9 And he said H559 unto his people, H5971 Behold, the people H5971 of the children H1121 of Israel H3478 are more H7227 and mightier H6099 than we:
10 Come on, H3051 let us deal wisely H2449 with them; lest they multiply, H7235 and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out H7122 any war, H4421 they H1931 join H3254 also unto our enemies, H8130 and fight H3898 against us, and so get them up H5927 out of the land. H776
11 Therefore they did set H7760 over them taskmasters H4522 H8269 to afflict H6031 them with their burdens. H5450 And they built H1129 for Pharaoh H6547 treasure H4543 cities, H5892 Pithom H6619 and Raamses. H7486
12 But the more they afflicted H6031 them, the more H3651 they multiplied H7235 and grew. H6555 And they were grieved H6973 because H6440 of the children H1121 of Israel. H3478
13 And the Egyptians H4714 made H5647 the children H1121 of Israel H3478 to serve H5647 with rigour: H6531
14 And they made H4843 their lives H2416 bitter H4843 with hard H7186 bondage, H5656 in morter, H2563 and in brick, H3843 and in all manner of service H5656 in the field: H7704 all their service, H5656 wherein they made them serve, H5647 was with rigour. H6531
15 And the king H4428 of Egypt H4714 spake H559 to the Hebrew H5680 midwives, H3205 of which the name H8034 of the one H259 was Shiphrah, H8236 and the name H8034 of the other H8145 Puah: H6326
16 And he said, H559 When ye do the office of a midwife H3205 to the Hebrew women, H5680 and see H7200 them upon the stools; H70 if it be a son, H1121 then ye shall kill H4191 him: but if it be a daughter, H1323 then she shall live. H2425
17 But the midwives H3205 feared H3372 God, H430 and did H6213 not as the king H4428 of Egypt H4714 commanded H1696 them, but saved H2421 the men children H3206 alive. H2421
18 And the king H4428 of Egypt H4714 called H7121 for the midwives, H3205 and said H559 unto them, Why H4069 have ye done H6213 this thing, H1697 and have saved H2421 the men children H3206 alive? H2421
19 And the midwives H3205 said H559 unto Pharaoh, H6547 Because the Hebrew H5680 women H802 are not as the Egyptian women; H4713 for they are lively, H2422 and are delivered H3205 ere H2962 the midwives H3205 come in H935 unto them.
20 Therefore God H430 dealt well H3190 with the midwives: H3205 and the people H5971 multiplied, H7235 and waxed very H3966 mighty. H6105
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives H3205 feared H3372 God, H430 that he made H6213 them houses. H1004
22 And Pharaoh H6547 charged H6680 all his people, H5971 saying, H559 Every son H1121 that is born H3209 ye shall cast H7993 into the river, H2975 and every daughter H1323 ye shall save alive. H2421
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Exodus 1
Commentary on Exodus 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Increase in the Number of the Israelites Their Bondage in Egypt - Exodus 1
The promise which God gave to Jacob in his departure from Canaan (Genesis 46:3) was perfectly fulfilled. The children of Israel settled down in the most fruitful province of the fertile land of Egypt, and grew there into a great nation (Exodus 1:1-7). But the words which the Lord had spoken to Abram (Genesis 15:13) were also fulfilled in relation to his seed in Egypt. The children of Israel were oppressed in a strange land, were compelled to serve the Egyptians (Exodus 1:8-14), and were in great danger of being entirely crushed by them (Exodus 1:15-22).
To place the multiplication of the children of Israel into a strong nation in its true light, as the commencement of the realization of the promises of God, the number of the souls that went down with Jacob to Egypt is repeated from Genesis 46:27 (on the number 70, in which Jacob is included, see the notes on this passage); and the repetition of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob serves to give to the history which follows a character of completeness within itself. “ With Jacob they came, every one and his house, ” i.e., his sons, together with their families, their wives, and their children. The sons are arranged according to their mothers, as in Genesis 35:23-26, and the sons of the two maid-servants stand last. Joseph, indeed, is not placed in the list, but brought into special prominence by the words, “ for Joseph was in Egypt ” (Exodus 1:5), since he did not go down to Egypt along with the house of Jacob, and occupied an exalted position in relation to them there.
After the death of Joseph and his brethren and the whole of the family that had first immigrated, there occurred that miraculous increase in the number of the children of Israel, by which the blessings of creation and promise were fully realised. The words פּרוּ ישׁרצוּ ( swarmed ), and ירבּוּ point back to Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 8:17, and יעצמוּ to עצוּם גּוי in Genesis 18:18. “ The land was filled with them, ” i.e., the land of Egypt, particularly Goshen, where they were settled (Genesis 47:11). The extra-ordinary fruitfulness of Egypt in both men and cattle is attested not only by ancient writers, but by modern travellers also (vid., Aristotelis hist. animal. vii. 4, 5; Columella de re rust. iii. 8; Plin. hist. n. vii. 3; also Rosenmüller a. und n. Morgenland i. p. 252). This blessing of nature was heightened still further in the case of the Israelites by the grace of the promise, so that the increase became extraordinarily great (see the comm. on Exodus 12:37).
The promised blessing was manifested chiefly in the fact, that all the measures adopted by the cunning of Pharaoh to weaken and diminish the Israelites, instead of checking, served rather to promote their continuous increase.
Exodus 1:8-9
“ There arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph .” ויּקם signifies he came to the throne, קוּם denoting his appearance in history, as in Deuteronomy 34:10. A “new king” (lxx: βασιλεὺς ἕτερος ; the other ancient versions, rex novus ) is a king who follows different principles of government from his predecessors. Cf. חדשׁים אלהים , “new gods,” in distinction from the God that their fathers had worshipped, Judges 5:8; Deuteronomy 32:17. That this king belonged to a new dynasty, as the majority of commentators follow Josephus