English: “And they afflicted us” — as it is said, “They set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens….” “And they laid upon us hard labor” — as it is said, “Egypt made the children of Israel work with crushing labor (befarech)….”
In Sifrei: The next two clauses of the declaration are likewise pinned to Shemos 1:11 and 1:13–14. The bikkurim speaker is rehearsing the precise stages of the oppression recorded in the Torah.
Type of Learning
Custom (scriptural cross-reference).
What Is Learned
The declaration is a compressed retelling of the Egyptian oppression; each verb maps onto a specific verse in Shemos.