King James Version
Exodus 1
22 verses with commentary
Israel's Oppression in Egypt
Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now these are the names</strong> (וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת, <em>ve'eleh shemot</em>)—The Hebrew title of Exodus, <em>Shemot</em> (Names), emphasizes covenant continuity with Genesis. The conjunction <strong>and</strong> links directly to Genesis 50, showing Exodus as the continuation of God's redemptive plan. <strong>Every man and his household</strong> (אִישׁ וּבֵיתוֹ, <em>ish uveito</em>) recall...
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THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT, AND THEIR OPPRESSION BY A NEW KING.
(1) **Now these are the names.**—The divisions between the *“*books “of the Pentateuch are not arbitrary. Genesis ends naturally and Exodus begins at the point where the history of the individuals who founded the Israelite nation ceases and that of the nation itself is entered on. That history commences properly wit...
Read full commentary →Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah</strong>—The listing follows birth order from Jacob's wives, beginning with Leah's four eldest sons. <strong>Reuben</strong> (ראובן), though firstborn, forfeited his birthright (Genesis 49:3-4). <strong>Levi</strong> (לוי) would become the priestly tribe, showing God's sovereign choice overrides natural birth order. <strong>Judah</strong> (יהודה) receives Ja...
Read full commentary →Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin</strong>—The remaining sons of Leah and Rachel continue the covenant line. <strong>Issachar</strong> (יִשָּׂשכָר) means "there is reward," prophetically pointing to Israel's recompense after Egyptian bondage. <strong>Zebulun</strong> (זְבוּלֻן, "dwelling") would later dwell by the sea (Genesis 49:13). <strong>Benjamin</strong> (בִּנְיָמִין, "son of my right ...
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(3-4) **Reuben . . . —**The sons of the legitimate wives are placed first, then those of the concubines. Leah has precedence over Rachel; Bilhah over Zilpah. The children of each wife and concubine are given in order of seniority. The omission of Joseph from the list is explained in the last clause of Exodus 1:5.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ge 49:5-7. Simeon and Levi were associate in wickedness, and the same prediction would be equally applicable to both their tribes. Levi had cities allotted to them (Jos 21:1-45) in every tribe. On account of their zeal against idolatry, they were honorably "divided in Jacob"; whereas the tribe of Simeon, which was guilty of the grossest idolatry and the vices inseparable from it, were ignominiousl...
Read full commentary →Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher</strong>—The sons of the handmaids (Bilhah and Zilpah) complete the twelve. Though born of secondary status, these tribes receive equal inheritance in God's covenant economy. <strong>Dan</strong> (דָּן, "judge") would provide judges for Israel (Judges 13-16). <strong>Naphtali</strong> (נַפְתָּלִי, "my wrestling") recalls Rachel's struggle. <strong>Gad</str...
Read full commentary →And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. loins: Heb. thigh
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls</strong> (שִׁבְעִים נֶפֶשׁ, <em>shiv'im nefesh</em>)—The number <strong>seventy</strong> represents completeness in Hebrew thought (cf. seventy nations in Genesis 10, seventy elders in Exodus 24:1). <strong>Souls</strong> (נֶפֶשׁ, <em>nefesh</em>) emphasizes living persons, not mere statistics. From this small clan God wo...
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(5) **All the souls . . .** were seventy souls. Comp. Genesis 46:8-27. The number is made up as follows:—Jacob himself, 1; his sons, 12; his daughter, Dinah, 1; his grandsons, 51; his grand-daughter Serah, 1; his great-grandsons, 4—Total, 70. His daughters, except Dinah, and his sons’ daughters, except Serah, spoken of in Genesis 46:7, are not included. If his female descendants were, at the time ...
Read full commentary →And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation</strong> (וַיָּמָת יוֹסֵף וְכָל־אֶחָיו, <em>vayamat Yosef vekhol-echav</em>)—This somber summary marks the end of an era. The Hebrew verb <strong>died</strong> (מוּת, <em>mut</em>) appears three times (Joseph, brothers, generation), emphasizing finality and transition. Despite Joseph's honored status (Genesis 50:26), death clai...
Read full commentary →And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty</strong>—Five Hebrew verbs emphasize explosive growth: <strong>fruitful</strong> (פָּרָה, <em>parah</em>), <strong>increased abundantly</strong> (שָׁרַץ, <em>sharats</em>, lit. "swarmed" like fish or insects), <strong>multiplied</strong> (רָבָה, <em>ravah</em>), <strong>waxed migh...
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(7) **The children of Israel were fruitful.**—A *great *multiplication is evidently intended. Egypt was a particularly healthy country, and both men and animals were abnormally prolific there. Grain was so plentiful that want, which is the ordinary check on population, was almost unknown. The Egyptian kings for many years would look favourably on the growth of the Hebrew people, which strengthened...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. a strong ass couching down between two burdens--**that is, it was to be active, patient, given to agricultural labors. It was established in lower Galilee--a "good land," settling down in the midst of the Canaanites, where, for the sake of quiet, they "bowed their shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute."
Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph</strong> (וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ־חָדָשׁ עַל־מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדַע אֶת־יוֹסֵף)—The verb <strong>arose</strong> (קוּם, <em>qum</em>) often signals hostile action in Hebrew narrative. <strong>New king</strong> likely indicates a dynastic change, possibly the expulsion of the Hyksos and rise of the 18th Dynasty. <strong>Knew not</st...
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(8) **There arose up a new king.**—A king of a new dynasty might seem to be intended. Some suppose him to be Aahmes I., the founder of the eighteenth dynasty of Manetho; others suggest Rameses II., one of the greatest monarchs of the nineteenth. The present writer inclines to regard him as Seti I., the father of this Rameses, and the son of Rameses I. Seti, though not the actual founder of the nin...
Read full commentary →And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we</strong> (רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּנּוּ, <em>rav ve'atsum mimenu</em>)—Pharaoh's assessment reveals both truth and paranoid exaggeration. <strong>More</strong> (רַב, <em>rav</em>, "many/numerous") and <strong>mightier</strong> (עָצוּם, <em>atsum</em>, "strong/powerful") echo verse 7's descripti...
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(9) **He said unto his people.**—It is not intended to represent the Egyptian monarch as summoning a popular assembly, and addressing it. “His people.” Is antithetical to “the people of the children of Israel,” and simply marks that those whom he addressed were of his own nation. No doubt they were his nobles, or, at any rate, his courtiers.
**More and mightier than we.**—Heb., *great and mighty i...
Read full commentary →Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Come on, let us deal wisely with them</strong> (הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ, <em>havah nitchakemah lo</em>)—The verb "deal wisely" (חָכַם, <em>chakam</em>) drips with irony: Pharaoh thinks he's being shrewd, but he's actually opposing God's covenant people. This so-called "wisdom" is folly (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:19-20). His three-part fear: <strong>lest they multiply</strong>, <strong>join our en...
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(10) **Let us deal wisely.**—Instead of open force, the king proposes stratagem. He thinks that he has hit upon a *wise *scheme—a clever plan—by which the numbers of the Israelites will be kept down, and they will cease to be formidable. The nature of the plan appears in Exodus 1:11.
**When there falleth out any war.**—The Egyptians were in general an aggressive people—a terror to their neighbours...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ge 49:16-18. Dan--though the son of a secondary wife, was to be "as one of the tribes of Israel."
**17. Dan--**"a judge."
**a serpent ... an adder--**A serpent, an adder, implies subtlety and stratagem; such was pre-eminently the character of Samson, the most illustrious of its judges.
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens</strong> (שָׂרֵי מִסִּים לְמַעַן עַנֹּתוֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָם, <em>sarei missim lema'an anoto besivlotam</em>)—<strong>Taskmasters</strong> (שָׂרֵי מִסִּים, <em>sarei missim</em>, "forced labor officials") implemented slave labor. <strong>Afflict</strong> (עָנָה, <em>anah</em>) is the same verb used in Genesis 15:13's...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Task-masters.**—Heb., *chiefs of tributes. *The Egyptian system of forced labour, which it was now resolved to extend to the Israelites, involved the appointment of two sets of officers—a lower class, who personally overlooked the labourers, and forced them to perform their tasks, and a higher class of superintendents, who directed the distribution of the labour, and assigned to all the tas...
Read full commentary →But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. But: Heb. And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied, etc
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew</strong> (וְכַאֲשֶׁר יְעַנּוּ אֹתוֹ כֵּן יִרְבֶּה וְכֵן יִפְרֹץ, <em>vekha'asher ye'anu oto ken yirbeh vekhen yifrots</em>)—The Hebrew structure creates emphatic contrast: "the more... the more." <strong>Grew</strong> (פָּרַץ, <em>parats</em>) means "break out/burst forth"—an irrepressible expansion despite oppression. <st...
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(12) **The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.**—This result was not natural. It can only be ascribed to God’s superintending Providence, whereby “the fierceness of man” was made to “turn to his praise.” Naturally, severe and constant labour exhausts a nation, and causes its numbers to diminish.
**They were grieved.**—This is scarcely strong enough. Translate, “They were s...
Read full commentary →And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour</strong> (וַיַּעֲבִדוּ מִצְרַיִם אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּפָרֶךְ, <em>vaya'avidu Mitsrayim et-benei Yisra'el befarekh</em>)—<strong>Rigour</strong> (פֶּרֶךְ, <em>farekh</em>) denotes brutal, crushing, ruthless oppression. This intensified cruelty follows the failure of forced labor to suppress population growth. The verb <s...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **With rigour.**—Forced labour in Egypt was of a very severe character. Those condemned to it worked from morning to night under the rod of a task-master, which was freely applied to their legs or backs, if they rested their weary limbs for a moment. (See *Records of the Past, *vol. viii. p. 149; Chabas, *Mélanges Egyptolo-giques, *vol. ii. p. 121). The heat of the sun was great; the burthens...
Read full commentary →And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field</strong> (וַיְמָרְרוּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה, <em>vayemareru et-chayeihem ba'avodah kashah</em>)—<strong>Made bitter</strong> (מָרַר, <em>marar</em>) connects to the later Passover's <em>maror</em> (bitter herbs, 12:8), memorial of this suffering. <strong>Morter a...
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(14) **In morter and in brick.**—It has been questioned whether the Egyptians used brick as a material for building. No doubt temples, palaces, and pyramids were ordinarily of stone; but the employment of brick for walls, fortresses, and houses, especially in the Delta, is well attested. (See the *Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund *for July, 1880, pp. 137, 139, 143, &c.) Pyrami...
Read full commentary →And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah</strong> (שִׁפְרָה וּפוּעָה, <em>Shifrah uFu'ah</em>)—Pharaoh's genocidal escalation targets male infants. <strong>Shiphrah</strong> (שִׁפְרָה, "beauty/splendor") and <strong>Puah</strong> (פּוּעָה, possibly "splendid" or related to a birth cry) are named, honoring ...
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(15) **The Hebrew midwives.**—Or *the midwives of the Hebrew women *(ταῖς μαίαις τῶν Έβραίων, LXX.). The Hebrew construction admits of either rendering. In favour of the midwives being Egyptians is the consideration that the Pharaoh would scarcely have expected Hebrew women to help him in the extirpation of the Hebrew race (Kalisch); against it is the Semitic character of the names—Shiphrah, “beau...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ge 49:19. Gad--This tribe should be often attacked and wasted by hostile powers on their borders (Jud 10:8; Jr 49:1). But they were generally victorious in the close of their wars. Ge 49:20. Asher--"Blessed." Its allotment was the seacoast between Tyre and Carmel, a district fertile in the production of the finest corn and oil in all Palestine. Ge 49:21. Naphtali--The best rendering we know is thi...
Read full commentary →And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live</strong>—<strong>Upon the stools</strong> (עַל־הָאָבְנָיִם, <em>al-ha'ovnayim</em>, lit. "upon the stones/bricks") refers to the birthing stool, a seat with an opening used in ancient deliveries. The selectiv...
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(16) **Upon the stools.**—Literally, *upon the two stones. *It has been suggested that a seat corresponding to the modern *hursee elwilâdeh *is meant. This is a “chair of a peculiar form,” upon which in modern Egypt the woman is seated during parturition. (See Lane, *Modern Egyptians, *vol. iii. p. 142.) But it does not appear that this seat is composed of “two stones;” nor is there any distinct e...
Read full commentary →But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive</strong> (וַתִּירֶאןָ הַמְיַלְּדֹת אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים, <em>vatirenah hameyaldot et-ha'Elohim</em>)—<strong>Feared God</strong> is the pivotal phrase: reverence for God trumps fear of Pharaoh. This is the first instance of civil disobedience in Scripture, establishing a biblical preced...
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(17) **The midwives feared God.**—The midwives, whether Hebrews or Egyptians, believed in a God who would punish wrong-doing, and therefore resolved not to obey the Pharaoh.
And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?</strong> (וַיִּקְרָא מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לַמְיַלְּדֹת, <em>vayikra melekh Mitsrayim lameyaldot</em>)—Pharaoh's interrogation reveals his realization that the genocide isn't occurring. The question <strong>Why have ye done this thing?</strong> suggests either s...
Read full commentary →And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them</strong> (כִּי־חָיוֹת הֵנָּה, <em>ki-chayot henah</em>, "for they are vigorous/lively")—The midwives' answer emphasizes Hebrew women's vitality contrasting with Egyptian women's weakness. <strong>Lively</strong> (חָיוֹת, <em>c...
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(19) **The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women.**—This was probably true; but it was not the whole truth. Though the midwives had the courage to disobey the king, they had not “the courage of their convictions,” and were afraid to confess their real motive. So they took refuge in a half truth, and pretended that what really occurred in some cases only was a general occurrence. It *is *a fac...
Read full commentary →Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty</strong> (וַיֵּיטֶב אֱלֹהִים לַמְיַלְּדֹת, <em>vayeitev Elohim lameyaldot</em>)—<strong>God dealt well</strong> is divine approval and blessing on their civil disobedience rooted in the fear of God. The verb (יָטַב, <em>yatav</em>, "do good/treat favorably") contrasts with Pharaoh's evil treatment....
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **Therefore God dealt well with the midwives.**—Heb., *and God dealt well, *&c. The reason is stated in Exodus 1:21. It was not because they equivocated and deceived the king, but because they feared God sufficiently to disobey the king, and run the risk of discovery. If they had been discovered, their life would have paid the forfeit.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ge 49:27-33. Benjamin
**27. shall ravin like a wolf--**This tribe in its early history spent its energies in petty or inglorious warfare and especially in the violent and unjust contest (Jud 19:1-20:48), in which it engaged with the other tribes, when, notwithstanding two victories, it was almost exterminated.
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses</strong> (וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים, <em>vaya'as lahem batim</em>)—<strong>He made them houses</strong> means God gave them families/descendants, not merely physical buildings (cf. 2 Samuel 7:11, 27 where God "builds a house" for David). The Hebrew idiom "house" (בַּיִת, <em>bayit</em>) signifies dynasty, family ...
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(21) **He made them houses.**—God rewarded those who had showed tenderness to young children, by giving them children of their own, who grew up, and became in their turn fathers and mothers of families. There is no indication that the “houses” spoken of were Hebrew ones.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**28. all these are the twelve tribes of Israel--**or ancestors. Jacob's prophetic words obviously refer not so much to the sons as to the tribes of Israel.
And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive</strong> (כָּל־הַבֵּן הַיִּלּוֹד הַיְאֹרָה תַּשְׁלִיכֻהוּ, <em>kol-haben hayilod haye'orah tashlikhuhu</em>)—Pharaoh escalates from secret midwife-executed genocide to public, nation-wide infanticide. <strong>Charged all his people</strong> makes every Egy...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(22) **Every son that is born.**—The LXX. add “to the Hebrews,” but without any necessity, since the context shows that only Hebrew children are meant.
**Ye shall cast into the river.**—Infanticide, so shocking to Christians, has prevailed widely at different times and places, and been regarded as a trivial matter. In Sparta, the State decided which children should live and which should die. At At...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**29. he charged them--**The charge had already been given and solemnly undertaken (Ge 47:31). But in mentioning his wishes now and rehearsing all the circumstances connected with the purchase of Machpelah, he wished to declare, with his latest breath, before all his family, that he died in the same faith as Abraham.