Exodus Chapter 5 verse 7 Holy Bible
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
read chapter 5 in ASV
Give these men no more dry stems for their brick-making as you have been doing; let them go and get the material for themselves.
read chapter 5 in BBE
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
read chapter 5 in DARBY
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
read chapter 5 in KJV
Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore; let them go and gather straw for themselves.
read chapter 5 in WBT
"You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
read chapter 5 in WEB
`Ye do not add to give straw to the people for the making of the bricks, as heretofore -- they go and have gathered straw for themselves;
read chapter 5 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 7. - Straw to make brick. Straw was used in Egypt to bind together the clay, or mud, which was, of course, the main material of the bricks. (See Wilkinson, in the author's 'Herodotus,' vol. 2. p. 2130 It is usually chopped into small pieces. Let them go and gather straw. This would involve the leaving of the brickfields, and the scattering of the people over the harvest-grounds, where alone they would be able to find straw in any quantity. There are so many harvests in Egypt, that straw would perhaps be obtainable somewhere during the greater part of the year.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(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 Rawlinson's 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 people's 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."
