Exodus 1:11

III. ISRAEL IN BONDAGE.

11. They did set over them taskmasters

The writer uses the proper Egyptian designation for these officers, viz, Chiefs of tribute. They were men of rank, superintendents of the public works, such as are often represented on Egyptian monuments and are carefully distinguished from the subordinate overseers. The Israelite's were employed in forced labors, probably in detachments, each under an Egyptian "taskmaster;" but they were not reduced to slavery, properly speaking, nor treated as captives of war; they continued to occupy and cultivate their own district, and they retained possession of their houses, flocks, herds, and other property until they emigrated from Egypt.-- Canon Cook. By hard feudal labor (burdens, burdensome toil) Pharaoh hoped, according to the ordinary maxims of tyrants, to break down the physical strength of Israel and lessen its increase, since. population always grows more slowly under oppression than in the midst of prosperous circumstances, and also to crush their spirit so as to banish the very wish for liberty.

They built for Pharaoh treasure cities.

The Hebrew word corresponds very closely, both in form and meaning, with "magazines," depots of ammunition and provisions. The same word is used in 1 Kings 9:19; 2 Chronicles 8:4; 2 Chronicles 32:28. Captives were employed in great numbers for building and enlarging such depots under the Egyptian kings of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties.-- Canon Cook.

Pithom and Raamses.

These two store places were in the land of Goshen; and, being situated near. border, liable to invasion, they were fortified cities. 2 Chronicles 11:12. Pithom (Greek Patumos) lay on the eastern Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about twelve Roman miles from Heliopolis; and Raamses, called by the LXX. Heroopolis, lay between the same branch of the Nile and the Bitter Lakes. These two fortified cities were situated, therefore, in the same valley, and the fortifications which Pharaoh commanded to be built around both had probably the same common object, of obstructing the entrance into Egypt which this valley furnishes the enemy from Asia.-- Hengstenberg.

The very name of the Hebrews is officially recorded by their persecutors as the builders of the city of Raamses. In. papyrus preserved In the museum of Leyden, the scribe Kautsir reports to his superior, the scribe Bakenphtha, that in compliance with his instruction, he has "distributed the rations among the soldiers, and likewise among the Hebrews, (Aberiou or Apuru,) who, carried the stones to the great city of King Rameses Miamun, the Lover of Truth, and who are under the orders of the captain of the police soldiers, ameneman.. distributed the food among them monthly according to the excellent instructions which my lord has given me." There are also other documents referring to the people and their serfdom.-- Philip Smith.