Exodus 1-2: The Israelites in Egypt
From Promise to Oppression: The Israelites' Journey in Egypt.
In the Book of Genesis accounts, we see Jacob's death in Egypt and burial, and he also blessed his children. All this fulfilled God's promise to his fathers Abraham and Isaac. The opening chapters of the Book of Exodus cover several centuries, which provide the plot for the rest of the book and how all the previous events set the outset of Israel’s presence in Egypt.
From Oppression to Providence: The Early Trials and Preservation of Moses
In Exodus 1: 1-6, we see the fear which created their remarkable growth. In Exodus 1: 7-22, we see the inhumane measures adopted to repress the Israelites, and we are introduced to Moses (the leading human protagonist in the story). In Exodus 2: 1-22, despite Pharaoh’s attempts to destroy all the male children at birth, Moses was still preserved by the cunningness of his mother, but the twist here is that he grew up in the Egyptian court. Years later, after killing an Egyptian whom he observed beating an Israelite, he was forced to run away for his life and lived in exile in the land of Midian. In Exodus 2: 11-22, the introduction concludes with a short comment about God’s concern for Israel and Exodus 1: 23-25 provides an essential link to the next part of the book.
The Israelites arrive in Egypt.
Exodus begins in an undramatic way by listing briefly the names of the twelve sons of Israel, also known as Jacob (Genesis 32:28) and nothing that on their arrival in Egypt, the whole family numbered seventy individuals. This information forms an essential bridge between Exodus and the preceding book of Genesis. It probably presupposes that the reader is already familiar with the more detailed account in Genesis 46: 1-27 of those who emigrated to Egypt (the order of the names, however, follows Genesis 35: 23-26. The reference to the death of Joseph in Exodus 1:6 alludes back to Genesis 50:22-26.
Genesis 32:28 (CSB): '“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” he said. “It will be Israel because you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed.”’
Genesis 46:1-27 (CSB): 'Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob! ” he said. And Jacob replied, “Here I am.” God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.” , Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their dependents and their wives. They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt. His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt. These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt #— #Jacob and his sons: Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben. Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron. Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel. These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: thirty-three. Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel. These were the sons of Zilpah #— #whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah #— #that she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons. The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On. Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard. These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons. Dan’s son: Hushim. Naphtali’s sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem. These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore to Jacob: seven persons. The total number of persons belonging to Jacob #— #his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons #— #who came to Egypt: sixty-six. And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons. All those of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt: seventy persons.’
Genesis 35:23-26 (CSB): 'Leah’s sons were Reuben (Jacob’s firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Rachel’s sons were Joseph and Benjamin. The sons of Rachel’s slave Bilhah were Dan and Naphtali. The sons of Leah’s slave Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.’
Exodus 1:6 (CSB): 'Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation eventually died.’
Genesis 50:22-26 (CSB): 'Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation; the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by , Joseph. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.” Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.'
The Egyptian oppression of the Israelites
The rapid increase in the number of the descendants of Israel is emphasised in the Hebrew text through the repetition in Exodus 1:7 of four verbs associated with growth (which the RSV translates, ‘were fruitful and increased greatly; then multiplied and grew exceedingly strong’), and the verse also tells us that the land was filled with them. This remarkable growth fulfilled various divine promises to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. (Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:2,6; 22:17; 26:4; 28:14; 35:11; 46:3; 48:4) and it’s clear evidence of God’s blessing upon the Israelites.
Exodus 1:7: 'But the Israelites were fruitful, increased rapidly, multiplied, and became extremely numerous so that the land was filled with them.'
Genesis 12:2: "I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."
Genesis 13:16: "I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted."
Genesis 15:5: "He brought him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”"
Genesis 17:2: "I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."
Genesis 17:6: "I will make you extremely fruitful, and I will make nations and kings come from you."
Genesis 22:17: "I will indeed bless you abundantly and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the cities of their enemies,"
Genesis 26:4: "I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring,"
Genesis 28:14: "Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west and the east, toward the north and the south. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring."
Genesis 35:11: "God also said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation, indeed a company of nations, will come from you, and kings will descend from you."
Genesis 46:3: "Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there."
Genesis 48:4: "and said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.'"
Pharaoh’s Fear and God’s Faithfulness: Oppression, Resistance, and Divine Reward
The enthronement of a new king who did not know Joseph anticipates developments that will have significant consequences for the Israelites and Egyptians. The new Pharaoh viewed the fruitfulness of the Israelites as a major threat to the security of his kingdom. The Egyptians had to act shrewdly and in unison against this potential danger (Exodus: 1:9-10). Consequently, the Israelites had to be forced labour in the construction of store cities for Pharaoh (Exodus: 1:11). Pharaoh’s actions are a chilling reminder of how one nation may seek domination and exploit another. Paradoxically, the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites increased in number (Exodus 1:12). God’s intention to make Israel a great nation would not be thwarted by callous human efforts. Faced with the continued growth of the Israelite population, Pharaoh looked for another method of birth control: under his order, the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, were to kill all new-born boys (Exodus 1:16). When they disobeyed out of reverence of God, they were rewarded by the birth of children (Exodus 1:21). God still rewards those who put him first.
Exodus 1:9-10: 'He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are. Come, let’s deal shrewdly with them; otherwise they will multiply further, and when war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”'
Exodus 1:11: 'So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.'
Exodus 1:12,16,21: 'But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” Since the midwives feared God, he gave them families.’
Moses: A Deliverer Raised in the House of His Enemy
Determined to pursue his policy against the Israelites, Pharaoh commanded his people to cast every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). The scene was set for the birth of Moses and his remarkable deliverance. Ironically, he was not only rescued from the river by the Pharaoh’s daughter (Exodus 2:5-6), but he also grew up under the protection of the one who threatened his very existence (Exodus 2:9-10).
Exodus 1:22: 'Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”'
Exodus 2:5-6: 'Pharaoh’s daughter went down to bathe at the Nile while her servant girls walked along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds, sent her slave girl, took it, opened it, and saw him, the child #— #and there he was, a little boy, crying. She felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew boys.”’
Exodus 2:9-10: 'Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the boy and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”'
Moses’ Fight with Midian.
The narrative jumps rapidly forward in Exodus 2:11 to the time when Moses was an adult; according to the later tradition, he was 40 years old at the time (Acts 7:23). Three incidents occurred which are closely connected. First, Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating two Hebrews and reprimanded the one in the wrong (Exodus 2:13-14). Finally, following his flight from Egypt, he came to the rescue of the daughter of Reuel (Exodus 2:16-19). In each of these incidents, Moses is portrayed as the defender of the weaker party. Ironies abound. Despite Moses’ attempts to avoid detection before and after killing the Egyptian, his actions were soon widely known (Exodus 2:12-13). The response of the aggressive Hebrew, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?’ (Exodus 2:14) unwittingly anticipated later developments in the book when Moses became leader and judge over Israel (Exodus 18:13-26). After fleeing from Egypt because of his stance against Egyptians by the daughters of Reuel (Exodus 2:19), although his actions reveal a positive concern for the weak and oppressed, Moses did not yet qualify for the role of national deliverer. Rather, he was forced to abandon membership in the Egyptian royal court and become ‘an alien in a foreign land’ (Exodus 2:22). Similarly, in a world full of injustice, Christians must, even in the face of opposition, be constantly active on behalf of the poor and helpless.
Exodus 2:11-14,16-19,22: 'Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian striking a Hebrew, one of his people. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you attacking your neighbor? ” Looking all around and seeing no one, he struck the Egyptian dead and hid him in the sand. “Who made you a commander and judge over us? ” the man replied. “Are you planning to kill me as you killed the Egyptian? ” Then Moses became afraid and thought, “What I did is certainly known.” Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came to draw water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. Then some shepherds arrived and drove them away, but Moses came to their rescue and watered their flock. When they returned to their father Reuel, , he asked, “Why have you come back so quickly today? ” They answered, “An Egyptian rescued us from the shepherds. He even drew water for us and watered the flock.” She gave birth to a son whom he named Gershom, for he said, “I have been a resident alien in a foreign land.”’
Acts 7:23: '“When he was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites.’
Exodus 18:13-26: 'The next day Moses sat down to judge the people, and they stood around Moses from morning until evening. When Moses’s father-in-law saw everything he was doing for them he asked, “What is this you’re doing for the people? Why are you alone sitting as judge, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening? ” Moses replied to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. Whenever they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I make a decision between one man and another. I teach them God’s statutes and laws.” “What you’re doing is not good,” Moses’s father-in-law said to him. “You will certainly wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, because the task is too heavy for you. You can’t do it alone. Now listen to me; I will give you some advice, and God be with you. You be the one to represent the people before God and bring their cases to him. Instruct them about the statutes and laws, and teach them the way to live and what they must do. But you should select from all the people able men, God-fearing, trustworthy, and hating dishonest profit. Place them over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They should judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you every major case but judge every minor case themselves. In this way you will lighten your load, and they will bear it with you. If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied.” Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. So Moses chose able men from all Israel and made them leaders over the people as commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They judged the people at all times; they would bring the hard cases to Moses, but they would judge every minor case themselves.’
God’s concern for the Israelites
The report of Pharaoh’s death introduces a brief but highly significant paragraph which focuses on the continuing plight of the Israelites in Egypt. Thematically, it is linked to the preceding section; God, like Moses, cares for the oppressed. Although there have been brief allusions to God’s creation for his people, only now does the narrative reveal in detail his awareness of the Israelites’ suffering: God hears, remembers, sees and knows (Exodus 2:24-25). The reference to the divine covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is especially important. At the heart of the covenant is the promise that the patriarchs’ descendants will possess the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:8; 26:3; 28:13; 48:4). Abraham had received an even more specific promise: Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and ill-treated for four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards, they will come out with great possessions (Genesis 15:13-14). The time had now come for the deliverance of Abraham’s descendants from bondage and oppression in Egypt.
Exodus 2:24-25: 'God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the Israelites, and God knew.’
Genesis 17:8: "And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing—all the land of Canaan—as a permanent possession, and I will be their God."
Genesis 26:3: "Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham."
Genesis 28:13: "The Lord was standing there beside him, saying, 'I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying.' "
Genesis 48:4: "He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.’"
Genesis 15:13-14: 'Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed. However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.'
Key Notes
1. Exodus 1:5
Acts 7:14 gives the number of Jacob’s descendants as 75, following an early Greek translation also contracting from Genesis 46:27.
Exodus 1:5 – "The total number of Jacob’s descendants was seventy; Joseph was already in Egypt."
Acts 7:14 – "Joseph invited his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five people in all."
Genesis 46:27 – "And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons. All those of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt: seventy persons."
2. Exodus 1:8
The book of Exodus does not identify any of the Egyptian kings (Pharaohs) mentioned. Despite their influential position, they are portrayed as nobodies. This is in keeping with Exodus's contrast between the Lord and Egyptian kings.
Exodus 1:8: "A new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt."
3. Exodus 1:11
The precise location of Pithom and Rameses is disputed. The name Rameses II (1290-1224 BC). However, the place name could either date from an earlier period or result from an editorial update (Genesis 47:11).
Exodus 1:11: "So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh."
Genesis 47:11: "Joseph settled his father and his brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded."
4. Exodus 1:11
Pharaoh is a royal title rather than a personal name.
Exodus 1:11: "So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh."
5. Exodus 1:19
Because of the remarkable increase of the Israelite population, Pharaoh may well have accepted the comment about the ability of the Hebrew women to give birth before the arrival of the midwives.
Exodus 1:19: "The midwives said to Pharaoh, 'The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.'”
6. Exodus 2:15
Moses fled eastward to Midian, the region around the Gulf of Aqabah. This area may have been called after one of Abraham’s younger sons. (Genesis 25:2)
Exodus 2:15 – "When Pharaoh heard about this, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian, and sat down by a well."
Genesis 25:2 – "She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah."