXVAZJGPFRX3YNWE3R98Q3T","peer_label":"ISRAELITES IN THE BRICKYARDS OF EGYPT","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"}],"ver":1,"created_at":"2026-01-26T19:09:13.797Z","ts":"2026-01-26T19:09:13.797Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}