These two verses are combined and restructured in Good News Translation because the same information is repeated. Both verses conclude with the same Hebrew word translated as with rigor, meaning “harshness, severity.” Also the root word meaning “to serve” is used five times, here rendered as serve … service … work … work … serve. Translators who begin the final sentence of verse 12 with “So” will find Good News Translation‘s model more helpful than Revised Standard Version‘s.

With rigor describes how the Egyptians made the people of Israel serve, not just how the Israelites served. The Egyptians did this “by forcing them into cruel slavery” (Good News Translation). That is, they “worked them ruthlessly” (New International Version). Made their lives bitter means they “made their lives miserable” (Good News Translation) because of the hard work. The phrase in mortar and brick refers to the building projects mentioned in verse 11. Mortar is the moist, mud-like substance used in building walls and applied between the layers of the bricks in order to bind them together. For brick see the comment at 5.7. In some languages the first two clauses will need to be expressed by two separate sentences; for example “And they [the Egyptians] cruelly forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves. So their lives [or, hearts] became filled with bitterness” or “… they had no happiness in their lives.”

We know from Exodus 5 that they had to make the bricks for the buildings, which probably involved digging an irrigation system for carrying water from the Nile River to the building sites. This should be considered in understanding all kinds of work in the field, which may also have included farming and other forms of outdoor labor. In cultures where mortar and brick are not used in building, it will be advisable to follow Good News Translation‘s model, as the building materials are not the important focus of this verse. One may translate, for example, “They [the Egyptians] forced the Israelites to construct buildings and also do all kinds of work in the fields.” The second occurrence of the phrase with rigor is translated by Good News Translation as “had no pity on them.” Some translators may choose to follow this model.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .