The Egyptians set taskmasters over Israel, which means that the Israelites were made to do forced labour. Israel was no longer free to live as shepherds (Genesis 47:6) but became Pharaoh’s slaves. The purpose was to afflict
and weaken Israel but also to strengthen Egypt since the Israelites were used to do Egypt’s heavy work. (The Hebrew says, literally, “to afflict them with their heavy burdens,” that is, Egypt’s heavy burdens
). Thus, the Israelites were forced to build cities for Pharaoh, which would be of great benefit to Egypt.
This oppression was an indirect attempt to control Israel’s numbers and strength. The Egyptians were not directly killing the Israelites but assuming that hard labour would slow their growth. Such labour was dangerous, leading to injuries and deaths on the job. The long days and exhaustion would leave little time or energy for having children. Finally, slavery can break the spirit of a people so that they do not fight back or resist.1 Egypt was attempting to grind Israel down by making their lives miserable.
Egypt should have rejoiced at Israel’s growth because Israel was supposed to be a blessing to all the nations (Genesis 12:2–3). Instead, they set themselves against God’s promises and so would face judgment instead of blessing.
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.