Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. Verse ConceptsBricksequipping, physicalBakingBuilding

"Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers-that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”

They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. Verse ConceptsBricksequipping, physicalBakingBuilding

"Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers-that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.'

Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks.”

He removed the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem. Verse ConceptsAxesIronToolsCaptivesClay, UsesHorrors Of WarSawsFurnacesIron ObjectsForced Labour

"Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers-that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words." read more.
So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I am not giving you straw. Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.' " So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The overseers insisted, "Finish your assigned work each day, just as [you did] when straw was [provided]." Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, "Why haven't you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as [you did] before?" So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: "Why are you treating your servants this way? No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, 'Make bricks!' Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault." But he said, "You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, 'Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks." The Israelite foremen saw that they were in trouble when they were told, "You cannot reduce your daily quota of bricks."

“Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. Do this in the sight of the Judean men Verse ConceptsBricksClayHidden Things

Draw water for the siege;
strengthen your fortresses.
Step into the clay and tread the mortar;
take hold of the brick-mold!
Verse ConceptsBricksClayClay, UsesDrinking WaterThe Nations Attacked

That day Pharaoh commanded the overseers of the people as well as their foremen: "Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers-that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' read more.
Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words." So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I am not giving you straw. Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.' " So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The overseers insisted, "Finish your assigned work each day, just as [you did] when straw was [provided]." Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, "Why haven't you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as [you did] before?" So the Israelite foremen went in and cried for help to Pharaoh: "Why are you treating your servants this way? No straw has been given to your servants, yet they say to us, 'Make bricks!' Look, your servants are being beaten, but it is your own people who are at fault." But he said, "You are slackers. Slackers! That is why you are saying, 'Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.' Now get to work. No straw will be given to you, but you must produce the same quantity of bricks."

The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and unlawfully exploited the foreign resident. Verse ConceptsAliens, God's AttitudeExtortion, Examples OfAbuse Of Authority, Warnings AgainstOppression, Nature OfOutsidersUnkindnessOppression, Examples OfPoor, The Wicked Response ToOppressing ForeignersOppressorsNot Helping The Poor

and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. Verse ConceptsBricksOppression, Examples OfTroubling Groups Of PeopleBitternessSuccess And Hard Work



Again, I observed all the acts of oppression being done under the sun. Look at the tears of those who are oppressed; they have no one to comfort them. Power is with those who oppress them; they have no one to comfort them. Verse ConceptsOppression, Examples OfComfortless LivesWeariness Of LifeOppressorsNo ComfortUnder The Sunoppressionoverworking


But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers—that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Verse ConceptsOppression, Examples OfNumbers ReducingNo Reduction

There was a widespread outcry from the people and their wives against their Jewish countrymen. Verse ConceptsOppression, Examples OfOutcry

For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the men of Judah,
the plant He delighted in.
He looked for justice
but saw injustice,
for righteousness,
but heard cries of wretchedness.
Verse ConceptsGarden, NaturalGod, Will OfHorticultureNeglectOppression, Examples OfMetaphorical VineyardsKilling The InnocentOutcryGardens

be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Verse ConceptsForgettingBeing BewareGroups Of SlavesGod Bringing Israel Out Of Egyptslavery

Let us deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply [further], and if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country." So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh. But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. read more.
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar, and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it's a daughter, she may live." The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this and let the boys live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife can get to them." So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very numerous. Since the midwives feared God, He gave them families. Pharaoh then commanded all his people: "You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live."

"Don't continue to supply the people with straw for making bricks, as before. They must go and gather straw for themselves. But require the same quota of bricks from them as they were making before; do not reduce it. For they are slackers-that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Impose heavier work on the men. Then they will be occupied with it and not pay attention to deceptive words." read more.
So the overseers and foremen of the people went out and said to them, "This is what Pharaoh says: 'I am not giving you straw. Go get straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but there will be no reduction at all in your workload.' " So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. The overseers insisted, "Finish your assigned work each day, just as [you did] when straw was [provided]." Then the Israelite foremen, whom Pharaoh's slave drivers had set over the people, were beaten and asked, "Why haven't you finished making your prescribed number of bricks yesterday or today, as [you did] before?"

tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. Verse ConceptsempiresOppression, God's Attitude ToGod's HandGroups Of SlavesGod Bringing Israel Out Of Egypt