After Moses requested from Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Pharaoh increased the slaves’ workload. The Israelite foremen, who were tasked with ensuring that the slaves met the daily quota, suffered from the Egyptians’ beatings. According to the Sages, the sacrifice and devotion of these foremen served them well, as they were later rewarded with honor and prominence.

Pharaoh appointed Egyptian taskmasters over the Israelite foremen, and the foremen were appointed over the rest of the enslaved people. When Pharaoh said to them: “You shall not continue to give straw to the people” (Exodus 5:7), yet the daily quota of bricks remained the same, the taskmasters would come and count the bricks. If their number was found lacking, the taskmasters would strike the foremen, as it is stated: “The foremen of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters appointed over them, were beaten, saying: Why did you not complete your quota to produce bricks as previously?” (5:14). The foremen were struck for the unmet quota of the rest of the people, but the foremen would not deliver the slaves into the hand of the taskmasters. They would say: It is preferable for us to be flogged, and let the rest of the people not suffer. Therefore, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel” (Numbers 11:16) to assist you in judging the people, Moses said: I do not know who is worthy and who is unworthy. God said to him: “Whom you know to be the elders of the people, and its foremen” (Numbers 11:16). The same foremen who sacrificed themselves to be flogged on the Israelites’ behalf in Egypt concerning the preparation of the bricks will come and take this greatness…. From here you learn that anyone who sacrifices himself on behalf of Israel is rewarded with honor and prominence. (Tanĥuma [Buber], Behaalotekha)