Exodus 5:6

That same day Pharaoh commanded ¹  the slave masters and foremen ²  who were ³  over the people: ⁴ 

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people:

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters over the people and their foremen, saying,

That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the slave drivers and foremen he had set over the people of Israel:

Pharaoh took immediate action. He sent down orders to the slave-drivers and their underlings:

The same day Pharaoh gave orders to the overseers and those who were responsible for the work, saying,

That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors,

So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,

That same day Pharaoh commanded ¹  the slave masters and foremen ²  who were ³  over the people: ⁴ 

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.