The pronoun they is indefinite. It may be understood as referring to “the Egyptians,” but more specifically it means the king and his officials. It is possible, then, to render the phrase Therefore they as “Therefore the king and his officials….” They set taskmasters over them: it is also possible to say that “taskmasters were set over the Israelites” (New American Bible [New American Bible]), without having to identify who did it. But in languages that do not employ the passive voice, Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation‘s model will be helpful.

Taskmasters translates a technical term for supervisors of forced labor gangs. These are the Egyptian “slave drivers” (Good News Translation) mentioned in Exodus 5 and not the Israelite foremen whom they later appointed. A different Hebrew term is used for taskmasters in 5.6 and 5.14, but it should be rendered the same way there. However, it is important to distinguish between the taskmasters and the foremen. (See the comment on slavery under the section heading at 1.8.) Taskmasters may be translated as “people who force laborers to do hard work.” It is better not to use “slaves” or “slave drivers” in this chapter.

The word for afflict also carries the meaning of humiliating someone, or causing one to feel dependent on another. Hence “to crush their spirits” (Good News Translation) is a more precise rendering of the Hebrew. The one word for heavy burdens (literally “their burdens”) refers to the “forced labor” (New American Bible, New International Version) that was intended to place them completely under the control of the Egyptians. Other ways to translate to afflict them with heavy burdens are “cause them to suffer by doing heavy labor,” or idiomatically, “to make them do hard labor [or, work very hard] until their spirits [or hearts, or liver] were sore [or, broken].”

Pharaoh is a title rather than a name, although it came to be used as a name. Originally it was the Egyptian word for “great house,” referring to the palace of the king. Egyptians gradually began to use it in reference to the king himself. All kings were given this title, but they also kept their individual names. In the Old Testament, however, this word is never used with the article (for example, “the Pharaoh”), so it has frequently been understood as a personal name. In some languages a choice will have to be made to mark it either as a personal name or as a title. In order to avoid this confusion, Good News Translation has chosen to translate it as “the king” rather than transliterate it, and many translators will find this a good way to solve the problem. (See the comment on “king” at verse 8.)

The store-cities were special centers built as warehouses for storing grain and other supplies for the government. If such centers are unknown in the receptor culture, it is possible to translate this word as “cities in which to store supplies,” or “cities … to serve as supply centers,” as in Good News Translation. In cultures where the only large human settlements are villages surrounded by fences, translators will need other more descriptive ways to translate store-cities; for example, “large villages with high walls [or, fences] around them, where supplies are stored” or “large places with high fences around them, where they store grain and other things.” Pithom and Raamses should be transliterated as names of cities. The alternate “Rameses” in Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version represents the more common spelling for the city and for the king who established the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty (see the comment at verse 8).

An alternative translation model for verse 11b is:

• The Israelites built Pithom and Rameses for the king. They were special cities [or, villages with high walls around them] for him to use for storing grain and other things.

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 .