'Forced Labor' in the Bible
“When he saw that the resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to bear [burdens],And became a servant at forced labor.
And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their {forced labor}, and they built storage cities for Pharaoh--Pithom and Rameses.
{And then} in those days when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers, and he saw their {forced labor}, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, [one of] his brothers.
And the king of Egypt said, "Why, Moses and Aaron, do you take the people from their work? Go to your {forced labor}!"
And Pharaoh said, "Look, the people of the land [are] now many, and you want to stop them from their {forced labor}."
Therefore say to the {Israelites}, 'I [am] Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the {forced labor} of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments.
And I will take you {as my people}, and I will be {your God}, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the {forced labor} of Egypt.
{And then} if {they accept your terms of peace} and {they surrender to you}, {and then} all the people {inhabiting it} shall be forced labor for you, and they shall serve you.
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live among Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.
When the Israelites became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.
When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.
Zeb'ulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Na'halol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became subject to forced labor.
Naph'tali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, but dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land; nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-she'mesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
the Amorites persisted in dwelling in Har-heres, in Ai'jalon, and in Sha-al'bim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily upon them, and they became subject to forced labor.
Adoram [was] over the forced labor, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud [was] the recorder.
Ahishar was in charge of the household (palace); and Adoniram the son of Abda was in charge of the forced labor.
King Solomon levied forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers numbered 30,000 men.
He sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand {every month}; the work groups were a month in Lebanon and two months at home; now Adoniram was over the forced labor.
Now this is the account of the forced labor which King Solomon conscripted to build the house of the Lord, his own house, the Millo (fortification), the wall of Jerusalem, [and the fortress cities of] Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.
their children who remained after them in the land, whom the {Israelites} were not able to completely destroy, Solomon conscripted them for forced labor, until this very day.
Now the man Jeroboam [was] a man of ability, and Solomon saw that the young man {was a diligent worker}, so he appointed him over all of the forced labor for the house of Joseph.
Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the forced labor [to represent him], and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam quickly mounted his chariot to escape to Jerusalem.
but were descendants of those who were left in the land, whom the Israelites had not destroyed—Solomon brought them up as forced laborers to this day.
Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the forced labor, and the Israelites stoned him and he died. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his [royal] chariot to escape to Jerusalem.
King Ahasuerus imposed forced labor on the land and islands of the sea.
Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?Are not his days like those of a hired hand?
The hand of the diligent will rule,But the negligent and lazy will be put to forced labor.
Then the Assyrian will fall by a sword not of man,And a sword not of man will devour him.And he will flee from the sword [of God],And his young men will become forced labor.
How desolate the city sits [that] was full of people! She has become like a widow, [once] great among the nations! Like a woman of nobility in the provinces, she has become a forced laborer.
Forced Labornot in Goodspeed New Testament