Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 1:13

"And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor:" — Exodus 1:13 (ASV)

With rigour. —Forced labour in Egypt was of a very severe character. Those condemned to it worked from morning to night under the rod of a taskmaster, which was freely applied to their legs or backs, if they rested their weary limbs for a moment. (See Records of the Past, vol. viii. p. 149; Chabas, Mélanges Egyptolo-giques, vol. ii. p. 121). The heat of the sun was great; the burdens which the labourers had to carry were heavy, and the toil was incessant. Death often resulted from the excessive work. According to Herodotus, a single monarch, Neco, destroyed in this way 120,000 of his subjects (Herod, ii. 158).