Chapter One
Israel Increases in Number
1:1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
The book of Exodus opens with the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. The total number of descendants of Jacob is reported to be seventy. While the text does acknowledge that Joseph was already in Egypt, it does not inform us if Joseph and his sons were included in the count as seen in Genesis chapter 46. As discussed in the commentary for Genesis 46:26-27, the list given there does indeed add up to seventy, but it certainly is not complete, as this number, more than likely, does not include the wives of the sons and grandsons and the husbands of the daughters and granddaughters, as the Hebrew word used here and in Genesis 46:26 is ‘yě·rěḵ’,[1] referring to those born in Jacob’s bloodline (literally out of his loins). The actual number that migrated to Egypt with Jacob could have been significantly higher, perhaps even up to several hundred. Moses also referenced the number ‘seventy’ when he spoke about how God blessed the Israelites in Egypt, “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (Deuteronomy 10:22)
The Israelites remained in Egypt, even after the generation of Joseph and all of his brothers had died. However, they continued to be fruitful and greatly increased in number. The Hebrew translated here as “increased greatly,” is ‘yiš·reṣû’,[2] which means to swarm in large numbers.[3] When reading verse seven, it is hard not to notice the number of similar words in verse seven describing their rapid growth. These synonyms seem to be building up to a crescendo as they were: fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, grew exceedingly strong, and filled the land! Some scholars estimate that the number of Israelites at this point may have been comparable to the Egyptian population. It is believed that the Israelite number may have been upwards to 3 million people.
How would the Egyptian government view this rapid expansion of the Israelites? This growth rate would undoubtedly alarm any nation, as the native people could become a minority in their own land.
Considerations
Assimilation Equals Annihilation
Scripture gives us evidence that the Israelites at this time had little or no spiritual guidance and were slowly turning away from God. Instead of following God, they started to embrace the Egyptian culture and religion, a trend that will sadly continue. Later, when Joshua was addressing the Israelites he said, “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:14) The prophet Ezekiel also wrote about this, presenting God’s perspective: “And I said to them, ‘Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the LORD your God.’ But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.” (Ezekiel 20:7-8).
If the Israelites remained in Egypt much longer, they could have been fully assimilated into the Egyptian pagan culture and ultimately lose their identity. But that was not to be what God had in mind for the nation of Israel.
A Different Pharaoh
1:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.”
The plot certainly thickens as we read that there is now a king that did not know Joseph, who noted that the growth of the Israelites presented a potential problem. In the Septuagint and the retelling of this story in the book of Acts (see Act 7:18), the Greek words used to translate the Hebrew word ‘ḥā·ḏāš’[4] (which means new, fresh, or something never seen or done before), translated here as ‘new’, is the word ‘heteros’.[5] There are two words used in the Greek language that are translated into the English word ‘another’, the word ‘allos’[6] refers to ‘another’ of the same kind, while the word ‘heteros’ refers to ‘another’ of a different kind. As mentioned at the beginning of Genesis chapter 39, it is believed that the Pharaoh during the time of Joseph was a Hyksos king who later conquered and displaced Egyptian royalty, which would support the text of a new and completely different king of Egypt. Some believe that since Isaiah referenced an Assyrian (see Isaiah 52:4), that this king may have been the result of another throne takeover by yet another foreign power (Egypt’s history appears to have had several foreign as well as native dynasties). In verse nine this king is reported to be talking to his people, be it a native group of people or a foreign entity, and they seem to be agreeing with the king that the growing number of Israelites is a potential threat. Their solution is to “deal shrewdly” (‘ni·ṯeḥǎk·kemā(h)’[7] meaning to “be wise”) regarding them, they needed to find a way to slow their growth rate down. It is interesting to note that even though they were concerned about the potential of the Israelites collaborating with their enemy (possibly the Hittites), they also seemed to be concerned over them leaving. The New Living Translation renders verse ten, “We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.” (Exodus 1:10, NLT)
1:11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
Their answer was to make the Israelites slaves. They made them build, in these verses, two store cities, which apparently were common in Egypt; previously many were built per Joseph’s instruction for the storage of grain. These store cities may have been for military support. In 1883 the site known as Pithom was discovered approximately 60 miles northeast of Cairo. The site called Raamses is considered to be the city that the Romans later called Pelusium, located at the mouth of the eastern branch of the Nile Delta, apparently originally named after Ramses II.
But to the Egyptians surprise, this plan backfired, and the Israelites became even more fruitful. Seeing this made the Egyptians even more fearful of the Israelites.
1:13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
In response to their perceived threat, they escalated the work level, by ‘ruthlessly’ making the Israelites work hard as slaves. The word ‘ruthlessly’ is the Hebrew word ‘pā·rěḵ’,[8] referring to being cruel without mercy, note that the word is used twice to emphasize the intensity. Instead of just doing the building, they were now being required to make the building materials, the mortar, and brick blocks as well. The phrase “work as slaves,” is the Hebrew word, ‘yǎ·’ǎḇi’·dû’,[9] which means to do work or labor, not necessarily heavy or forced labor, but in this context, as it relates to ruthlessly, implying hard slave labor. Since the Egyptians had a long history of slave labor and human trafficking, they probably knew exactly how much labor one could handle before the burden would kill them.
Pharaoh’s Brutal Command
1:15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”
Seeing that the extra labor was not effectively changing the rate of the Israelite’s procreation, the king proceeds with a “Plan B,” by killing them at birth. The king recruits two Hebrew midwives to murder all male babies. All female babies were allowed to live. There is some debate as to whether the midwives were Hebrews or Egyptians that were providing that service for the Hebrews, as it would seem unlikely that the king would make a request of midwives to kill children of their own people. Regardless of who they were, this brutal command gives us insight to the darkness of the heart and mind of this king.
1:17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
The fact that the midwives feared and obeyed God is another clue they were probably Hebrew. They did not obey the king and allowed the male infants to live, this action would have been hard to conceal from the king. Once the king found out, he immediately called the midwives and asks them why they disobeyed his command. They reply that the Hebrew women essentially do not need midwives as they easily give birth without delay, and by the time they arrive, the child is already born. Making it difficult to kill the child without the mother seeing.
God then blessed the midwives, giving them families of their own (see also 1 Samuel 2:30; 2 Samuel 7:11; 1 Kings 2:24). The Israelites continued to multiply and grow strong.
This undoubtedly infuriated Pharaoh and now he comes up with his most brutal of plans (note how the text went from referring to this king as a king to now being called Pharaoh in verse 19; this is not a reference to a different person, both terms apply and can be used interchangeably).[10] No longer shrouded in secrecy, Pharaoh commands all of Egypt to cast every Hebrew male child into the Nile River. Every Egyptian was commanded by Pharaoh to see to it that if they witnessed a Hebrew male child born, it was to be drowned in the Nile.
Considerations
It is believed that Pharaoh feared that if the Israelite population was allowed to continue to grow, there was a future possibility they might form an insurrection against Egyptian rule or perhaps collaborate with a neighboring nation to start a war. In either case, it would require them to have a strong military-like presence, which in their minds would not be possible without male children. This gives us additional insight as to how evil Pharaoh was, and to support the fact that he would do nearly anything to remain in power.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 3409.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 8317.
[3] See commentary under Genesis 1:20-23.
[4] Strong’s Hebrew 2319.
[5] Strong’s Greek 2087.
[6] Strong’s Greek 243.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 2449.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 6531.
[9] Strong’s Hebrew 5647.
[10] See commentary under Genesis 12:14-16.