Exodus 1:12
But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
The new king needed Israel's labor because they were able workmen, yet he feared them because they were more and mightier than his people and might join his enemies in war and then leave the land. To hold them he ranked the Israelites with the slaves who had sold their flocks and herds and lands and themselves. He set taskmasters over them to afflict them with burdens, and under that affliction they built the treasure-cities Pithom and Rameses. The affliction was service with rigor that made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field. Even their women were compelled to work in the fields as slaves, and the king and his rulers imposed a daily quota of work to subdue them, to decrease their numbers and to crush their independent spirit.
The plan to weaken Israel by oppression failed to reduce their numbers, for the more the Egyptians afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew, continually increasing until they were larger and stronger. This grieved and angered the Egyptians, because they could not decrease Israel's numbers or crush their independent spirit. Because the hard labor failed, the king hardened his heart to go further and destroy the male children.