Shemos 1:14 · unit 3

Parashas Shemos · Passuk 1:14

The Complete Passuk

וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּבְכׇל־עֲבֹדָ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה אֵ֚ת כׇּל־עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָבְד֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃

the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlesslybthe various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly Moved up from the end of the verse for clarity. they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.

Chabad.org — 1:14

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani in the name of R’ Yonasan — Sotah 11b (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 11b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sotah 11b

בפרך — א״ר שמואל בר נחמני א״ר יונתן: שהיו מחליפין מלאכת אנשים לנשים ומלאכת נשים לאנשים.

English: “Befarech” — R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of R’ Yonasan: They exchanged men’s work for women and women’s work for men.

On the daf / in context: A further dimension of “crushing” labor: tasks were deliberately assigned contrary to physical capacity and custom, making the work especially hard.

Type of Learning

Custom — additional reading of befarech as inversion of roles.

What Is Learned

Chazal teach that part of the cruelty was the forced exchange of gendered tasks, so that no one performed labor suited to his or her strength.