Service, labor — and, in the same breath, SLAVERY (from eved, 'servant/slave,' the root the exodus turns on: Israel serves Pharaoh, then is freed to SERVE God — same verb). Exodus 1:14's avodah kashah, 'hard service,' the mortar and the bricks. The word will pivot: the goal of the exodus is not idleness but a change of masters — 'let my people go, that they may serve me.' ⭐ Deuteronomy 26:6 (now on these pages) quotes Exodus 1:14's phrase back in the creed: they put hard service on us — avodah qashah stands in three verses of the Hebrew Bible, Exodus 1:14, 6:9 and this. → first discussed at Gen 1:14