“That day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their foremen, saying” (Exodus 5:6). “That day, Pharaoh commanded” – it teaches about this wicked one that he did not delay harming them. This was the fourth decree.33See Shemot Rabba 1:12. “The taskmasters pressed, saying” (Exodus 5:13) – these are the Egyptians; the foremen – these are the elders of Israel.
“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as previously; they will go and gather straw for themselves. And the quota of the bricks that they made previously, you shall impose upon them; you shall not diminish from it; for they are lazy; therefore they cry, saying: Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let heavier work be imposed upon the men, and they will labor in it; and let them not regard false words.” (Exodus 5:7–9) “You shall no longer give the people straw.… and the quota of the bricks” – from here you learn that each and every one had a quota of how many bricks they were to make daily.
Therefore, initially, he enslaved them with gentle persuasion so that they would make the bricks with all their might, and to see the extent of their ability. On the basis of the number that they made the first day, they decreed upon them to make every day. “For they are lazy [nirpim]” – Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai said: He began clenching his teeth and saying: You are nirpim, which is an expression of filth.34Had the reference been to indolence, it should have said mitrapim.
May his bones be crushed, as they [Israel] are sacred. “Therefore they cry, saying.… Let heavier work be imposed upon the men” – this teaches that they had scrolls in their possession in which they would delight every Shabbat, that said that the Holy One blessed be He will deliver them. Because they rested on Shabbat, Pharaoh said to them: ‘“Let heavier work be imposed upon the men, and they will labor in it; and let them not regard [yishu]…” – let them not delight [mishtaashin], and let them not rest on the Shabbat day.’