Exodus 1
1
Israel Oppressed in Egypt
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family: # Gn 46:8
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
5The total number of Jacob’s descendants # Lit of people issuing from Jacob’s loins was 70; # LXX, DSS read 75 ; Gn 46:27; Ac 7:14 # Gn 46:26-27; Dt 10:22 Joseph was already in Egypt.
6Then Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. # Gn 50:26 7But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous # Gn 12:2; 46:3; Dt 26:5; Ac 7:17 so that the land was filled with them.
8A new king, who had not known Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. # Ps 105:24 10Let us deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and if war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.” # Ps 83:3-4; Ac 7:19 11So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. # Gn 15:13; Ex 2:11; 3:7; 5:4-5; 6:6; Dt 26:6 They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities # Gn 47:11; 1Kg 9:19; 2Ch 8:4 for Pharaoh. 12But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread # Or Egyptians loathed the Israelites. 13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly # Dt 4:20 14and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. # Ex 2:23; Nm 20:15; Ac 7:19
15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. # Lit birth, look at the stones If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” 17The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God # Ex 1:21; Pr 16:6 and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; # Dn 3:16-18; Ac 4:18-20; 5:29 they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live? ”
19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife can get to them.” # Jos 2:4; 2Sm 17:20
20So God was good to the midwives, # Pr 11:18; Is 3:10 and the people multiplied and became very numerous. 21Since the midwives feared God, He gave them families. # 1Sm 2:35; 2Sm 7:11,27; 1Kg 11:38; Ps 127:1 22Pharaoh then commanded all his people: “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews # Sam, LXX, Tg; MT omits to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.” # Gn 41:1; Ac 7:19
Currently Selected:
Exodus 1: HCSB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Exodus 1
1
1These were the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob) who came with him to Egypt along with their families: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5Jacob had 70 descendants there, including Joseph who was already in Egypt.
6Eventually Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. 7However, the Israelites had many children and their numbers increased rapidly. In fact there were so many of them that they became very powerful—the country was full of them.
8Then a new king came to power who didn't know anything about Joseph.#1:8. It is thought to refer to a different Egyptian dynasty. 9He conferred with his fellow Egyptians and said, “Look at these Israelites—there are more of them than us, and they're more powerful than us. 10Let's deal wisely with them before they become so many that if there's a war they'll side with our enemies and fight us, and flee the country.”
11So the Egyptians made them do forced labor and put taskmasters in charge of them. They used them to build the storage towns of Pithom and Rameses. 12But the more the Israelites were mistreated, the more they grew in numbers and spread out—and the more the Egyptians detested#1:12. “Detested” or “feared.” them. 13The Egyptians worked the Israelites brutally, 14making their lives a misery. They made them do hard labor, building with mortar and brick, and all kinds of heavy work in the fields. In all of this hard labor they treated them brutally.
15Then the king gave orders to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. 16He told them, “When you assist the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live.” 17But because the midwives revered God, they didn't do what the king of Egypt had ordered. They let the boys live as well.
18The king of Egypt called the midwives in and demanded to know, “Why have you done this— letting the male children live?”
19“Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women,” the midwives told Pharaoh. “They give birth more easily—they have them before we midwives arrive.”
20God treated the midwives well, and the people increased in number so there were even more of them. 21Because the midwives revered God, he gave them families of their own.
22Then Pharaoh issued this order to all his people: “Throw every Hebrew boy that's born into the Nile, but let every girl live.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com