מַסmaç
body of forced labourers, task-workers, labour-band or gang, also (late) forced service, task-work, serfdom
Pronunciation: mas · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H4522
Meanings
1. labour-band, labour-gang, body of task-workers for public service, formed by levy upon the people by Solomon (1 Kings 5:27; 1 Kings 9:15; 1 Kings 9:21)
2.
a. of labour-bands, slave-gangs of Israel in Egypt (Exodus 1:11)
b. of conquered populations, subject to forced labour (Deuteronomy 20:11; Judges 1:30; Judges 1:33)
3. in general (Genesis 49:15; Joshua 16:10; 1 Kings 9:21)
4. forced service, serfdom (Esther 10:1)
Same root
Where it appears
Appears 23 times in the Bible.
- Genesis 49:15 When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor.
- Exodus 1:11 So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king.
- Deuteronomy 20:11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the people inside will serve you in forced labor.
- Joshua 16:10 They did not drive the Canaanites out of Gezer, however, so the people of Gezer live as slaves among the people of Ephraim to this day.
- Joshua 17:13 Later, however, when the Israelites became strong enough, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves. But they did not drive them out of the land.
- Judges 1:28 When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land.
Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).