הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּ֗ה וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־תִקְרֶ֤אנָה מִלְחָמָה֙ וְנוֹסַ֤ף גַּם־הוּא֙ עַל־שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּ֖נוּ וְעָלָ֥ה מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Vinde, vamos agir astutamente contra ele, para que ele não multiplique ainda mais, e aconteça que, quando houver guerra, ele também se junte aos nossos inimigos, lute contra nós e suba da terra."
Hakhsharat HaAvrekhim
“Come let us deal with them cleverly.” (Shemos, 1) This became the Egyptians obsession, their single thought day and night, a harrowing mantra clinging to their lips. And truly they invested all their wisdom and craftiness in devising more and more painful tortures to embitter the Israelites, as if they had no other reason to live other than to torment the Jews. This became the raison d’etre for the both the young and the old, from the simple Egyptian in the street to the kings in their palaces. If a few days passed without seeing the invention of a new clever means of torment, they would simply increase their workload and demand impossible tasks. For instance, they would make the men perform the tasks of the women and the women do the labor of the men. (Sotah, 11)