7. Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick--The
making of bricks appears to have been a government monopoly as the
ancient bricks are nearly all stamped with the name of a king, and they
were formed, as they are still in Lower Egypt, of clay mixed with
chopped straw and dried or hardened in the sun. The Israelites were
employed in this drudgery; and though they still dwelt in Goshen and
held property in flocks and herds, they were compelled in rotation to
serve in the brick quarries, pressed in alternating groups, just as the
fellaheen, or peasants, are marched by press gangs in the same
country still.
let them go and gather straw for themselves--The enraged despot
did not issue orders to do an impracticable thing. The Egyptian reapers
in the corn harvest were accustomed merely to cut off the ears and
leave the stalk standing.
JFB.
Picture Study Bible