Discovery BoxExodus 5:6 
Context5:6 That same day Pharaoh commanded 1 the slave masters and foremen 2 who were 3 over the people: 4
Exodus 5:10
Context5:10 So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said, 5 “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving 6 you straw.
Exodus 5:14-15
Context5:14 The Israelite foremen whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them were beaten and were asked, 7 “Why did you not complete your requirement for brickmaking as in the past – both yesterday and today?” 8
5:15 9 The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating 10 your servants this way?
Exodus 5:19
Context5:19 The Israelite foremen saw 11 that they 12 were in trouble when they were told, 13 “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”
1 tn Heb “and Pharaoh commanded on that day.”
2 tn The Greek has “scribes” for this word, perhaps thinking of those lesser officials as keeping records of the slaves and the bricks.
3 tn The phrase “who were” is supplied for clarity.
4 sn In vv. 6-14 the second section of the chapter describes the severe measures by the king to increase the labor by decreasing the material. The emphasis in this section must be on the harsh treatment of the people and Pharaoh’s reason for it – he accuses them of idleness because they want to go and worship. The real reason, of course, is that he wants to discredit Moses (v. 9) and keep the people as slaves.
5 tn Heb “went out and spoke to the people saying.” Here “the people” has been specified as “the Israelites” for clarity.
6 tn The construction uses the negative particle combined with a subject suffix before the participle: אֵינֶנִּי נֹתֵן (’enenni noten, “there is not I – giving”).
7 tn The quotation is introduced with the common word לֵאמֹר (le’mor, “saying”) and no mention of who said the question.
8 sn The idioms for time here are found also in 3:10 and 5:7-8. This question no doubt represents many accusations shouted at Israelites during the period when it was becoming obvious that, despite all their efforts, they were unable to meet their quotas as before.
9 sn The last section of this event tells the effect of the oppression on Israel, first on the people (15-19) and then on Moses and Aaron (20-21). The immediate reaction of Israel was to cry to Pharaoh – something they would learn should be directed to God. When Pharaoh rebuffed them harshly, they turned bitterly against their leaders.
10 tn The imperfect tense should be classified here with the progressive imperfect nuance, because the harsh treatment was a present reality.
11 tn The common Hebrew verb translated “saw,” like the common English verb for seeing, is also used to refer to mental perception and understanding, as in the question “See what I mean?” The foremen understood how difficult things would be under this ruling.
12 tn The text has the sign of the accusative with a suffix and then a prepositional phrase: אֹתָם בְּרָע (’otam bÿra’), meaning something like “[they saw] them in trouble” or “themselves in trouble.” Gesenius shows a few examples where the accusative of the reflexive pronoun is represented by the sign of the accusative with a suffix, and these with marked emphasis (GKC 439 §135.k).
13 tn The clause “when they were told” translates לֵאמֹר (le’mor), which usually simply means “saying.” The thing that was said was clearly the decree that was given to them.
