Exodus 5 · Verse 13

Exodus 5:13

And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
Exodus 5:13, King James Version

Exodus 5:13 in other translations

BSBThe taskmasters kept pressing them, saying, “Fulfill your quota each day, just as you did when straw was provided.”
WEBThe taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!”
ASVAnd the taskmasters were urgent saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.
YLTand the exactors are making haste, saying, ‘Complete your works, the matter of a day in its day, as when there is straw.'
DARBYAnd the taskmasters urged them, saying, Fulfil your labours, the daily work, as when there was straw.
BBEAnd the overseers went on driving them and saying, Do your full day's work as before when there were dry stems for you.
WebsterAnd the task-masters hastened them, saying, Fulfill your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

What does Exodus 5:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 5:13-19
13-19. And the taskmasters hasted them ... officers ... beaten--As the nearest fields were bared and the people had to go farther for stubble, it was impossible for them to meet the demand by the usual tale of bricks. "The beating of the officers is just what might have been expected from an Eastern tyrant, especially in the valley of the Nile, as it appears from the monuments, that ancient Egypt, like modern China, was principally governed by the stick" [Taylor]. "The mode of beating was by the offender being laid flat on the ground and generally held by the hands and feet while the chastisement was administered" [Wilkinson]. (De 25:2). A picture representing the Hebrews on a brick field, exactly as described in this chapter, was found in an Egyptian tomb at Thebes.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 5:10-23

The Egyptian task-masters were very severe. See what need we have to pray that we may be delivered from wicked men. The head-workmen justly complained to Pharaoh: but he taunted them. The malice of Satan has often represented the service and worship of God, as fit employment only for those who have nothing else to do, and the business only of the idle; whereas, it is the duty of those who are most busy in the world…

Read the full comment on Exodus 5:10-23 →

Exodus 5:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהַנֹּגְשִׂ֖יםve.ha.no.ge.Simand the taskmastersH5065
אָצִ֣ים'a.Tzim[were] pressing [them]H213
לֵאמֹ֑רle.Mor<to> sayingH559
כַּלּ֤וּka.LucompleteH3615
מַעֲשֵׂיכֶם֙ma.'a.sei.Khemwork<s> yourH4639
דְּבַר\־de.var-a matter ofH1697
י֣וֹםYoma dayH3117
בְּיוֹמ֔וֹbe.yo.Moin day itsH3117
כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רka.'a.Sherjust asH834
בִּהְי֥וֹתbih.Yotwhen wasH1961
הַתֶּֽבֶן\׃ha.Te.venthe strawH8401

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
daily tasks. Heb. a matter of a day in his day.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 5:12

    So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

  • Exodus 5:13

    And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

  • Exodus 5:14

    And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

Read all of Exodus 5

Exodus 5:13 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los cuadrilleros los apremiaban, diciendo: Acabad vuestra obra, la tarea del día en su día, como cuando se os daba paja.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les exacteurs les pressaient, disant: Achevez vos ouvrages; à chaque jour sa tâche, comme quand il y avait de la paille.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Treiber drängten sie und sprachen: Vollendet eure Arbeiten, das Tagewerk an seinem Tage, gleichwie als Stroh da war!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Præfecti quoque operum instabant, dicentes: Complete opus vestrum quotidie, ut prius facere solebatis quando dabantur vobis paleæ.