Exodus — Chapter 1
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1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
8Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
11So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”
20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
21And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
1Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10Come 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.
11Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14And 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.
15And 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:
16And 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.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
18And 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?
19And 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.
20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in Egypt already.
6And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.
9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.
11Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh store-cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor:
14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field, all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor.
15And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive.
18And 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?
19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them.
20And God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households.
22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
1These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt—each man with his household entered with Jacob:
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered 70. But Joseph was already in Egypt,
6and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died.
7The Israelites, however, were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.
8Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt.
9He said to his people, “Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!
10Come, let’s deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.”
11So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites,
13and they made the Israelites serve rigorously.
14They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.
15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,
16“When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: If it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live.”
17But the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
18Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”
19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women—for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!”
20So God treated the midwives well, and the people multiplied and became very strong.
21And because the midwives feared God, he made households for them.
22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live.”
1Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.
6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.
7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph.
9He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
10Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies, and fight against us, and escape out of the land.”
11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
14and they made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,
16and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?”
19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
20God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
21Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
Summary
The book opens with Jacob's family, seventy in number, thriving in Egypt after Joseph's death until a new king who does not know Joseph comes to power (vv. 1-8). Fearing Israel's growing numbers, Pharaoh forces the people into harsh slave labor building the cities of Pithom and Raamses, but the more they are oppressed the more they multiply (vv. 9-14). When that fails, Pharaoh orders the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to kill every baby boy at birth, but they refuse out of reverence for God and are blessed for it (vv. 15-21). Pharaoh then escalates to a public decree that every Hebrew son is to be thrown into the Nile (v. 22).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Goshen: Region in the eastern Nile Delta where Israel settled (Genesis 46:28-34). Fertile land, separate from Egyptian population centers.
- Egypt (the land): The broader kingdom under Pharaoh's rule; Israel dwelt in Goshen but labored on Egyptian building projects.
- Pithom and Raamses (v.11): Store-cities built by Israelite slaves, located in the eastern Delta region.
Places on this map
- NileEgyptEgypt's only real water source, flooding every summer and leaving the silt that made the valley farmable. Because the whole country depended on it, turning it to blood was an attack on Egypt's economy and its gods at once. Wikipedia
- EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia
- Gosheneastern Nile Delta, EgyptThe eastern Delta, well watered grazing country on the edge of Egypt rather than in its heart, which is exactly why shepherds were settled there and could stay distinct. Wikipedia
- RamesesQantir, EgyptA Delta royal city usually identified with Qantir, one of the two store cities Israel built and the starting point of the exodus. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the transition from Genesis, the growth of Israel, Pharaoh's escalating oppression, and the midwives' faith as a model of godly civil disobedience.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: the shape of the rescue from Egypt and where the story is going.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Exodus -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- A King Who Forgot (v.8) — A new Pharaoh comes to power with no memory of Joseph or what he'd done for Egypt, and turns gratitude into fear-driven cruelty. Where has forgetting God's past faithfulness left you anxious about the future?
- Growth Under Pressure (v.12) — The harder Egypt worked to crush Israel, the more the nation multiplied. What opposition are you facing that God might actually be using to grow something in you?
- Fearing God More Than Pharaoh (v.17) — Shiphrah and Puah risk their lives by refusing the king's order to kill Hebrew infants, choosing obedience to God over obedience to power. Whose approval do you fear losing more: God's or people's?
- God Notices Quiet Courage (vv.20-21) — God blesses the midwives with households of their own because they feared Him. Do you believe God sees the small, risky acts of faithfulness nobody else notices?
- Evil Escalates Unchecked (v.22) — When deception fails, Pharaoh moves to open, state-wide infanticide. What compromise or sin are you tolerating that could grow bolder if left unaddressed?