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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 1:1

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Now these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

1. Now (Heb. And) these are the names of ] As Gen 25:13; Gen 36:40; Gen 46:8; Exo 6:16, &c. (all P).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1 5. Recapitulation, as the introduction to a new section, of what had been stated before respecting the sons of Jacob (Gen 35:23-26), and the numbers of his descendants who had gone down into Egypt (Gen 46:8; Gen 46:26 f.).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1 7 . Growth of the descendants of Jacob in Egypt, after Joseph’s death, into a great people.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Now – Literally, And, indicating a close connection with the preceding narrative. In fact this chapter contains a fulfillment of the predictions recorded in Gen 46:3 and in Gen 15:13.

Every man and his household – It may be inferred from various notices that the total number of dependents was considerable, a point of importance in its bearings upon the history of the Exodus (compare Gen 13:6; Gen 14:14).

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Exo 1:1-5

The children of Israel which came into Egypt.

Israel in Egypt

I. A retrospective view.

1. These verses lead us back to the time when Jacob came with his family to Egypt.

(1)

. It was a time of great distress from famine in Canaan.

(2) It was a crisis-time in the history of the chosen family (Gen 45:17-28; Gen 46:1-4).

(3) It was a time of great encouragement from what had been disclosed in Josephs history.

2. These verses summarize the history of the children of Israel from the time of Jacobs emigration to Egypt till the bondage of the Israelites–about 115 years.

(1) This was a time of great happiness and prosperity for the Israelites.

(a) The entire period, from the call of Abraham to the Exodus, was 430 years.

(b) Up to the descent into Egypt, a period of 215 years, the family had increased to only seventy souls.

(c) From the going down to Egypt to the Exodus–215 years–the 70 had multiplied to 600,000 males, giving a population of nearly 2,000,000.

II. The change of administration (Exo 1:8). Not merely another, but a new king, implying a change of dynasty. Now, probably, commenced the rule of the shepherd kings.

2. The phrase, who knew not Joseph, suggests the prestige of Josephs name to the former Pharaohs. A good mans influence dies not with the death of his body.

III. The change of government policy (Exo 1:9-14).

1. The nature of this change. From being a fostering government to being cruel and repressive. Unwise policy, because suicidal.

2. The reason for this change (Exo 1:10).

3. The result of this change (Exo 1:12).

(1) Such a result is according to Gods law of nations. Working classes always more fruitful than others.

(2) Such a result was according to Gods covenant law.

Lessons:

1. Gods children in Egypt a type of Gods children in the world.

2. The policy of the new king a type of the godlessness, selfishness, and inhumanity of those who work from a worldly standpoint.

3. The frustration of this policy a type of Gods overruling power. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)

Gods knowledge of mans domestic life

I. He knows the children of the family. Reuben, Simeon, etc.

1. He knows the character of each.

2. He knows the friendly relations, or otherwise, existing between them, and the intentions of each.

II. He watches the journeying of the family–which came, etc. Do not journey into Egypt without an indication of the Divine will. All family changes should be under the instruction of heaven. This insures safety, protection, development–though sometimes discipline.

III. He marks the death of the family (Exo 1:6). (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Israel in Egypt

With Israel in Egypt begins a new era in the worlds progress. Biography becomes history Instead of individuals or a tribe, God has now a natron with which to work. He has undertaken a vast purpose. This people–united by common parentage, common faith, and common hope–He is to weld still more compactly by fellowship in disaster and deliverance into a nation which shall be the miracle of history, as intensely and persistently individual as its founder. With this nation He enters into covenant and, through its faith and experience, reveals to the world the one holy God, and brings in its Redeemer. Such a mission costs; its apostles must suffer. Yet this relief intervenes: personal blessing is not lost in national pains. The strong word covering this process is discipline: the development of character and efficiency under rigorous conditions. The first element is–

I. Faith: taking as real what cannot be seen, accepting as sure what has not come to pass. Seemingly, this fruit of heaven cannot grow on earthly soil unless it be wet with tears.

II. The second word of blessing is disentanglement. The hope of the ages lay in freeing Israel, not from Egypt, but from what Egypt represents. Heathenism is a bitter and bloody thing. But heathenism filled the world outside the chosen nation. Only stern guidance could lead away from it, for over its deformities were spread distortions of natural needs and blandishments of sanctioned lust. God can accomplish vast things with a soul wholly consecrated to Him; but how rarely He finds such a soul, except as He leads it through affliction to make it loose its hold on all but Him!

III. With this even partially gained, comes that strong word efficiency. The nation which was Jacob the Supplanter passes its Peniel and becomes Israel the Prince of God, having power with God and men. Into its hands are put the direction of earths history and the hope of its redemption. The distresses of those early generations are as the straining and rending of the crust or the grinding march of glaciers, unsparing but beneficent, preparing a fertile soil on which at last men shall dwell safely, lifting thankful hands to heaven. (C. M. Southgate.)

Egypt a type of the world

Sodom is associated in our minds with wickedness only, though no doubt it was a great place in its day; but Egypt stands out before us as a fuller and more adequate type of the world, with her glory as well as her shame. And from Israels relation to Egypt we may learn two great lessons: one of counsel how to use the world, the other of warning against abusing it. From Gods purpose in regard to Israel let us learn that just as Egypt was necessary as a school for His chosen people, so the world ought to be a school for us. We are not to despise its greatness. No word of contempt for Egypts greatness is found in the sacred records. The nation was intended to learn, and did acquire, many useful arts which were of much service to them afterwards in the Land of Promise. Moses, the chosen of God, was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was thereby qualified for the great work for which he was called. In these examples we may see how to use this world, making it a school to prepare us for our inheritance and the work the Lord may have for us there to do. On the other hand, let us beware of so yielding to the seductions of this evil world as to lose our hold of God, and His covenant, and so incur the certainty of forfeiting our eternal birthright and becoming the worlds slaves, helping perhaps to rear its mighty monuments, with the prospect possibly of having our names engraved in stone among the ruins of some buried city, but without the prospect of having them written among the living in Jerusalem, the eternal city of God. Earths great ones belong to the dead past; but heavens great ones have their portion in a glorious future. (J. M. Gibson, D. D.)

Making history

We are making history when we least think of it. That which seems a little matter to us may be a link in a chain that binds the ages. What we do to-day or to-morrow is done for all time. It cannot be undone. It and all its countless results must stand entailed to the latest generations; and we are to have honour or shame according as our part is now performed. The poor boy who drives the horse along a canal tow.path may think it makes little difference whether he does that work well or poorly. But forty years after, when he is in nomination for the presidency of a great nation, he will find that men go back to his boyhood story to learn whether he was faithful in that which was least, as proof that he would be faithful also in that which is much. There is no keeping out of history. We have got to be there. The only safe way of standing well in history is by doing well in all things. You are just now going to Boston, or to New York, or to Chicago, or to Savannah, or to London–will the record of your spirit and conduct as you go there read well ten years hence, or a hundred? That depends on what your spirit and conduct are at the present time. And if you stay at home your place in history–in Gods record of history–is just as sure as if you went to Egypt or to the Holy Land. That record is making up to-day: Now, these are the names of the children of–, which came into–, or, which stayed at– If you want a record which shall redound to your honour, and of which your childrens children shall be proud, you have no time to lose in getting things straight for it. (H. C. Trumbull.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES CALLED EXODUS

-Year before the common Year of Christ, 1706.

-Julian Period, 3008.

-Cycle of the Sun, 7.

-Dominical Letter, F.

-Cycle of the Moon, 2.

-Indiction, 15.

-Creation from Tisri or September, 2298.

CHAPTER I

The names and number of the children of Israel that went down

into Egypt, 1-5.

Joseph and all his brethren of that generation die, 6.

The great increase of their posterity, 7.

The cruel policy of the king of Egypt to destroy them, 8-11.

They increase greatly, notwithstanding their affliction, 12.

Account of their hard bondage, 13, 14.

Pharaoh’s command to the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male

children, 15,16.

The midwives disobey the king’s command, and, on being questioned,

vindicate themselves, 17-19.

God is pleased with their conduct, blesses them, and increases

the people, 20, 21.

Pharaoh gives a general command to the Egyptians to drown all the

male children of the Hebrews, 22.

NOTES ON CHAP. I

Verse 1. These are the names] Though this book is a continuation or the book of Genesis, with which probably it was in former times conjoined, Moses thought it necessary to introduce it with an account of the names and number of the family of Jacob when they came to Egypt, to show that though they were then very few, yet in a short time, under the especial blessing of God, they had multiplied exceedingly; and thus the promise to Abraham had been literally fulfilled. See the notes on Gen. xlvi.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

This list is here repeated, that by comparing this small root with so vast a company of branches as grew upon it, we may see the wonderful providence of God in the fulfilling of his promises. And his household, his children and grandchildren, as the word house is taken Rth 4:11; 2Sa 7:11; 1Ki 21:29.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. Now these are the names(SeeGe 46:8-26).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now these are the names of the children of Israel which came down into Egypt,…. Of the twelve patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, who were heads of the twelve tribes, whose names are here given; since the historian is about to give an account of their coming out of Egypt, and that it might be observed how greatly they increased in it, and how exactly the promise to Abraham, of the multiplication of his seed, was fulfilled: or, “and these are the names” b, c. this book being connected with the former by the copulative “and” and when this was wrote, it is highly probable there was no division of the books made, but the history proceeded in one continued account:

every man and his household came with Jacob; into Egypt, all excepting Joseph, and along with them their families, wives, children, and servants; though wives and servants are not reckoned into the number of the seventy, only such as came out of Jacob’s loins: the Targum of Jonathan is,

“a man with the men of his house,”

as if only male children were meant, the sons of Jacob and his grandsons; and Aben Ezra observes, that women were never reckoned in Scripture as of the household or family; but certainly Dinah, and Serah, as they came into Egypt with Jacob, are reckoned among the seventy that came with him thither, Ge 46:15.

b “et haec”, Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 Gen 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 Gen 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 ” (Exo 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.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Israelites Oppressed in Egypt.

B. C. 1588.

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. 6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

In these verses we have, 1. A recital of the names of the twelve patriarchs, as they are called, Acts vii. 8. Their names are often repeated in scripture, that they may not sound uncouth to us, as other hard names, but that, by their occurring so frequently, they may become familiar to us; and to show how precious God’s spiritual Israel are to him, and how much he delights in them. 2. The account which was kept of the number of Jacob’s family, when they went down into Egypt; they were in all seventy souls (v. 5). according to the computation we had, Gen. xlvi. 27. This was just the number of the nations by which the earth was peopled, according to the account given, Gen. x. For when the Most High separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, as Moses observes, Deut. xxxii. 8. Notice is here taken of this that their increase in Egypt might appear the more wonderful. Note, It is good for those whose latter end greatly increases often to remember how small their beginning was, Job viii. 7. 3. The death of Joseph, v. 6. All that generation by degrees wore off. Perhaps all Jacob’s sons died much about the same time; for there was not more than seven years’ difference in age between the eldest and the youngest of them, except Benjamin; and, when death comes into a family, sometimes it makes a full end in a little time. When Joseph, the stay of the family, died, the rest went off apace. Note, We must look upon ourselves and our brethren, and all we converse with, as dying and hastening out of the world. This generation passeth away, as that did which went before. 4. The strange increase of Israel in Egypt, v. 7. Here are four words used to express it: They were fruitful, and increased abundantly, like fishes or insects, so that they multiplied; and, being generally healthful and strong, they waxed exceedingly mighty, so that they began almost to outnumber the natives, for the land was in all places filled with them, at least Goshen, their own allotment. Observe, (1.) Though, no doubt, they increased considerably before, yet, it should seem, it was not till after the death of Joseph that it began to be taken notice of as extraordinary. Thus, when they lost the benefit of his protection, God made their numbers their defence, and they became better able than they had been to shift for themselves. If God continue our friends and relations to us while we most need them, and remove them when they can be better spared, let us own that he is wise, and not complain that he is hard upon us. After the death of Christ, our Joseph, his gospel Israel began most remarkably to increase: and his death had an influence upon it; it was like the sowing of a corn of wheat, which, if it die, bringeth forth much fruit, John xii. 24. (2.) This wonderful increase was the fulfillment of the promise long before made unto the fathers. From the call of Abraham, when God first told him he would make of him a great nation, to the deliverance of his seed out of Egypt, it was 430 years, during the first 215 of which they were increased but to seventy, but, in the latter half, those seventy multiplied to 600,000 fighting men. Note, [1.] Sometimes God’s providences may seem for a great while to thwart his promises, and to go counter to them, that his people’s faith may be tried, and his own power the more magnified. [2.] Though the performance of God’s promises is sometimes slow, yet it is always sure; at the end it shall speak, and not lie, Hab. ii. 3.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Note: Commentary on Pentateuch, including Exodus, was written by Dr. G.F. Crumley. The hardback version of this commentary contains charts and pictures

INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF EXODUS (verse by verse comments follow this introduction)

AUTHOR: There is no valid reason to suggest that the author of the Book of Exodus is any other than the one to whom tradition assigns it: Moses. The Pharisees, Sadducees, Jews, and Samaritans alike affirmed the Mosaic authorship of Exodus. In addition, Jesus Himself attributed Exodus to Moses, on various occasions, e.g. Mt 19:8; Ex 21:7-11.

TITLE: Hebrew-speaking Jews designate the Books of the Pentateuch by their initial word(s): the first Book, Bereshith, “In The Beginning;” the third Book, Vay-yikra, “And He Called;” and the second Book (Exodus), Ve-eleh shemoth, “And These Are the Names.” The name “Exodus” was first applied to the second Book of the Pentateuch by the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, the Septuagint (LXX).

“Exodus” is from ek, meaning “out,” and hodos, meaning “way or road.” It means “way out” or “departure.” It is a fitting title for the Book which chronicles the departure of Israel from Egypt.

The earliest translation into Latin was made from the Greek, and it retained the Greek title untranslated. From this translation it passed into the Latin Vulgate, by Jerome, and thus into the languages of the Western world.

SUBJECT: The subject-matter of the Book may be divided into three general topics:

(1) Israel’s growth and development from a tribe into a nation, chapter 1.

(2) Israel’s departure from Egypt, and the manner in which it was accomplished, chapters 2-18.

(3) Historical and legislative matters, relating to the adoption of Israel as God’s own peculiar nation by the Law given and the Mosaic Covenant made at Sinai, chapters 19-40.

The Book contains the account of events covering about 360 years, between the death of Joseph, and the giving of the Law at Sinai and the establishing of the Divine government over Israel.

CHRONOLOGY: There is one point of difficulty in determining the chronology of the Book of Ex 12:40 reads, “The sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” A more literal translation: “The sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” The Septuagint translation reads, “The sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers, which they sojourned in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.” If we follow the Hebrew text, 430 years elapsed from the time Jacob went down into Egypt until the Exodus. If we follow the Septuagint text, the time will be cut in half, for it was exactly 215 years from the time Abraham entered Canaan until Jacob went into Egypt.

Paul appears to confirm the Septuagint chronology, Ga 3:17. But note that Paul quoted from the Septuagint, the Greek translation with which his readers would have been more familiar. His purpose was not to establish an accurate period of time, but it was to confirm the antiquity of the Covenant of Grace, in contrast to the Covenant of Law.

The genealogical table of Ex 6:16-20 appears to confirm the shorter period, of 215 years. If this table is complete, the longest possible number of years from Jacob’s entrance to Egypt to the Exodus was 350 years. This assumes that Kohath, Levi’s son, was one year old when carried into Egypt (Ge 47:11), that Amram was born in the last year of Kohath’s life, and that Moses was born in the last year of Amram’s life. However, it was common among the Hebrews to condense their recorded genealogies, calling any male descendant a son.

There appears to be no valid reason to question the Hebrew Text of Ex 12:40, that the time Israel spent in Egypt, beginning with Jacob’s descent into Goshen and ending with the Exodus, was indeed 430 years.

EXODUS – CHAPTER ONE

Verses 1-6:

“Now” in verse 1 is literally “and.” This is an example of the Scripture writers to connect one book with another in the closest manner possible, by use of the copulative “and.”

Those listed in these verses are those who came with Jacob into Egypt, along with their families. Joseph and his family were already in Egypt. Jacob’s sons by Leah and Rachel are listed first, in their order of seniority. The sons of the secondary wives, in order of their birth, are next listed.

Verse 5 is a repetition of Ge 46:27. The number 70 includes Joseph and his two sons, and Jacob himself. This inclusion is a typical Oriental custom.

Verse 6 is a reference to Ge 50:26. Note the declining life span of the patriarchs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all lived more years than did Joseph

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. These are the names It is the intention of Moses to describe the miraculous deliverance of the people, (from whence the Greeks gave the name to the book;) but, before he comes to that, he briefly reminds us that the promise given to Abraham was not ineffectual, that his seed should be multiplied

“

as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore.” (Gen 22:17.)

This, then, is the commencement of the book, — that although their going down from the land of Canaan into Egypt might have seemed at the time as it were the end and abolition of God’s covenant, yet in his own time he abundantly accomplished what he had promised to his servant as to the increase of his descendants. However, he only mentions by name the twelve patriarchs who went down with their father Jacob, and then sums up the whole number of persons, as in two other passages. (Gen 46:27, and Deu 10:22.) The calculation is perfectly accurate, if Jacob is counted among the thirty and six souls in the first catalogue. For it is a far-fetched addition of the Rabbins (6) to count in Jochebed the mother of Moses, to complete the number; and it is not probable that a woman, who was afterwards born in Egypt, should be reckoned among the men whom Jacob brought with him. If any object that the seventy are said to have “come out of the loins of Jacob,” the discrepancy is easily explained by the common scriptural use of the figure synecdoche (7) That he from whom the others sprung is not excluded, we gather from the words of Moses, (Deu 10:22,)

“

Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.”

But there is no reason to add five more, as we read in the address of Stephen recorded by Luke, (Act 7:14😉 for we cannot be surprised that in this mode of expressing numbers this error should have occurred by the introduction of a single letter. Should any objector make this an handle for controversy, we should remember that the Spirit, by the mouth of Paul, does not warn us without purpose

“

not to give heed to genealogies.” (1Ti 1:4.)

(6) It may he noticed, once for all, that Calvin’s references to Rabbinical expositions of supposed difficulties are generally references to what Sebastian Munster had inserted at the close of each chapter of his version of the Old Testament, which is described as follows in the title-page to its second edition, Basle, 1546: — “En tibi Lector Hebraica Biblia, Latina planeque nova Sebast. Munsteri tralatione, post omnes omnium hactenus ubivis gentium editiones evulgata, et quoad fieri potuit Hebraicae veritati conformata: adjectis insuper e Rabbinorum commentariis annotationibus.” The notion that Jochebed was included in the enumeration, is mentioned by S.M. in the annotations on Gen 46:27. In that verse, as given in our authorized version, which came must be understood to agree with house, the Hebrew being הכאה. The persons of that house properly of Jacob’s own blood were seventy in number, as appears from the enumeration in that chapter, including a daughter (v. 15) and a granddaughter, (v. 17.) The number in Stephen’s speech is supposed by many to be taken from the Septuagint, which says that nine souls were born to Joseph in Egypt, and so makes the whole amount seventy-five, both in Gen 46:0 and in Exo 1:0. But Stephen spoke of the number of his kindred whom Joseph sent for, and may reasonably be supposed to have meant thereby Jacob and his eleven sons, with their wives and fifty-three male children, which would amount to seventy-five souls. — W

(7) The French translation thus explains this figure: “de prendre le tout pour une partie, ou une partie pour le tout,” — to take the whole for a part, or a part for the whole.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

ISRAELS BONDAGE. MOSES AND THE EXODUS

Exo 1:1 to Exo 15:21.

DR. J. M. Grays five rules for Bible reading: Read the Book, Read the Book Continuously, Read the Book Repeatedly, Read the Book Independently, Read the Book Prayerfully, are all excellent; but the one upon which I would lay emphasis in this study of Exodus is the second of those rules, or, Read the Book Continuously. It is doubtful if there is any Book in the Bible which comes so nearly containing an outline, at least, of all revelation, as does the Book of Exodus. There is scarcely a doctrine in the New Testament, or a truth in the Old, which may not be traced in fair delineation in these forty chapters.

God speaks in this Book out of the burning bush. Sin, with its baneful effects, has a prominent place in its pages; and Salvation, for all them that trust in Him, with judgment for their opposers, is a conspicuous doctrine in this Old Testament document. God, Sin, Salvation, and Judgmentthese are great words! The Book that reveals each of them in fair outline is a great Book indeed, and its study will well repay the man of serious mind.

Exodus is a Book of bold outlines also! Its author, like a certain school of modern painters, draws his picture quickly and with but few strokes, and yet the product of his work approaches perfection. How much of time and history is put into these three verses:

And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them (Exo 1:5-7).

These three verses contain 215 years of time, and all the events that crowded into that period would, if they were recorded, fill volumes without end. And, while there are instances of delineation in detail in the Book of Exodus, the greater part of the volume is given to the bolder outlines which sweep much history into single sentences.

In looking into these fifteen chapters, I have been engaged with the question of such arrangement as would best meet the demands of memory, and thereby make the lesson of this hour a permanent article in our mental furniture. Possibly, to do that, we must seize upon a few of the greater subjects that characterize these chapters, and so phrase them as to provide mental promontories from which to survey the field of our present study. Surely, The Bondage of Israel, The Rise of Moses, and the Exodus from Egypt, are such fundamentals.

THE BONDAGE OF ISRAEL.

The bondage of Israel, like her growth, requires but a few sentences for its expression.

Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 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. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pit horn and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel. And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour (Exo 1:8-22).

There are several features in Egypts conduct in effecting the bondage of Israel which characterize the conduct of all imperial nations.

The bondage began with injustice. Israel was in Egypt by invitation. When they came, Pharaoh welcomed them, and set apart for their use the fat of the land. The record is,

Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded (Gen 47:11).

There they flourished until a king arose which knew not Joseph. Then a tax was laid upon them; eventually taskmasters were set over them, and those who came in response to Pharaohs invitation, Come unto me and I will give you the good of the, land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land, were compelled by his successors to take the place of slaves. It seems as difficult for a nation as it is for an individual to refrain from the abuse of power. A writer says, Revolution is caused by seeking to substitute expediency for justice, and that is exactly what the King of Egypt and his confederates attempted in the instance of these Israelites. It would seem that the result of that endeavor ought to be a lesson to the times in which we live, and to the nations entrusted with power. Injustice toward a supposedly weaker people is one of those offences against God which do not go unpunished, and its very practice always provokes a rebellion which converts a profitable people into powerful enemies.

It ought never to be forgotten either that injustice easily leads to oppression. We may suppose the tax at first imposed upon this people was comparatively slight, and honorable Egyptians found for it a satisfactory excuse, hardly expecting that the time would ever come when the Israelites should be regarded chattel-slaves. But he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. It is doubtful if there is any wrong in mans moral relations which blinds him so quickly and so effectually as the exercise of power against weakness.

Joseph Parker, in speaking of the combat between Moses and the Egyptian, says, Every honorable-minded man is a trustee of social justice and common fair play. We have nothing to do with the petty quarrels that fret society, but we certainly have to do with every controversysocial, imperial, or internationalwhich violates human right and impairs the claims of Divine honor. We must all fight for the right. We feel safer by so much if we know there are amongst us men who will not be silent in the presence of wrong, and will lift up a testimony in the name of righteousness, though there be none to cheer them with one word of encouragement.

It is only a step from enslaving to slaughter. That step was speedily taken, for Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river (Exo 1:22). Unquestionably there is a two-fold thought in this fact. Primarily this, whom the tyrant cannot control to his profit, he will slay to his pleasure; and then, in its deeper and more spiritual significance, it is Satans effort to bring an end to the people of God. The same serpent that effected the downfall of Adam and Eve whispered into Cains ear, Murder Abel; and into the ears of the Patriarchs, Put Joseph out of the way; and to Herod, Throttle all the male children of the land; and to the Pharisee and Roman soldier, Crucify Jesus of Nazareth. It remains for us of more modern times to learn that the slaughter of the weak may be accomplished in other ways than by the knife, the Nile, or the Cross. It was no worse to send a sword against a feeble people, than, for the sake of filthy lucre, to plant among them the accursed saloon. Benjamin Harrison, in a notable address before the Ecumenical Missionary Conference held in the City of New York years ago, said, The men who, like Paul, have gone to heathen lands with the message, We seek not yours but you, have been hindered by those who, coming after, have reversed the message. Rum and other corrupting agencies come in with our boasted civilization, and the feeble races wither before the breath of the white mans vices.

Egypt sought to take away from Israel the physical life which Egypt feared; but God has forewarned us against a greater enemy when He said, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. * * Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him. If in this hour of almost universal disturbance the sword cannot be sheathed, let us praise God that our Congress and Senate have removed the saloona slaughter-house from the midst of our soldiers, and our amended Constitution has swept it from the land.

THE RISE OF MOSES.

I do not know whether you have ever been impressed in studying this Book of Exodus with what is so evidently a Divine ordering of events. It is when the slaughter is on that we expect the Saviour to come. And that God who sits beside the dying sparrow never overlooks the affliction of His people. When an edict goes forth against them, then it is that He brings their deliverer to the birth; hence we read, And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of the house of Levi, and the woman conceived and bare a son (Exo 2:1-2),

That is Moses; that is Gods man! It is no chance element that brings him to the kingdom at such a time as this. It is no mere happening that he is bred in Pharaohs house, and instructed by Jochebed. It is no accident that he is taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. It is all in perfect consequence of the fact that God is looking upon the Children of Israel, and is having respect unto them.

Against Pharaohs injustice He sets Moses keen sense of right. When Moses sees an Egyptian slay an oppressed Israelite, he cannot withhold his hand. And, when after forty years in the wilderness he comes back to behold afresh the affliction of his people, he chooses to suffer with them rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. God never does a better thing for a nation than when He raises up in it such a man. We have heard a great deal of Socrates wisdom, but it is not in the science of philosophy alone that that ancient shines; for when Athens was governed by thirty tyrants, who one day summoned him to the Senate House, and ordered him to go with others named to seize Leon, a man of rank and fortune, whose life was to be sacrificed that these rulers might enjoy his estate, the great philosopher flatly refused, saying, I will not willingly assist in an unjust act. Thereupon Chericles sharply asked, Dost thou think, Socrates, to talk in this high tone and not to suffer? Far from it, replied the philosopher, I expect to suffer a thousand ills, but none so great as to do unjustly. That day Socrates was a statesman of the very sort that would have saved Athens had his ideas of righteousness obtained.

Against Pharaohs oppression He sets Moses Divine appointment. There were many times when Moses was tempted to falter, but Gods commission constrained his service. When Moses said, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh? God answered, Surely I will be with thee. When Moses feared his own people who would not believe in his commission, God answered, Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, I AM hath sent you. When Moses feared that the Israelites would doubt his Divine appointment, God turned the rod in his hand into a worker of wonders. And, when Moses excused himself on the ground of no eloquence, God replied, Go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say. With any man, a conviction of Divine appointment is a power, but for him who would be a saviour of his fellows, it is an absolute essential.

Pastor Stalker, speaking to the subject of a Divine call to the service of soul-winning, said, Enthusiasm for humanity is a noble passion and sheds a beautiful glow over the first efforts of an unselfish life, but it is hardly stern enough for the uses of the world. There come hours of despair when men seem hardly worth our devotion. * * Worse still is the sickening consciousness that we have but little to give; perhaps we have mistaken our vocation; it is a world out of joint, but were we born to put it right? This is where a sterner motive is needed than love for men. Our retreating zeal requires to be rallied by the command of God. It is His work; these souls are His; He has committed them to our care, and at the judgment-seat He will demand an account of them. All Prophets and Apostles who have dealt with men for God have been driven on by this impulse which has recovered them in hours of weakness and enabled them to face the opposition of the world. * * This command came to Moses in the wilderness and drove him into public life in spite of strong resistance; and it bore him through the unparalleled trials of his subsequent career. How many times he would have surrendered the battle and left his fellows to suffer under Pharaohs heels, but for the sound of that voice which Joan of Arc heard, saying to him as it said to her, Go on! Go on!

Against Pharaohs slaughter God set up Moses as a Saviour. History has recorded the salvation of his people to many a man, who, either by his counsels in the time of peace or his valor in the time of war, has brought abiding victory. But where in annals, secular or sacred, can you find a philosopher who had such grave difficulties to deal with as Moses met in lifting his people from chattel slaves to a ruling nation? And where so many enemies to be fought as Moses faced in his journey from the place of the Pyramids to Pisgahs Heights?

Titus Flaminius freed the Grecians from the bondage with which they had long been oppressed. When the herald proclaimed the Articles of Peace, and the Greeks understood perfectly what Flaminius had accomplished for them, they cried out for joy, A Saviour! a Saviour! till the Heavens rang with their acclamations.

But Moses was worthy of greater honor because his was a more difficult deed. I dont know, but I suppose one reason why Moses name is coupled with that of the Lamb in the Oratorio of the Heavens, is because he saved Israel out of a bondage which was a mighty symbol of Satans power, and led them by a journey, which is the best type of the pilgrims wanderings in this world, and brought them at last to the borders of Canaan, which has always been regarded as representative of the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

THE EXODUS FROM EGYPT

involves some items of the deepest interest.

The ten plagues prepare for it. The river is turned into blood; frogs literally cover the land; the dust is changed to lice; flies swarm until all the houses are filled; the beasts are smitten with murrain; boils and blains, hail, locusts and darkness do their worst, and the death of the first-born furnishes the climax of Egyptian affliction, and compels the haughty Pharaoh to bow in humility and grief before the will of the Most High God (chaps. 7-12).

There is one feature of these plagues that ought never to be forgotten. Without exception, they spake in thunder tones against Egyptian idolatry. The Nile River had long been an object of their adoration. In a long poem dedicated to the Nile, these lines are found:

Oh, Nile, hymns are sung to thee on the harp,

Offerings are made to thee: oxen are slain to thee;

Great festivals are kept for thee;

Fowls are sacrificed to thee.

But when the waters of that river were turned to blood, the Egyptians supposed Typhon, the God of Evil, with whom blood had always been associated, had conquered over their bountiful and beautiful Osiristhe name under which the Nile was worshiped.

The second plague was no less a stroke at their hope of a resurrection, for a frog had long symbolized to them the subject of life coming out of death. The soil also they had worshiped, and now to see the dust of it turned suddenly into living pests, was to suffer under the very power from which they had hoped to receive greatest success. The flies that came in clouds were not all of one kind, but their countless myriads, according to the Hebrew word used, included winged pests of every sort, even the scarabaeus, or sacred beetle. Heretofore, it had been to them the emblem of the creative principle; but now God makes it the instrument of destruction instead. When the murrain came upon the beasts, the sacred cow and the sacred ox-Apis were humbled. And ~when the ashes from the furnace smote the skin of the Egyptians, they could not forget that they had often sprinkled ashes toward Heaven, believing that thus to throw the ashes of their sacrifices into the wind would be to avert evil from every part of the land whither they were blown. Geikie says that the seventh plague brought these devout worshipers of false gods to see that the waters, the earth and the air, the growth of the fields, the cattle, and even their own persons, all under the care of a host of divinities, were yet in succession smitten by a power against which these protectors were impotent. When the clouds of locusts had devoured the land, there remained another stroke to their idolatry more severe still, and that was to see the Sun, the supreme god of Egypt, veil his face and leave his worshipers in total darkness. It is no wonder that Pharaoh then called to Moses and said, Go ye, serve the Lord; but it is an amazing thing that even yet his greed of gain goads him on to claim their flocks and their herds as an indemnity against the exodus of the people. There remained nothing, therefore, for God to do but lift His hand again, and lo, death succeeded darkness, and Pharaoh himself became the subject of suffering, and the greatest idol of the nation was humbled to the dust, for the king was the supreme object of worship.

He is a foolish man who sets himself up to oppose the Almighty God. And that is a foolish people who think to afflict Gods faithful ones without feeling the mighty hand of that Father who never forgets His own.

One day I was talking with a woman whose husband formerly followed the habit of gambling. By this means he had amassed considerable wealth, and when she was converted and desired to unite with the church, he employed every power to prevent it, and even denied her the privilege of church attendance. One morning he awoke to find that he was a defeated man; his money had fled in the night, and in the humiliation of his losses, he begged his wifes pardon for ever having opposed her spirit of devotion. Since that time, though living in comparative poverty, she has been privileged to serve God as she pleased; and, as she said to me, finds in that service a daily joy such as she at one time feared she would never feel again. Gods plagues are always preparing the way for an exodus on the part of Gods oppressed.

The Passover interpreted this exodus. That greatest of all Jewish feasts stands as a memorial of Israels flight from Egypt as a symbol of Gods salvation for His own, and as an illustration of the saving power of the Blood of the Lamb.

The opponents of the exodus perished. Our study concludes with Israels Song of Deliverance, beginning, The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation, and concluding in the words of Miriam, Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. See Exo 15:1-21. Such will ever be the end of those who oppress Gods people and oppose the Divine will.

When one studies the symbolism in all of this, and sees how Israel typifies Gods present-day people, and Moses, their deliverer, Jesus our Saviour, and defeated Pharaoh, the enemy of our souls, destined to be overthrown, he feels like joining in the same song of deliverance, changing the words only so far as to ascribe the greater praise to Him who gave His life a deliverance for all men; and with James Montgomery sing:

Hail to the Lords Anointed

Great Davids greater Son

Who, in the time appointed,

His reign on earth begun.

He comes to break oppression,

To set the captive free,

To take away transgression,

And rule in equity.

He comes, with succor speedy,

To those who suffer wrong;

To help the poor and needy,

And bid the weak be strong;

To give them songs for sighing,

Their darkness turn to light,

Whose souls, condemned and dying.

Were precious in His sight.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

ISRAEL OPPRESSED IN EGYPT

CRITICAL NOTES.

Exo. 1:1. With Jacob.] These words are strongly emphatic in the orig. WITH JACOB EACH MAN AND HIS HOUSE came in. Thus at a single strokethe whole story of the aged patriarchs coming down into Egypt is recalled: thus at once does Exodus strike its roots into Genesis.

Exo. 1:5. For Joseph] This is obscure. A more exact rendering makes all clear: But (so waw freq. when w. an emph. nominative, as here) JOSEPH had already come into Egypt. A mark of exactness: Count him in the seventy; but remember HE had come before.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 1:1-6

GODS KNOWLEDGE OF MANS DOMESTIC LIFE

I. He knows the Children of the Family. Reuben, Simeon. He knows the peculiarity of their mental lifeof their moral characterof their dispositionno matter how large the Family. He knows the friendly relations, or otherwise, that exist between the members of the home, and the intentions of each. This thought ought to subdue all discordinspire fervent sympathyand lead the family to purity of life.

II. He watches the journeyings of the Family. Which came into Egypt. The Family may be called to journey in search of commercial employmentin search of healthpleasureor to enhance the interests of divine truthin all such wanderings every member is noted by God, who recognises their place of settlement. We should not journey into Egypt without an indication of the divine will. All family changes should be under the instruction of heaven. This insuressafetyprotectiondevelopmentthough sometimes discipline. Such was the case with this family, they were shielded while in Egypt, they multiplied under disadvantageous circumstances, they were prepared by sorrow for their important future.

III. He marks the Death of the Family. And Joseph died and all his brethren. Not one member passes from the family circle without the divine knowledge. God permits itand ordains it to be a means of good to those remaining. This should hush the voice of complaint. God knows all about our home-lifea consolation in trial.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Exo. 1:1. Family life is at the basis of all history and religious progress.

Family life has frequently to pass through continued discipline to prepare it to exercise a holy influence upon the nation, and to make it a channel for the divine purpose:This discipline is 1 PainfulTaskmasters.

2. Deceptivethe King.
3. AccumulativeTaskmastersthen the Midwiveslastly the River.
4. Harmoniousall tended to one end.
5. Completivetheir freedom.

A life can sometimes be compressed into a name.
Men gather permanent record from an incidental connection with the progress of the Church.
Relationship to the Church, at certain crises of its history has given immortality to many names that otherwise would have been lost in obscurity.
Some names are omitted in this history that their silence may lend emphasis to these spoken.
The small and feeble beginnings of the Church. An old man on a journey, changing his place of residence, surrounded by his kindred:

1. A pathetic sightleaving old associationsthe scene of old and happy memoriesgoing into a strange country.

2. Unusualit is not often that we see old men leaving a place in which they have spent a life-timethey like to end their days amid familiar scenes and companions.

Exo. 1:5. For Joseph was in Egypt already. This sentence contains a volume of history. Why was he in Egypt already?

1. Because it was the refuge from the folly of an over-indulgent parent. Jacob would have spoiled Josephwould have pampered himweakened his moral energiestherefore God sent him into Egypta better school for his moral education.
2. Because of the deception of jealous brothers.
3. In order that he might welcome the Church shortly to come there.
4. Because of the kindly providence of God. The providence that sent Joseph to Egypt was kindly:(i.) Because it elevated his social position. (ii.) It taught his brethren the guilt of deception. (iii.) It saved a nation from the horrors of famine. (iv.) It taught a king the divine philosophy of a dream. (v.) It placed a godly life in the midst of a wicked court. (vi.) It ultimately brought Jacobs family to unity, peace, and prosperity.

Thus Joseph in Egypt was the punishment of parental indulgence, the victim of a brothers hatred, the child of a merciful providence, the Ruler of a vast Empire.
There may be wrapped up in the history of one absent member of your family circle the fortune of a kingdom, and the sequel of your early life.
God generally sends a Joseph into Egypt to mitigate the force of all our trials.

Exo. 1:6.

I. Death removes the most useful men. Joseph.

1. He had instructed his brethren.

2. He had enriched his father.

3. He had saved his nation.

4. He had taught the world an eternal lessonYet he died.

II. Death removes the largest families. All his brethren.

III. Death removes the proudest nations. Pharaoh.

1. Pitiable.

2. Irremediable.

3. Admonitory.

THE DEATH OF A WHOLE FAMILY.

I. It was a very large family. There were twelve sons. Of the largest family that gladdens the house, or that mingles in social intercourse, each member must go the way of all the earth.

II. It was a very diversified family. Joseph and all his brethren are words few and easily recorded; but each one of those twelve had a history distinct from any other, experiences unlike, and many altogether unknown to his brother:

1. They were diversified in their sympathies.
2. They were diversified in their social position.

III. It was a very tried family. Every family has its own sorrows. Tried:

1. By bereavementRachel dies.
2. By discord amongst the brothers.
3. By a grievous famine.

IV. A very influential family. In addition to the influence, beneficial as it was vast, which Joseph wielded over Egypt, each of the twelve sons of Jacob was the sourcethe headof one of the twelve tribes. These tribes have been the great religious teachers of the race, the priests and the prophets of humanity, the people especially chosen by God to reveal Himselfto foretell the Messiahto be the ancestors of His own Son.

V. A very religiously privileged family. The instructions of Jacob. We have here in their death:

1. A rebuke to family pride.
2. A warning against seeking satisfaction in family joys.
3. A lesson as to the right use of family relationships.
4. A reason for expecting family meetings after death. [Homilist.]

Families pass awayindependent of domestic love and care. Nations pass awayindependent of legal constitution or military prowess.
Generations pass awayindependent of their number, wealth, or genius.
This generation is but the new spring rising from the winter of the past.
Joseph diedGod deprives the Church of her comfort and stay:

1. That she may gain the power of self-reliance.
2. That she may shew her ability to be independent of all human instrumentalities.
3. That she may move into the exigencies of the future.

Men die; the Church progresses: God is eternal.
Sometimes the new generation is not equal in moral character to the oldthe new king knew not Joseph.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Exo. 1:1-6. As trees growing in the wood are knownsome by difference of their trunks, and some by the properties of their branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits; but this knowledge is had of them only whilst they stand, grow, and are not consumed; for if they be committed to the fire, and are turned into ashes, they cannot be known. It is impossible that, when the ashes of divers kinds of trees are mingled together, the tall pine tree should be discerned from the great oak, or the mighty poplar from a low shrub, or any one tree from another: even so men, whilst they live in the wood of this world, are knownsome by the stock of their ancestors, some by the flourishing leaves of their words and eloquence, some in the flowers of beauty, and some in the shrub of honesty, many by their savage ignorance, and some by their kindness; but when death doth bring them into dust, and hath mixed all together, then their ashes cannot be knownthen there is no difference between the mighty princes of the world and the poor souls that are not accounted of [Candray].

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

THE TEXT OF EXODUS
TRANSLATION

1 Now these are the names of the sons of Is-ra-el, who came into E-gypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): (2) Reu-ben, Sim-e-on, Le-vi, and Ju-dah, (3) Is-sa-char, Zeb-u-Iun, and Ben-ja-min, (4) Dan and Naph-ta-li, Gad and Asher. (5) And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in E-gypt already. (6) And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. (7) And the children of Is-ra-el were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
(8) Now there arose a new king over E-gypt, who knew not Joseph. (9) And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Is-ra-el are more and mightier than we: (10) come, 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. (11) Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pha-raoh store-cities, Pi-thom and Ra-am-ses. (12) But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And they were grieved because of the children of Is-ra-el. (13) And the E-gyp-tians made the children of Is-ra-el to serve the rigor: (14) and 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.
(15) And the king of E-gypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiph-rah, and the name of the other Pu-ah: (16) and 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. (17) But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of E-gypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive. (18) And the king of E-gypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive? (19) And the midwives said unto Pha-raoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the E-gyp-tian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them. (20) And God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. (21) And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households. (22) And Pha-raoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

EXPLORING EXODUS: CHAPTER ONE
QUESTIONS ANSWERABLE FROM THE BIBLE

After reading the entire chapter, propose a one- or two-word topic for the entire chapter.

Who is the person referred to as Israel in Exo. 1:1?

Who came with every one of the children (sons) of Jacob? (Exo. 1:1)

Who were the mothers of each of the men named in Exo. 1:2-4? Are the names grouped according to their mothers? (Compare Gen. 29:31 to Gen. 30:24; Gen. 35:16-18)

Propose some reason(s) for listing the names of the sons of Jacob here at the beginning of Exodus.

How many descendants of Jacob came into Egypt? (Exo. 1:5)

What does the word soul(s) mean in Exo. 1:5?

Exo. 1:6; Exo. 1:8 suggests that considerable time elapsed in Egypt before the Israelites situation changed. Can you obtain any information as to how much time? (Compare Gen. 15:13; Gen. 41:46; Gen. 50:22; Exo. 7:7; Exo. 12:40; Act. 7:23; Act. 7:30.)

What promises did Israels increase in population fulfill? (Gen. 12:2; Gen. 22:17; Gen. 25:4; Gen. 28:14; Gen. 46:3)

10.

What is the name of the land referred to in Exo. 1:7? (Gen. 47:4; Exo. 9:26)

11.

What change occurred in the government of Egypt? (Exo. 1:9)

12.

What disturbed the new king of Egypt? (Exo. 1:9)

13.

Exactly how numerous were the children of Israel? (Exo. 1:9; Exo. 12:37; Num. 1:46)

14.

What did the king really mean when he said, Let us deal wisely with them? (Exo. 1:10)

15.

What two possible actions by the Israelites did the king seek to prevent? (Exo. 1:10)

16.

Why was the king, on the one hand, afraid of the number of the Israelites, and, at the same time, unwilling to let them leave Egypt? (Exo. 1:10)

17.

Who was set over the Israelites? Why? (Exo. 1:11)

18.

What two cities were built? What was the purpose (or use, or function) of these cities?

19.

What was the effect of affliction on the Israelite population? (Exo. 1:12)

20.

What emotional effect upon the Egyptians was caused by Israels multiplication? (Exo. 1:12)

21.

How severe was Israels forced labor and service? (Exo. 1:13-14)

22.

What particular types of labor did the Israelites do? (Exo. 1:14)

23.

What is a midwife? (Exo. 1:15)

24.

What were the names of the two midwives? (Exo. 1:15)

25.

What instructions did the king give to the midwives?

26.

Why kill the boys and save the daughters? (Exo. 1:16)

27.

What is the stool referred to in Exo. 1:16?

28.

Why did the midwives not obey the king? (Exo. 1:17)

29.

What excuse did the midwives give for saving the boy babies? (Exo. 1:19)

30.

Was this excuse the real reason? (Exo. 1:17; Exo. 1:19). Was their lie justifiable?

31.

Did the midwives escape punishment from the king for their disobedience? (Exo. 1:20)

32.

Did God deal well with the midwives for lying, or for some other reason? (Exo. 1:20)

33.

How strong did the Israelites become? (Exo. 1:20)

34.

What does it mean by saying, God made them (the midwives) houses? (Exo. 1:21)

35.

What cruel order did Pharaoh (king of Egypt) give? (Exo. 1:22)

36.

Who are the people referred to in Exo. 1:22 as his people?

Exodus 1 : TRANSITION!

From few to many; Exo. 1:1-7

From remembrance to rejection; Exo. 1:8

From harmony to hostility; Exo. 1:9-10

From freedom to slavery; Exo. 1:11-14

From peace to peril; Exo. 1:15-16

From bad to worse; Exo. 1:22

Life is filled with great transitions.
God still rules in all conditions.

Exodus 1 : GOD KNOWS!

He knows our names; Exo. 1:1-5

He knows our journeys; Exo. 1:5

He knows our deaths; Exo. 1:6

He knows our enemies; Exo. 1:8-10

He knows our sufferings; Exo. 1:11-14

He knows our dangers; Exo. 1:15-22

Bondage in Egypt/Bondage in Sin

Enslaving; (Exo. 1:11-12)

Enslaving; (Joh. 8:34)

Painful; (Exo. 1:13-14)

Painful; (Pro. 13:15)

Pharaoh = leader

Satan = leader (2Ti. 2:26)

Motivated by hatred; (Exo. 1:8; Exo. 1:12)

Motivated by hatred; (Rev. 12:12)

Death = sole prospect

Death = sole prospect; (Rom. 6:16)

Some viewed it as liberty! (Exo. 16:3; Num. 11:5)

Some view it as liberty! (2Pe. 2:19)

God could deliver (Exo. 3:7-8)

God can deliver (Col. 1:12-13)

The Ways of Wickedness (Exo. 1:8-22)

Unthankful; Exo. 1:8

Unremembering; Exo. 1:8

Unprincipled; Exo. 1:10

Unfeeling; Exo. 1:13-14

Unrevealed; Exo. 1:16 (sneaky!)

Unconcealed; Exo. 1:22 (blatant!)

Unsuccessful; Exo. 1:12; Exo. 1:20

Exodus 1 : NEED FOR GODS MAN

Death of previous generation and leadership; Exo. 1:1-6

Multiplication of Gods people; Exo. 1:7

Oppression of Gods people; Exo. 1:8-14

Peril of Gods people; Exo. 1:15-22

EXPLORING EXODUS: Notes on Chapter One

What is the title of the book, and what does the title mean?

The title Exodus is the title given in the Latin Bible (Vulgate). It is derived from the title in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint, or LXX), Exodos, which means a going out, or departure. The word exodos actually is found in Exo. 19:1 of the LXX. As a title it would be more applicable to the first fifteen chapters of the book than to the whole book.

The Hebrew Bible simply titles the book by its opening words, We-elleh shemoth, meaning and these are the names; or, more simply, just shemoth, meaning names.

What is the significance of the first words (Now these) in Exodus?

In the Hebrew Bible the first words of Exodus are literally And these. . . . These words indicate a close connection between Exodus and the Genesis story which precedes it. Genesis and Exodus are one continuous narrative, by one author, Indeed, the whole Torah is a continuous narrative, (Torah is a Hebrew word for law, or instruction; and it refers to the five books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy,)

How old was Jacob when he came into Egypt?

He was 130 years old (Gen. 47:9). There is considerable sadness in seeing an old man leaving his home of many years. But, like Abraham and Isaac, Jacob viewed this life as a pilgrimage, and this world as a temporary residence (Heb. 11:9-10).

The Jewish Midrash (Interpretation) on Exodus says that though Jacob was an old man, the children came with Jacob, and not Jacob with his children.[79] He was not dependent on the children, but the children upon him. Such respect for parents is very befitting.

[79] Amos W. Miller, Understanding the Midrash (New York: Jonathan David, 1965), p. 16.

Did ALL of Jacobs descendants come into Egypt with Jacob?

The scripture says they did. See Exo. 1:1-5. In fact, the whole question would seem needless, if it was not for the fact that many modern critics argue that some of the descendants of Jacob remained in Canaan, and only part of them (especially the Joseph tribes and also Levi) went to Egypt.[80]

[80] See The Broadman Bible Commentary, Vol. 1 (Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman, 1969), p. 322; Also Gabriel Hebert, When Israel Came Out of Egypt (Richmond, Va.: John Knox Press, 1961), pp. 5152, 6364, 8384.

Is there any significance in the order of the names of the sons of Jacob as given in Exo. 1:2-4?

Probably not. The order of their names here is the same as in Genesis 35 (a list given at the close of Jacobs main life-story). It differs somewhat from the order of their births (See Genesis 30), and that given in Genesis 46. The lack of a consistent order for the names suggests that the order did not matter. The sons of Jacobs handmaids were accepted as fully as those of Rachel and Leah. Ancestry matters little; faith is crucial.

Why does Stephen say in Act. 7:14 that seventy-five souls came into Egypt, when Exo. 1:5 says seventy souls?

Stephen quoted the Greek Old Testament, which reads seventy-five souls in Exo. 1:5.[81] This is consistent with the LXX rendering of Gen. 46:27, which differs from the Hebrew text in three key expressions:

[81] The LXX contradicts itself by giving the number as seventy in Deuteronomy 10.

And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in the land of Egypt, were nine (Heb. two) souls; all the souls of the house of Jacob who came with Joseph (italicized words omitted in Hebrew) were seventy-five souls. (Gen. 46:27, LXX)

Evidently the LXX counted as sons of Joseph some of his grandsons or other descendants, who are named in 1Ch. 7:14; 1Ch. 7:20-21. Anyway, the LXX makes it clear how it arrived at the total of seventy-five. We do not know how or when this variant reading was first introduced, but it does not discredit the reliability of our common Hebrew text.

Why mention the deaths of Joseph and his generation in Exo. 1:6?

Possibly it is only to reveal the passage of considerable time. Joseph was thirty years of age when he stood before Pharaoh the first time (Gen. 41:46), and 110 at his death (Gen. 50:22).

Nonetheless, we are reminded by the verse that God notices the deaths of his children. If he notes the fall of a sparrow (Mat. 10:29), will he not notice our deaths?

A whole family died, even a big family! It is appointed unto all men once to die (Heb. 9:27).

How did the population of Israel develop in Egypt?

It increased tremendously. See Exo. 1:7. From a family of seventy men at the time Jacob came to Egypt, it multiplied until the men over twenty numbered 603, 550 at their departure 430 years later (Exo. 12:37; Exo. 12:40; Num. 1:45-46).

This amazing growth fulfilled Gods promises to (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that he would make them become a great nation. See Gen. 12:12; Gen. 15:5; Gen. 26:4; Gen. 28:14; Gen. 35:11.

Israels increase in population in Egypt was a matter of praise to God in later centuries. Psa. 105:12; Psa. 105:23-24. Children and large families are to be considered a blessing and not a curse.

There is a progression of ideas in the four verbs expressing Israels multiplication: They were (1) fruitful, (2) brought forth, (3) multiplied, and (4) became very exceedingly strong.

What is the land in which Israel dwelt? (See Exo. 1:7).

It was the land of Goshen, probably the Wadi Tumilat, a broad valley stretching from the Nile to the line of the present Suez canal, near Lake Timsah. Israel did not fill the whole land of Egypt, only the land of Goshen (see Exo. 9:26).

10.

What change occurred in the government of Egypt? (See Exo. 1:8)

A new king or ruling family (dynasty) came to power in Egypt. This new king had not known Joseph nor how Joseph saved Egypt. Possibly he did not want to know. Like Elis sons, who knew the Lord Yahweh (Jehovah) by name, but still knew not the Lord (1Sa. 2:12), he may have wilfully disregarded Joseph and the true history about the past.

11.

Who was this new king over Egypt?

This is a much disputed question. Evidently God did not consider his name significant enough to state it. We must not be as concerned over historical details, as we are over Gods acts in history.
Some say the new king was Seti I (13171301 B.C.). Some say he was Rameses II (13011234). We think it was the new line or foreign rulers called the Hyksos who took over Egypt about 1670 B.C.
It is a common view that Joseph came into Egypt in the time of the Hyksos and was accepted into Pharaohs court partly because the Hyksos kings were non-Egyptian Asiatics, racially similar to Joseph the Hebrew.

This idea contradicts the plain indications in the scripture that the king in Josephs time really was an Egyptian. According to the Bible record the Egyptians in those times would not eat at the same table with Hebrews (Gen. 43:32). Also during those times Every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians (Gen. 46:34). This presumably would not have been true under the Hyksos, who are thought to have had a shepherd (nomadic) ancestry.

Probably the expression There arose a new king over Egypt means that there arose a new king against Egypt.[82] If so, this would fit well with the Hyksos conquest at this time.

[82] See John Rea, The Time of the Oppression and the Exodus, Grace Journal, II, No. 1 (Winter 1961), pp. 7 ff; Quoted in John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1971), p. 45.

Because the Israelites and the Egyptians had been friends for a long time following Josephs life, the Hyksos, who conquered Egypt, regarded them as potential allies of the Egyptians in the case any war arose, and therefore a threat to them.[83]

[83] For an excellent study on the Hyksos as the persecutors referred to in Exo. 1:8 ff, see Gleason Archer, Jr., A Survey of Old Testament Introduction (Chicago: Moody, 1964), pp. 204208.

12.

How could the Israelites be more and mightier than the Egyptians? (See Exo. 1:10)

This statement would more likely be true if it was spoken by the Hyksos conquerors than by native Egyptians. It is hard to see how the Israelites could outnumber the Egyptians. Israel had only about a half-million men eighty years later (Exo. 12:37), and these were loosely organized and poorly armed.

The Hyksos rulers, however, may well have been fewer in number than the Israelites. They took over Egypt by having superior weapons, such as the war horse and the composite bow. In a similar way centuries later, a few Spaniards under Cortez took over Mexico.
Note that the king expressed his fears about the Israelites to his people, presumably to a limited circle of trusted associates.

13.

Why was the king so fearful Israel would escape from the land? (Exo. 1:10)

He had learned that Israel was a foreign people in Egypt, and therefore a return to their own land was always a possibility, especially since Israels homeland of Canaan was near to Egypt. The rulers absolutely had to have slave labor available, if there was to be food produced and buildings were to be built (see Exo. 1:14).

14.

What was the purpose of setting taskmasters over the Israelites? (See Exo. 1:11)

The Bible says it was to afflict them. This indicates a basic cruelty in the rulers of Egypt. Without doubt, they hoped also that the hard slave labor would hold down Israels birth rate and weaken their ability and desire to resist. The bondage utterly failed to do either.

15.

What does the title Pharaoh mean?

This title (it was not really a name) used by most Egyptian kings basically meant great house, an expression used figuratively to suggest their greatness.

16.

How did Israels bondage serve Gods purposes?

The bondage began to take the love of Egypt out of the people. Egypt had been their only home for nearly four hundred years. They had to be weaned from Egypt. They had become so thoroughly Egyptianized that most of them had forgotten the religious practices and traditions of their forefathers. The Jewish Midrash of Exodus says that the Hebrews had said among themselves, Let us become like the Egyptians.[84] Even after Moses led Israel out of Egypt, periodically the Israelites wanted to return to Egypt (Num. 14:3; Exo. 16:3; Exo. 17:3). Egypt had always been a comfortable land, where abundant food and water were usually available.

[84] Amos W. Miller, op. cit., p. 27.

Psa. 119:67 says, Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept thy word. It is through affliction that God teaches his people what true values are.

The benefits to Israel that came through their Egyptian oppression were not forgotten. Later Israelites preserved the memory of those harsh experiences by reciting about them when they presented their first fruits unto the Lord (Deu. 26:6).

17.

Where were the cities of Pithom and Raamses?

The locations of these places are still in dispute. Most scholars locate Pithom at the hill-ruin of Tell er-Ratebah in eastern Goshen, or at the nearby site of Tell Maskhutah.[85] We have located it at Tell Ratebah on our map (p. 34A).

[85] Martin Noth, Exodus (Philadelphia: Westminister, 1962), p. 22; New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), p. 1001.

As for Raamses, there is now fairly general agreement that it is to be identified with the city in the N.E. delta area also called Avaris, or Tanis, or Zoan.[86] This location places Raamses quite far north to have been the starting point of Israels journey, if we accept the traditional southward route of Israels exodus across the Red Sea.

[86] Merrill C. Tenney, gen. ed., Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, 1964), p. 702.

Others place Raamses at modern Qantir (Bridge) on the eastern arm of the Nile Delta.[87] This would locate it nearer to the traditional route of Israel across the Red Sea. We have located Raamses at Qantir on our map.

[87] R. Alan Cole, Exodus (Downers Grove, III.: Inter-Varsity, 1973), p. 54.

18.

Does the city name Raamses (Exo. 1:11) date the bondage of Israel in the time of king Rameses II?

We think not. Rameses II, a great builder and warrior, ruled 13011234 B.C. If we accept rather literally the scriptural information about the date of the exodus given in 1Ki. 6:1 and Jdg. 11:26 (and we do take it rather literally), we must date the exodus about 1446 B.C., long before the time of Rameses II. See the Introductory section on The Date of the Exodus.

19.

How did the Egyptian rulers feel toward Israel when oppression did not decrease them? (See Exo. 1:12)

They were grieved. They were in dread (Revised Stand. Vers.). The Hebrew word is very strong: it means to have a disgust, to feel horror, or fear. Psa. 105:25 says that the Egyptians actually came to hate Gods people.

20.

Are the Egyptians of Exo. 1:13 the same people as the oppressors of Exo. 1:8 ff.?

Probably not. Exo. 1:8-12 spoke of a new king over Egypt and of his people. We have suggested that these oppressors were probably the Hyksos rulers (approx. 16701570 B.C.)[88] Beginning in Exo. 1:13 the text plainly says that the Egyptians oppressed them. Probably Exo. 1:13 ff. refers to the Egyptian princes who drove out the Hyksos about 1570 B.C., and started the powerful XVIII dynasty in Egypt, the New Kingdom. If so, these Egyptian rulers continued the oppressions upon the Israelites that had been going on under the Hyksos. It seems obvious to us that Exodus Ch. 1 deals with the passage of considerable time, all the way from Jacobs coming to Egypt, to the time near Moses birth, a period of over 300 years.

[88] Dates from Siegfried J. Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near East (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1965), p. 8.

21.

How severe was Israels bondage?

It was extremely severe (Exo. 1:14). Psa. 81:6 praises God for removing the burden from Israels shoulder, and delivering his hands from the pots, or baskets. This refers to the vessels used in making mud bricks. Deu. 4:20 describes the Israelites experience as an iron furnace. Exo. 5:7-8 indicates that specific quotas of bricks had to be made each day, but that at the first the materials were all supplied.

Making bricks involved carrying water; digging earth; mixing earth, water, and straw; filling moulds with the mud; removing dried bricks from the mould; and transporting bricks by unaided manpower.

Israels bondage is an illustration of the bondage of sin. The way of transgressors is hard. (Pro. 13:15)

22.

Why did the king of Egypt enlist the help of the midwives? (See Exo. 1:15-16.)

He sought their help because his previous scheme to suppress Israel by slave labor had failed. So he asked the midwives to kill male babies whenever they assisted a Hebrew woman in giving birth. It would not be too difficult for the midwife to make the death of the baby look accidental. Using the midwives concealed the king as the murderer.

23.

Were the midwives Hebrews or Egyptians?

Commentators differ on whether the midwives were Hebrews or Egyptian women who served as midwives to the Hebrews. It is hard to imagine that the king would have expected the Hebrew women to slay the children of their own people. Nonetheless, the midwives had names of Semitic character (Hebrew-like); and they feared God, like good Hebrews. Shiphrah means Beauty and Puah means splendor.[89]

[89] Noth, op. cit., p. 23.

Perhaps these women were part of the mixed multitude (Exo. 12:38) that came out of Egypt with the Israelites. We know that immigrants of various Semitic (Shem-ite) tribes had come into Egypt throughout its history. In fact, the Hyksos had been such people.

24.

Were there only two midwives for the Hebrews?

Only two are named (Exo. 1:15). These would not seem to be enough, since there were probably nearly half a million Hebrew women, and the birth rate was quite high. Maybe Shiphrah and Puah were heads of the midwives guild (union), and had other women working under them. Maybe Pharaoh did not contact all the midwives, just these two. He was desperate.

The work of the midwives is partly indicated in Exo. 1:16. In birth the women often crouched down upon a pair of bricks or stones, or upon a birth stool built in a pattern of two stones.[90] The birth-stool of Exo. 1:16 literally means two stones. After delivery, the midwives cut the infants umbilical cord, washed the baby, salted and swaddled the body (Eze. 16:4).

[90] Davis, op. cit., p. 50.

25.

Why save the girls (Exo. 1:16)?

Because the women did (and still do!) much of the hard labor, labor in fields and homes, spinning, needle work, cooking. Also girls would be saved for future harems, for the Egyptians were steeped in immorality. See Gen. 12:11-12. Also the boys might become soldiers of guerillas.

26.

What caused the midwives to spare the babies? (See Exo. 1:17.)

They feared God more than they feared men. See Pro. 16:6. The expression feared God is used several times of feelings and actions of non-Jews, which humanized their actions even when their national or personal interests were at stake. See Gen. 42:18; Gen. 20:11. The opposite behavior is to fear not God[91] (Deu. 25:18).

[91] J. H. Hertz, ed., The Pentateuch and Haftorahs (London: Soncino, 1969), p. 208.

We wonder where these midwives learned this fear of God. We really do not know. Perhaps from some Godly Hebrews. Some knowledge of God has pervaded the entire human race since creation. See Gen. 14:18; Exo. 2:16.

27.

Is it right to disobey civil authorities, as the midwives did?

On those rare occasions when civil authorities issue orders in clear contradiction to Gods words, it is better to obey God than men, See Act. 5:29; Dan. 3:16-18.

28.

Should the midwives have lied about why they spared the boys?

See Exo. 1:17-18. Probably not. God probably would have saved them without their lying, as he saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who boldly stated the truth about their intentions (Dan. 3:13-18).

It might appear from Exo. 1:20 that God rewarded the midwives for lying. However, we feel that he rewarded them for sparing the male children rather than for their untruths.

We must never forget that the Bible accurately records many words and deeds that it does not necessarily approve. Even the Bibles heroes, like Abraham, David, Moses, and Simon Peter have their transgressions glaringly recorded in the holy book. We can be thankful that God has always dealt with people on the basis of grace, rather than solely on the basis of what they justly deserve. Were it not so, we would all be doomed.

29.

Were the Israelite women actually delivering their babies very quickly?

We are not plainly told whether this was a fact or an excuse by the midwives. We do not know that quick easy delivery of babies was a common physical ability of Hebrew women. Certainly Rachel had a hard delivery (Gen. 35:16-18; Compare 1Sa. 4:19-20).

30.

What reward did God give to the midwives (Exo. 1:21)?

He made for them houses, or households. They married Israelites and raised families. In some periods of history children have been looked upon as a curse, but they are actually one of Gods greatest favors. To die childless was to a Hebrew one of Gods direst punishments (Lev. 20:20; Jer. 22:30).

When we consider things like abortion, we should consider the high value God placed upon saving childrens lives and having households, as related in Exodus chap. 1.

31.

What is revealed about the character of the Egyptian people by Pharaohs command to his people? (See Exo. 1:22)

The fact that Pharaoh could enlist the cooperation of his people in the work of throwing all boy babies into the river shows that very many of the Egyptians were as bad as their king.
At first Pharaoh had been secret and subtle in his murder attempts on the male Israelite babies. Now he becomes open, blatant, and God-defying. If anyone should feel sympathy for Pharaoh because God later hardened his heart during the ten plagues, he may well recall that Pharaoh had tried both secretly and openly to slaughter the innocent. If it be objected that it was a different Pharaoh whose heart was hardened, we reply that the same merciless disposition existed in both pharaohs.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

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 with Exo. 1:7. Exo. 1:1-6 form the connecting link between the two books, and would not have been needed unless Exodus had been introduced as a distinct work, since they are little more than a recapitulation of what had been already stated and stated more fully in Genesis. Compare Exo. 1:1-5 with Gen. 46:8-27, and Exo. 1:6 with Gen. 1:26.

Every man and his household.A household, in the language of the East, includes not only children and grand-children, but retainers alsoservants born in the houselike those of Abraham (Gen. 14:14). The number of each household may thus have been very considerable.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

DESCENDANTS OF ISRAEL, Exo 1:1-6.

1-5. These are the names The heads of the tribes are recounted, and the statement of Gen 46:27 is repeated, that seventy souls went down into Egypt; the writer, from the covenant associations of the number, loving to consider Israel as a seventy-fold people, though at the same time himself furnishing data by which we see that he did not intend to give an exact census. See notes on Luk 10:1-16, and Act 1:15.

All that came out of the loins of Jacob The idiom which represents Jacob himself as one of the “souls that came out of the loins of Jacob” gave the original readers no difficulty, and we are not to expect Occidental rhetoric in Oriental documents . See notes on Genesis 46.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The Growth of the People of Israel ( Exo 1:1-5 ).

Note the balanced pattern of the section.

a The names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt (Exo 1:1 a)

b Every man and his household came with Jacob (Exo 1:1 b).

c Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah (Exo 1:2).

d Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin (Exo 1:3).

c Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher (Exo 1:4).

b All the souls that were come out of the loins of Jacob (Exo 1:5 a).

a For Joseph was in Egypt already (Exo 1:5 b).

Note how in ‘a’ the sons of Israel in Canaan are paralleled with the son of Israel in Egypt. In ‘b’ the households make up the household of Jacob, while in the parallel the major heads of the households all come from the loins of Jacob

Exo 1:1

‘Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Egypt, every man and his household came with Jacob.’

This verse continues on the narrative of Genesis. It takes up where Genesis left off, summarising what has gone before in a few verses. Those who entered Egypt with Jacob were his eleven sons (excluding Joseph who was already in Egypt) and their ‘households’. The households would include servants and retainers. Thus they may well have numbered in all a few thousand. We can compare how Abraham’s household contained 318 fighting men (Gen 14:14). All would be seen as ‘children of Israel’.

Jacob had come back from Paddan Aram with considerable resources and probably many servants, and these had been joined with the family tribe of Abraham and Isaac. Thus they were at some stage fairly numerous. On the other hand famine may have reduced their numbers somewhat. But they would nevertheless be a strong group, not just a few semi-nomads.

Exo 1:2-5

‘Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.’

The names of Jacob/Israel’s sons are now listed. This statement assumes the existence of material such as we find in Gen 46:1-27 where the ‘seventy’ is explained. We note, however, that here the sons are placed in a different order with the sons of the full wives placed before the sons of the slave wives.

“All that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls.” The number seventy indicates divine completeness, being an intensification of seven (see also Deu 10:22). But here Jacob, in contrast with Genesis 46, is seemingly not included in the seventy, unless he can be seen as being in his own loins, demonstrating again that ‘the seventy’ is an artificially contrived figure intended to denote this divine completeness, as we saw on Genesis 46. It is conveying an idea, and is not intended to be seen as a mathematical calculation. The fact is that neither reader not writer were interested in how many there were. They are interested in the number in view of what it conveyed, the divine completeness of the group. It is saying that Jacob came into Egypt in divine completeness. (It is not to be seen as ‘incorrect’. It is in fact more correct to the ancient innumerate mind than a mathematical figure would be. It certified the divine perfection of the group entering Egypt).

We note also that women, children and servants were mainly ignored. Everything centred on Jacob and his male seed for they were the heads of their households. This was the foundation on which Israel was to be built, but all, males, women, children and servants would be a part of ‘the children of Israel, as they had been of their ‘father’ Abraham.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Introduction: The Seventy Souls Exo 1:1-7 serves as an introduction to the book of Exodus. In this passage of Scripture the author tells us that the seventy souls belonging to Jacob went down to sojourn in Egypt, where they multiplied into a great nation. We find listed here the names of Jacob’s eleven sons who came down into Egypt to find refuge during the time of famine. A complete list of names of these seventy souls is given in Gen 46:26-27. The number seventy testifies to the fact that God divinely orchestrated the early founding of the nation of Israel.

The author does not give us a time frame in which to fit this introductory material. However, it becomes apparent that this passage echoes part of the Abrahamic prophecy that Israel will go down to Egypt, multiply, and come out four hundred years later (Gen 15:13-16). The book of Exodus will narrate the entire fulfilment of this prophecy.

Gen 15:13-16, “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”

God had commanded Jacob to take his family into Egypt even though he believed that he must stay and dwell in the land of Canaan under the command of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. But what is the important in Scripture regarding these seventy men with their wives and children. It is because God had worked since the day He created Adam and Eve to raise up a righteous seed that would inhabit the earth and take dominion over it. Within the loins of these seventy men dwelt the nation of Israel. Within the loins of Judah was the Messiah who would bring redemption to this fallen world and bring about many righteous seeds. Up until now, only a few individuals scattered within the genealogy of Adam have been considered a righteous seed. Now God has seventy souls who have the potential to becoming fruitful and multiplying and becoming a nation. This is the very emphasis in Exo 1:6-7 as the family of Jacob became a nation while in Egyptian bondage. God was preserving His precious seed in order to fulfil His command to Adam to be fruitful and multiply. These seventy souls have a destiny and God will work to insure that their destiny is fulfilled.

Illustration – I can see the importance of these seventy souls by watching my wife bring her family members to salvation one by one. She alone was a Christian, a righteous seed. But as she brings each loved one to faith in Christ Jesus, they become important and need to be protected and nurtured in Christ so that they can also reproduce more righteous seed within the Salcedo family. A lot of work has gone into bringing these loved ones to Christ, and this makes them precious. In the same way, God had worked throughout the history of mankind to produce a righteous family and now that He has seventy souls, God will preserve them and protect them securely.

Exo 1:1-7 Introduction: The Seventy Souls (A Comparison to Seventy Nations in Table of Nations) – It is interesting to note that just as God called seventy nations at the tower of Babel to serve as the foundation for the nations of the earth, so did God call seventy souls to found the nation of Israel (Exo 1:1-7). We know that Moses called seventy elders to establish the laws of the nation of Israel (Exo 24:1, Num 11:24-25). Jesus trained seventy disciples to carry the Gospel to the world (Luk 10:1; Luk 10:17).

Exo 1:1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

Exo 1:1 Word Study on “Egypt” Gesenius tells us the Hebrew word “Egypt” ( ) (H4714) is the dual of ( ) (H4693), and that the dual form of this name was possibly derived as a way of identifying Upper and Lower Egypt together. Strong says it means, “fortified, defence, or besieged places”. PTW says the word “Egypt” means, “land of the soul of Ptah.” BDB says this name means, “ land of the Copts.”

Exo 1:1 Comments The “children of Israel: refers to the twelve sons of Jacob within the context of the introduction to the book of Exodus (Exo 1:1-7). The following verses (Exo 1:2-4) will list eleven of these sons, since Joseph already dwelt in Egypt.

Exo 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

Exo 1:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

Exo 1:4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Exo 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

Exo 1:5 Comments – That is, there were seventy men who came into Egypt, besides the women and children. Note Gen 46:26-27.

Gen 46:26, “All the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were threescore and six; And the sons of Joseph, which were born him in Egypt, were two souls: all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten .”

If we refer to the book of Gen 46:1-27 we will find the names of these individuals listed in a genealogy.

Exo 1:6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

Exo 1:7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Exo 1:7 Comments – Note a similar passage in Psa 105:24, “And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Israel’s Justification ( Exo 1:1 to Exo 15:21 ) The emphasis of Exo 1:1 to Exo 18:27 is Israel’s justification before God through the sacrificial atonement of the Mosaic Law. The Passover was the time when God cut a covenant with the children of Israel, and the Exodus testifies to His response of delivering His people as a part of His covenant promise of redemption. Israel’s justification was fulfilled in their deliverance from the bondages of Egypt. Heb 11:23-29 highlights these events in order to demonstrate the faith of Moses in fulfilling his divine commission. These events serve as an allegory of the Church’s covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ and our subsequent deliverance from the bondages and sins of this world.

The Exodus Out of Egypt Exo 1:1 to Exo 18:27 describes God’s judgment upon Egypt and Israel’s exodus from bondage. In comparing the two Pharaoh’s discussed in this section of the book it is important to note that the pharaoh who blessed the people of Israel during Joseph’s life was himself blessed along with his nation. In stark contrast, the Pharaoh who cursed God’s people was himself cursed with the death of his own first born, as well as his entire nation. God watches over His people and blesses those who bless them and He curses those who curse them (Gen 12:3).

Gen 12:3, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Rapid Growth of the People

v. 1. Now these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob:

v. 2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

v. 3. Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

v. 4. Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

v. 5. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; for Joseph was in Egypt already. The order is: the sons of Leah, the son of Rachel, the sons of Rachel’s handmaid, the sons of Leah’s handmaid. As in Gen 46:27 , seventy souls are mentioned as the forefathers of the children of Israel, it being expressly stated that the sons came, each with his family, with his wife and children. The small number serves as a fine contrast over against the immense multitude that is spoken of at the time of the Exodus.

v. 6. And Joseph died, and all his brethren and all that generation. Joseph died at the age of one hundred and ten years, Gen 50:26, apparently the first one of the brothers to be taken away; but he was soon followed by the other members of his own generation, Levy dying about twenty years after him, Exo 6:16.

v. 7. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. The heaping of the expressions, five different terms being used to emphasize this point, indicates the extraordinary growth of the people, a factor brought about not only by natural fertility and the eagerness for children, but above all by the fulfillment of God’s promise to all the patriarchs. They filled the entire land, particularly Goshen, so that the country swarmed with their numbers. God’s promises never fail, and it is a matter of wisdom to trust in them with firm confidence.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

THE OPPRESSION OF ISRAEL IN EGYPT, WITH THE BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE OF MOSES.

EXPOSITION

Exo 1:1-6

The Book of Exodus, being written in continuation of the history recorded in Genesis, is carefully connected with it by a recapitulation. The recapitulation involves three points:

1. The names of Jacob’s children;

2. The number of Jacob’s descendants who went down into Egypt; and

3. The death of Joseph.

Exo 1:1-4 are a recapitulation of Gen 35:22-26; Gen 35:5, of Gen 46:27; and Gen 46:6, of Gen 1:26. In no case, however, is the recapitulation exact, or (so to speak) mechanical. The “households” of Gen 1:1 had not been mentioned previously; Joseph had not in Genesis been separated off from his brethren, as he is in Exo 1:5; nor had the deaths of “his brethren” been recorded, much less of “all that generation.” Thus there is here no “vain repetition.” New facts come out in the course of the recapitulation; and the narrative advances while aiming especially at maintaining its continuity.

Exo 1:1

Now these are the names. Literally, “And these are the names.” Compare Gen 46:8, where the phrase used is the same. We have here the first example of that almost universal practice of fife writers of the Historical Scriptures to connect book with book in the closest possible way by the simple copulative “and.” (Compare Jos 1:1, Jdg 1:1, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.) This practice, so unlike that of secular writers, can only be explained by the instinctive feeling of all, that they were contributors to a single book, each later writer a continuator of the narrative placed on record by his predecessor. In the Pentateuch, if we admit a single author, the initial vau will be less remarkable, since it will merely serve to join together the different sections of a single treatise. Which came into Egypt. The next two words of the original, “with Jacob,” belong properly to this clause. The whole verse is best translated, “Now these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt with Jacob: they came every man with his household.” So the LXX; Pagnini, Kalisch, Geddes, Boothroyd, etc. Every man and his household. This is important in connection with the vexed question of the possible increase of the original band of so-called “Israelites” within the space of 430 years to such a number as is said to have quitted Egypt with Moses (Exo 12:37). The “household” of Abraham comprised 318 adult males (Gen 14:14). The “households” of Jacob, his eleven sons, and his numerous grown-up grandsons, have been with reason estimated at “several thousands.“

Exo 1:2-5

The sons of the legitimate wives Leah and Rachel are placed first, in the order of their seniority (Gen 29:32-35; Gen 30:18-20; Gen 35:18); then these of the secondary wives, or concubines, also in the order of their birth (Gen 30:6-13). The order is different from that observed in Gen 46:1-34; and seems intended to do honour to legitimate, as opposed to secondary, wedlock. The omission of Joseph follows necessarily from the exact form of the opening phrase, “These are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt with Jacob.“

Exo 1:5

All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls. This is manifestly intended as a repetition of Gen 46:27, and throws the reader back upon the details there adduced, which make up the exact number of “seventy souls,” by the inclusion of Jacob himself, of Joseph, and of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The inaccuracy by which Jacob is counted among his own descendants, is thoroughly Oriental and Hebraistic, however opposed to Western habits of thought. To stumble at it shows a narrow and carping spirit. (Compare note on Gen 46:15.) For Joseph was in Egypt already. Joseph, i.e; has not been mentioned with the other sons of Jacob, since he did not “come into Egypt with Jacob,” but was there previously. The transfer of the clause to the commencement of the verse, which is made by the LXX; is unnecessary.

Exo 1:6

And Joseph died. Or, “So Joseph died”a reference to Gen 1:26and all his brethren. All the other actual sons of Jacobsome probably before him; some, as Levi (Gen 6:16), after him. Joseph’s “hundred and ten years” did not constitute an extreme longevity. And all that generation. All the wives of Jacob’s sons, their sister Dinah, and the full-grown members of their households who accompanied them into Egypt.

HOMILETICS

Exo 1:1-5

The patriarchal names.

I. THE NAMES IN THEMSELVES. Nothing seems to the ordinary reader of Holy Scripture so dry and uninteresting as a bare catalogue of names. Objections are even made to reading them as parts of Sunday or week-day “lessons.” But “ALL Scripture,” rightly viewed, “is profitable” (2Ti 3:16). Each Hebrew name has a meaning, and was given with a purpose. What a wealth of joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, surmises, triumphs, jealousies, is hid up in the list before us! Jacob, the supplanter (Gen 27:36); Reuben, the son of God’s gracious regard (Gen 29:32); Simeon, the proof that God hears prayers and answers them (ib. verse 33); Levi, the bond of association between wife and husband; Judah, he for whom God is praised; Issachar, the son given as a reward; Zebulon, he who will make the husband and wife dwell together; Benjamin “son of my strength,” otherwise Benoni, “son of my sorrow” (Gen 35:16); Dan, the sign that there is a God who judges us; Naphtali, “one wrestled for”; Gad, “good fortune cometh”; Asher, “the happy one”! How the private life of Jacob, how the rivalries and heats and contentions of that polygamist household, come before us, as we read the names! How again, amid all these heats and contentions, is revealed on all sides a faithful trust in God, a conviction of his overruling providence, and an acceptance of that aspect of his character which the Apostle holds up to view, when he calls him “a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6). Again, how strong the feeling, that, whatever cares and troubles they bring with them, children are a blessing! What a desire is shown to have children! What a pride in the possession of many children! Already “the Desire of all nations” was looked for, and each Hebrew mother hoped that in the line of descent from her might be born that Mighty One, who would “bruise the serpent’s head” (Gen 3:15), and in whom “all the nations of the earth would be blessed” (Gen 12:3; Gen 18:18). Thus this list of names, if we will consider the meaning of them and the occasion of their being given, may teach us many a lesson, and prove “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

II. THE ORDER OF THE NAMES. The order in which the names are given assigns a just advantage to legitimate and true marriage over even the most strictly legal union which falls short of true marriage. Let men beware lest they forfeit God’s blessing upon their domestic life, by contracting marriage in any but the most solemn way that is open to them. There is a sanctity in the relation of husband and wife, that should lead us to surround the initial contract with every sacred association and every holy form that the piety of bygone ages has provided for us.

Again, the order followed assigns a just and rightful advantage to priority of birth. Primogeniture is in a certain sense, a law of nature. The elder brother, superior in strength, in knowledge, and experience, rightfully claims respect, submission, reverence from those younger than himself. In a properly regulated family this principle will be laid down and maintained. Age, unless by misconduct it forfeits its privilege, will be assigned the superior position; younger children will be required to submit themselves to elder ones; elder children will be upheld and encouraged to exercise a certain amount of authority over their juniors. There will be a training within the domestic circle in the habits both of direction and submission, which will prepare the way for the after discipline of life in the world.

III. THE NUMBER OF THE NAMES. Whatever minor lessons he may have intended to teach in this opening paragraph, the main purpose of the writer was undoubtedly to show from what small beginnings God produces the greatest, most remarkable, nay, the most astounding results. From the stock of one man and his twelve sons, with their households, God raised up, within the space of 430 years, a nation. Similarly, when “in the fulness of time” the New Dispensation succeeded the Old, from “the Twelve” and from “the Seventy” (Luk 10:1), the original “little flock” (Luk 12:32) was derived that “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:23) which is a “great multitude that no man can number” (Rev 7:9). And the growth was even more rapid. “We are but of yesterday,” says Tertullian, in the third century after our Lord’s birth, “and yet we fill all placesyour cities, islands, forts, towns, villages; nay, your camps, tribes, decuriesyour palace, your senate, your forum.” How wonderful is such increase in either case! How clearly the consequence of Divine favour and blessing!

Exo 1:5

Joseph in Egypt.

Exodus here points back to Genesis. So the present is always pointing back to the past. In the life of an individual, in the life of a family, in the life of a nation, there is a continuity: no past act but affects the presentno present act but affects the future. Joseph’s descent into Egypt is at the root of the whole of Exodus, underlies it, forms its substratum. Without an in-coming, no outgoing; and it was at Joseph’s instance that his brethren had come into the country (Gen 45:9-24). Or our thoughts may travel further back. “Joseph in Egypt.” How had he come there? Through the envy and jealousy of brethren, provoked by the favouritism of a too fond father. Here are evils to be guarded against; here are sins to be east out. And yet of the evil good had come: “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Gen 50:20). “The fierceness of men he turns to his praise; and the fierceness of them he doth refrain” (Psa 76:10). The cruel wrong done to Joseph had saved from starvation his father and his father’s house, had preserved the entire people of the Egyptians from extreme suffering, and had brought Joseph himself to the highest honour. “God’s ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts.” He is potent to bring good out of evil, and to turn the worst calamity into the choicest blessing.

Exo 1:6

Joseph in death with all his generation.

There are some sayings so trite that we can scarcely bring ourselves to repeat them, so vital that we do not dare to omit them. One of these is that immemorial one: “We must all die.” Joseph, great as he had been, useful as his life had been to others, unspeakably precious as it had proved to his near kinsmen, when his time came, went the way of all fleshdied like any common man, and “was put in a coffin” (Gen 50:26) and buried. So it must always be with every earthly support and stay; it fails us at last, and if it does not betray us, at any rate deserts us; suddenly it is gone, and its place knows it no more. This is always to be borne in mind; and no excessive reliance is to be placed on individuals. The Church is safe; for its Lord is always “with it,” and so will be “even to the end of the world.” But the men in whom from time to time it trusts are all mortalmay at any time be lost to itmay in one hour be snatched away. It is important therefore for the Church to detach itself from individuals, and to hold to two anchorsChrist and the Faith of Christwhich can never cease to exist, and can never fail it. For, when our Joseph dies, there die with him, or soon after him, “all his brethren, and all that generation.” The great lights of an age are apt to go out at once, or if a few linger on, they burn with a dim lustre. And the generation that hung upon their words despairs, and knows not which way to turn itself, until the thought comes”Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” Then, in resting upon Christ, it is well with us. Well, too, for each generation to remember, it will not long stay behindit will follow its teachers. Joseph dieshis brethren die; wait a few years, and God will have taken to himself “all that generation.”

HOMILIES BY J. ORR

Exo 1:1

Removal to Egypt.

This early instance of emigration shows

I. How the CALL to leave the land of one’s fathers may sometimes be

1. Unexpected Jacob little expected to end his days in Egypt.

2. Trying. Canaan, the land of promise, where were the graves of his ancestors, etc.

3. Mysterious. An apparent reversal of the lines on which Providence had hitherto been moving. Yet

4. Distinct. Jacob had no doubt that God’s call had come to him. It came first in providence, and was ratified by direct Divine permission (Gen 46:2-5). Many have the indirect call, who can scarcely doubt that it is also a direct one. Causes of emigrationWant and distress at home, with reasonable prospect of comfort and plenty abroad; opening of a better field for talents and energies; state of health, necessitating change of climate; persecution, as in case of Huguenots, Pilgrim Fathers, etc.

II. What CONSOLATIONS the emigrant may carry with him.

1. God accompanies him (Gen 46:4).

2. He can serve God yonder as well as here.

3. He is furthering wise and beneficent purposes. Little doubt of that, if he is leaving at God’s bidding. Israel’s residence in Egypt secured for the tribes

(1) A home.

(2) Provision.

(3) Room to grow.

(4) Education in arts and letters.

(5) Valuable discipline

all preparatory to settlement in Canaan, and the fulfilment of their spiritual mission to the world.

4. The terminus is not Egypt, but Canaan. Jacob never saw again the Canaan he had left, but, dying in faith, he and his sons became heirs of the better Canaan. Whatever his earthly destination, let the emigrant keep in view a “better country, that is, an heavenly” (Heb 11:16).

III. The ADVANTAGES of emigration.

1. It is not always advantageous.

(1) Not always advantageous to the country left. A country that by misgovernment, bad laws, excessive taxation, or persecution, drives its best subjects from its soil, may be compared to a man who humours an insane bent by occasionally opening a vein.

(2) Not always advantageous to the country settled in. Emigrants may carry with themtoo often dolow and immoral habits, and prove a curse, rather than a blessing, to the populations in whose midst they settle.

(3) Not always to the emigrant himself. His step may prove to have been hasty. He may have taken it On impulse, or on insufficient information, or in a spirit of adventure. He finds when too late that a sanguine disposition has deceived him. This is to go forth without a clear call. But

2. Emigration, wisely and judiciously conducted, is of great benefit to society.

(1) It thins an overstocked country, and so relieves pressure on the means of subsistence.

(2) It occupies territory needing population to develop its resources.

(3) It affords room and scope for the vigorous expansion of a young race.

(4) It benefits native populations. The Egyptians would profit by the residence of the Hebrews in their midst.

(5) It may be made subservient to the diffusion of the knowledge of the true religion. How seldom is this thought of, yet what a responsibility rests on those who leave Christian shores, carrying with them, to lands sunk in the night of heathenism, the blessed truths of Christianity! The conclusion of the matter is: Let emigration be an act of faith. Do not, in so important a step in life, lean to your own understanding. Ask guidance and clear direction from on High. But if the way is open and the call plain, then, like Jacob, go forth, and go boldly, and in faith. Trust God to be with you. He goes before you to seek you out a place to dwell in, and will surely bless you in all you put your hand to (Deu 1:33; Deu 15:10).J.O.

Exo 1:1-6

The twelve foundations.

The heads of the covenant race had hitherto been single individuals. AbrahamIsaActsJacob. The one now expands into the twelve. Glance briefly at this list of the patriarchs.

I. THE MEN. Here we are struck

1. With the original unfitness of most of these men for the position of dignity they were afterwards called to occupy. How shall we describe them! Recall Reuben’s incest; Simeon and Levi’s cruelty; Judah’s lewdness; the “evil report” which Joseph brought to his father of the sons of the handmaids. The picture in the later chapters of Genesis is crowded with shadows, and it is chiefly the sins of these men which are the causes of them. Joseph is the one bright exception. The rest appear to have been men of a violent, truculent disposition, capable of selling their younger brother into Egypt, and afterwards, to screen their fault, of imposing by wilful falsehood on their aged father. Even in Benjamin, traits of character were discernible which gave ground for the tribal prediction: “Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf” (Gen 49:17). How unlikely that men of so ungodly a stamp, who began so ill, should end by being exalted to be patriarch-heads of a covenant nation! And neither in truth were they, till, by God’s grace, a great change had passed upon them. Their crime in selling Joseph was, in a sense, their salvation. It was an act for which they never forgave themselves. Compunction wrought in them a better disposition, and laid the basis for “a train of humiliating and soul-stirring providences, tending to force on them the conviction that they were in the hands of an angry God, and to bring them to repentance of sin and amendment of life.” See

(1) The natural unfitness of man for God’s service; “that which is born of the flesh is flesh” (Joh 3:6).

(2) What the grace of God can make even of very bad men. “By grace ye are saved” (Eph 2:5).

(3) How those whom God designs for honour in his kingdom, he first prepares for that honour. Whatever disciplines are needful for that purposeand they may not be fewhe will not withhold.

2. With the variety of gifts and dispositions found amongst them. This variety is taken note of in the blessings of Jacob and of Moses, and is reflected in the history. Judah is from the first a leader. He and Joseph were heads of what subsequently became the royal tribes. Reuben’s impulsiveness reminds us of Peter, but he lacked Peter’s underlying constancy. Levi’s zeal wrought at first for evil, but afterwards for good. The other brethren were less distinguished, but, as shown by the blessings, all were gifted, and gifted diversely. Does this not teach us?

(1) That God can use, and

(2) that God requires, every variety of gift in his service. Hence,

(3) that there is both room and need in his kingdom for all types and varieties of characterfor every species of gift. A type of religion is self-condemned which cannot find room in it for the play and development of every legitimate capability of human nature. This is but to say that the goal of God’s kingdom is the perfecting of humanity, not in part, but in the totality of its powers and functions. Grace does not suppress individuality; it develops and sanctifies it. It does not trample on gifts, but lays hold upon, transforms, and utilises them.

3. With the existence of a law of heredity in spiritual as in natural descent. The characteristics of the patriarchs were stamped with remarkable distinctness on the tribes which bore their names. Reuben’s instability, Judah’s capacity of rule, Levi’s zeal, Dan’s agility, Benjamin’s fierceness, etc. This reappearance of ancestral characteristics in the descendants is a fact with which we are familiar, and is only explained in part by inherited, organisation. Inheritance of ideas, customs, family traditions, etc; plays quite as important a part in producing the result. A law this, capable of being the vehicle of much good, but also of much evil.as potent to punish as to bless.

II. THEIR NUMBER. The number twelve not to be regarded as fortuitous. Twelve (3 4), the symbol of the indwelling of God in the human family, of the interpenetration of the world by the Divinity. Three, the number of the Divine; four, the number of the world. Hence, twelve tribes, twelve cakes of shewbread, twelve apostles, twelve foundations and twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. The number twelve is kept up in spite of actual departures from it in fact. The” twelve tribes” are spoken of in the days of the apostles (Act 26:17; Jas 1:1), though, counting Levi; there were really thirteen tribes, and after the Captivity only two. It was doubtless with reference to the twelve tribes of Israel, and therefore to the number of these patriarchs, that Christ chose the twelve apostles. View the patriarchs, accordingly, as representing the covenant race, not only

1. In its natural heads, but symbolically

2. In its spiritual privilege as a people of God, and

3. In its world-wide destiny.J.O.

Exo 1:6

An ending.

The descent into Egypt was

1. An ending.

2. A beginning.

It closed one chapter in God’s providence, and opened a new one. It terminated the sojourn in Canaan; brought to a harmonious conclusion the complicated series of events which separated Joseph from his father, raised him to power in Egypt, wrought for the purification of his brethren’s character, and prepared the way for the ultimate settlement of, the whole family in Goshen. It laid the foundation for new historical developments. There is now to be a pause, a breathing space, while the people are gradually multiplying, and exchanging the habits of nomadic life for those of agriculturists and dwellers in cities. The death of Joseph, and of his brethren, and of all that generation, is the proper close of this earlier period. Their part is played out, and the stage is cleared for new beginnings.

1. They diedso must we all. The common fate, yet infinitely pathetic when reflected on.

2. They diedthe end of earthly greatness. Joseph had all he could wish for of earthly power and splendour, and he enjoyed it through a long lifetime. Yet he must part with it. Well for him that he had something better in prospect.

3. They diedthe end of earthly disciplines. The lives of the brethren had been singularly eventful. By painful disciplines God had moulded them for good. Life to every one is a divinely ordained discipline. The end is to bring us to repentance, and build us up in faith and holiness. With some, the discipline succeeds; with others it fails. In either case death ends it. “After this the judgment” (Heb 9:27). The fact of discipline an argument for immortality. God does not spend a lifetime in perfecting a character, that just when the finishing touches have been put upon it, he may dash it into non-existence. Death ends discipline, but we carry with us the result and the responsibility.

4. They diedJoseph and his brethrenhappily in faith. There was a future they did not live to see; but their faith grasped God’s promise, and “Joseph, when he died, gave commandment concerning his bones” (Heb 11:22). And behind the earthly Canon loomed something betteran inheritance which they and we may share together.J.O.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG

Exo 1:1-22

The prosperity of Israel.

This prosperity was not a mere appearance, nor a passing spurt of fortune. It was a deep, abiding, and significant reality. Nor was it something exaggerated in order to make an excuse for the cruelties of a suspicious tyrant. There was indeed only too much to make Pharaoh uneasy; but altogether apart from his alarms there is a plain and emphatic statement of the prosperity of Israel in Exo 1:7. It is a very emphatic statement indeed, summoning us m the most imperative way to a special notice of this remarkable prosperity. Let us therefore take a general view of Israel’s prosperity as it is set before us in all the extent of this first chapter. Note

I. THE INDICATIONS OF THIS PROSPERITY. The prosperity is not only plainly stated, but the chapter abounds in indications of Jehovah’s favour towards Israel, and his peculiar watchfulness over it.

1. The wonderful way in which God had brought a whole family into Egypt, and provided for their comfortable settlement in the land. Families usually get scattered; but here are the children of Israel and children’s children all kept together. The very means which they had employed in order to get rid of one of their number who was an offence to them, had ended in their being brought together more closely than ever. Joseph went before, and all unconsciously made a solid foundation for the building of their prosperity. Through all domestic jealousies, in the perils of famine, and in their journeyings between Canaan and Egypt, the Lord had preserved these twelve men so that not one of them was lacking in his contribution to the future excellency of Israel.

2. The name by which they were describedthe children of Israel. God had said to Jacob (Gen 32:28), “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel,” and yet down to the end of his life he is sometimes called Jacob and sometimes Israel, as if to keep before our minds both his natural character and also his new position and privileges gained in the memorable wrestling at Peniel. These twelve men, the fathers of the tribes, were children of Israel as well as sons of Jacob. Jacob himself had done many things to show the meanness and corruption of fallen human nature, and his sons had been not one whir better than himself (consider the revengeful action of Simeon and Levi in Gen 34:25; the conduct of Reuben in Gen 35:22; and especially the conduct of the brethren towards Joseph and the father who so doted upon him). But these sons of Jacob, with all their personal demerits, were also the children of him who by his sublime, persistent, courageous, and successful struggle had gained the name of Israel. It was a name to be transmitted from them to their children, full of significance, recalling a glorious experience in the past and promising a still more glorious experience in the future. It was a name not to be forfeited even in the greatest apostasies, and perhaps its chief splendour lay in this, that it pointed forward to a still more glorious fatherhood enjoyed by those who through the gracious work of him who taught Nicodemus concerning regeneration, are permitted to say, “Now are we the children and heirs of God.”

3. The apprehensive attitude of Pharaoh. He is a witness to the greatness of Israel’s prosperity, and to the Divine and miraculous origin of it, all the more valuable because he gives his evidence unconsciously. The more we consider his unaffected alarm and his continuous and energetic efforts to crush Israel, the more we feel what a real and Divine thing Israel’s prosperity was, how it was nourished by the secret and unassailable strength of God. It should be a matter of great rejoicing to God’s people when the world, in its hatred, suspicion, and instinctive sense of danger, takes to the instruments of persecution, for then there is unmistakable indication of prosperity within.

II. WHEREIN THE PROSPERITY CONSISTED. It did not consist in the accumulation of external possessions. The Israelites might have remained comparatively few or have increased in a way such as to excite no attention. Their increase might have been in external wealth, and this would have been reckoned, by many, true prosperity. But it would not have been prosperity after a godly sort. It was the purpose of God to show in Israel how our true resources come, not from things outside of us, but from the quality of the life which he puts within. Hence the prosperity of Israel was not the result of industry, personal ability, and fortunate circumstances. It was shown by the manifestation of a miraculous fulness of life. The husbandman does not reckon it anything wonderful that there should be among the trees of his vineyard a certain increase of fruitfulness, corresponding to the carefulness of his cultivation. But if all at once certain trees begin to put forth a fulness of fruit altogether beyond expectation, the husbandman would not claim that such a result came from him. There is the greatest possible difference between the prosperity lying in mere external possessions and that which comes from the energy of a Divine life working in us. It needs no special help from God to make a man a millionaire. There are but few who can be such; but place them in favourable circumstances, and the immense results of their industry and attention are quite intelligible. But to produce such a result as appears in the peculiar prosperity of Israel in Egypt required a special influx of Divine energy. We have not only unmistakable indications of the prosperity of Israel; it is an equally important thing to notice that this prosperity in its peculiar character is an indication of the presence of God. He was doing what none but himself could do. Learn then that our spiritual prosperity must be something produced by God manifesting his power in Our hearts. There is no chance of attributing it to our unaided industry, attention, and prudence. It is a growth more than anything else, and must show itself in the abundant and beautiful fruits of a Divine life within us.

III. A PAINFUL ACCOMPANIMENT OF THE PROSPERITY. Such prosperity as is indicated in Exo 1:7 could not but produce apprehension and opposition on the part of Pharaohinevitably assuming, as it did, the appearance of a menace to his kingdom. But it was better for Israel to go on increasing with the increase of God, even in the midst of persecutions, than to be without the persecutions on condition of being without the increase. Spiritual prosperity not only may be, but must be, accompanied with afflictions of the natural life. That is a very doubtful spirituality which manages to keep clear of all temporal troubles. They that will live godly must suffer persecution. Let us pray for spiritual prosperity, and hail its coming, and secure its stay, whatever pains be suffered and whatever lesser comforts be lost. The more the life of God is in us, the more we must expect the powers of evil to be stirred against us.Y.

HOMILIES BY G.A. GOODHART

Exo 1:1-7

Tarry thou the Lord’s leisure.

Introduction to the Book of Exodus. How much summed up in so few words. When men live history, every month seems important; when God records history a few sentences suffice for generations. Man‘s standpoint in the midst of the tumult is so different from God’s: he “sitteth above the waterflood” and seeth “the end from the beginning” (Psa 29:10; Isa 46:10). From God’s standpoint we have here as of main consequence

I. A LIST OF NAMES, verses 1-5. Names of certain emigrants. More in them than seems at first sight. If I say, “William, Arthur etc; came to England at such and such a time,” not much. If I say, “William, a great warrior; Arthur, a great inventor; we feel at once that with them elements are introduced which may prove important. In these early times names are connected with the characters of the men who bear them. All these names are significant. Illustrate from their meaning as given in Gen 29:1-35; etc; and expanded in Jacob’s blessing, Gen 49:1-33. We are supposed, too, to know something of the men from the previous history. The whole, taken together, shows us, as it were, a nation in embryoa nation of which the characteristics were wholly different from those of the Egyptians. “Seventy souls,” but

1. Seed souls; bound to develop through their offspring the characteristics they exhibited.

2. United, not isolated; a nation in embryo, not a collocation of units.

II. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BEARERS OF THE NAMES, Gen 49:6. All died-Joseph and all that generation. The common lot, but, from God’s standpoint, the ordained method of development (Joh 12:24). What wailing, as each patriarch, in his own time, passed away! Yet with each death the harvest of the future was being ever more securely sown. Death, as it were, rounds off the life; pedestals it; sets it where it can become exemplary. So set it becomes fruitful; the old husk drops away, and the true life-grain is enfranchised, Gad, Asher, and the rest, very ordinary men, or, if not ordinary, not very high-class men; and yet, once dead, they are rightly reverenced as the fathers of their tribes. Which is better, the day of death or the day of birth? The day which makes life possible for us, or the day which, by sanctifying our memory, makes that life an ennobling influence for others?

III. HOW THE DESCENDANTS PROSPERED, Gen 49:7. Sothrough the vicissitudes of life; the varieties of character; the monotony of deathGod works on, slowly but certainly, to his destined end. New generations, each more numerous, succeed the old. Power and prosperity, for a time, go hand-in-hand with increased numbersthe people “waxed exceeding mighty.” [The shepherd life, even in Egypt, ensured some knowledge of warfare. Goshen, the border landcf. “the borders’ in the wars with Scotland. Perhaps Joseph had purposely placed his brethren as a defence to Egypt against raids from the desert.] Families grew into tribes, and the tribes learnt their first lessons in discipline and war. Egypt, God’s Aldershotthe training-ground for his armies. Canaan had to be conquered and cleared, but God could take his own time about it. When at length the hour should come, it would find his preparations perfected.

Application:Would that manGod’s childwould be content to copy his Father’s methodsslow; thorough; a definite end in view; quiet, persistent preparation. No haste, no hurry, no delay (Isa 28:16).G.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Exo 1:1. Now these are the names Moses begins this book with recounting to us the names of the family of Jacob, to make us attentive to the accomplishment of the promise made to Abraham in their great multiplication. It may be asked, perhaps, how it came to pass that Joseph’s brethren so readily returned back into Egypt after their father’s funeral in Canaan, when, the famine being long before over, they might have settled in the land of Promise, and sent for their families out of Egypt? To which Parker answersThat Joseph’s brethren had hitherto received nothing but civil and kind usage from the Egyptians; and therefore could not with any propriety have withdrawn themselves in such a manner; that, upon the demise of Jacob, the eleven brethren and their families were attached to Joseph, as lord of Egypt; so that his motions were to determine theirs; that this occasional journey from Egypt to Canaan was not like that from Canaan to Egypt, their little ones and effects being left behind; nor was any preparation made for such a removal; that, considering Joseph’s brethren as the peculiar people, and, in that respect, under God’s immediate eye and care, they were to do nothing without his leave and direction; and that things, as yet, were by no means ripened, or approached to maturity, for the intended crisis; Moses and Aaron, whom GOD had designed to commission as instruments of their deliverance out of Egypt, were not yet born. To which let us add, that it seems to follow plainly, from this chapter, and from the whole subsequent history, that the Egyptians themselves were very loth to part with the Israelites.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

EXODUS

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THE SECOND BOOK OF MOSES
( ; : Exodus)

THE PROPHETICO-MESSIANIC THEOCRACYOR THE GENESIS, REDEMPTION AND SANCTIFICATION OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE

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FIRST DIVISION: MOSES AND PHARAOH

The typically significant redemption of israel out of his servitude in egypt as preliminary condition of and preparation for the establishment of the typical kingdom of god (the theocracy) by means of the mosaic legislationor the theocratic foundation for the legislation of all the three books.

Exodus 1-18

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FIRST SECTION

The Genesis of the Covenant People of Israel, of their Servitude, and of the Foretokens of their Redemption as one people. An analogue of the Development of Mankind as a unit, of their Corruption and the Preparation for their Salvation. The calling of Moses and his twofold Mission to his people and to Pharaoh

Chaps. 17:7

A.growth and servitude of the israelites in egyptand pharaohs purpose to destroy them

Chap. Exo 1:1-22

1Now these are the names of the children of Israel which [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; for [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 8with them. Now [And] there arose a new king over Egypt which [who] knew not Joseph. 9And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel 10 are more and mightier than we. Come on [Come], let us deal wisely [prudently2] with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war [when a war occurreth], they join also [they also join themselves] unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up [and go up] out of the land. 11Therefore they did set [And they appointed] over them taskmasters, to afflict them with their burdens; and they built treasure-cities [store-cities] for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raemses. 12But the more [lit., And as] they afflicted them the more [lit., so] they multiplied and grew [spread]. And they were grieved because of [horrified in view 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 bondage [service] in mortar and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field; all3 their service wherein they made them serve was [which they laid on them] with rigor. 15And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives (of which [whom] the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah), 16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to [When ye deliver] the Hebrew women, and see them [then look] 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, but [and] 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,4 Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian, for they are lively [vigorous], and are delivered ere the midwives come in 20unto them [before the midwife cometh in unto them, they are delivered]. Therefore [And] God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and waxed 21[grew] very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses [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.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

[Exo 1:10. . Lange, Gesenius, Arnheim, and Philippson, translate this berlisten, outwit. But the Hithp. form occurs, besides here, only in Ecc 7:16, and there has the signification proper to the Hithpel, viz., to deem ones-self wise, to act the part of a wise man. Here, therefore, it is better to render it in nearly the same way., a plural verb with a singular subject. Knobel, following the Samaritan version (), translates wird uns treffen, shall befall us. But there is no need of this assumption of a corrupt text. See Ewald, Ausf. Gram., 191 c.Tr.].

[Exo 1:14. Lange, with many others, takes here as a preposition, meaning together with, besides. and supplies other before service. Grammatically this is perhaps easier than to take it (as we have done as the sign of the Acc. But it requires us to supply the word on which the whole force of the clause depends.Tr.].

[Exo 1:19. Lange translates, unaccountably, as being equivalent to a genitive: die Hebammen des Pharaoh, Pharaohs midwives.Tr.].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Exo 1:1-7. Fulfillment of the promise, Gen 46:3. Also fulfillment of the prediction of suffering for the descendants of Abraham, Gen 15:13.

Exo 1:2-4. The names of the children are given according to the rank of the mothers. So Gen 35:23-26.

Exo 1:5. The small number of seventy souls (vid. Gen 46:27) who entered Egypt, illustrates the wonderful increase. At the exodus 600,000 men, besides children, etc. Vid. Exo 12:37. On the terms denoting increase, see Gen 1:28; Gen 8:17.

Exo 1:8. A new king. has a special significance. He rose up, as a man opposed to the previous policy. The LXX. translate by . Josephus and others inferred the rise of a new dynasty.Who knew not Joseph, i.e., cared nothing for his services and the results of them, the high regard in which his people had been held.

Exo 1:9-10. They are greater and stronger than we, says despotic fear. Come, let us be more prudent (more cunning) than they, is the language of despotic craftiness and malice. Despotic policy adds, that in case of a war the people might join the enemy. A danger to the country might indeed grow out of the fact that the Israelites did not become Egyptianized. The power of Israelitish traditions is shown especially in the circumstance that even the descendants of Joseph, though they had an Egyptian mother, certainly became Jews. Perhaps it was dislike of Egyptian manners which led the sons of Ephraim early to migrate towards Palestine, 1Ch 7:22. An honorable policy would, however, have provided means to help the Jews to secure a foreign dwelling-place.

Exo 1:11. Taskmasters.The organs of oppression and enslavement. That foreigners were employed in these labors, is illustrated by a sepulchral monument, discovered in the ruins of Thebes, and copied in the Egyptological works of Rosellini and Wilkinson, which represents laborers, who are not Egyptians, as employed in making brick, and by them two Egyptians with rods, as overseers; even though these laborers may not be designed to represent Israelites, as their Jewish features would indicate (Keil). See also Keils reference to Aristotle and Livy, (p. 422)5 on the despotic method of enfeebling a people physically and mentally by enforced labor. Store-cities.For the harvests. See Keil (p. 422) on Pithom (Gr. , Egypt. Thou, Thoum), situated on the canal which connects the Nile with the Arabian gulf. Raemses, the same as Heroopolis.

Exo 1:12. Horror is the appropriate designation of the feeling with which bad men see the opposite of their plans wonderfully brought about. Hengstenberg: Sie hatten Elcel vor ihnen. They were disgusted at them. But this was the case before. On see the lexicons.

Exo 1:13-14. Aggravation of the servitude. Two principal forms of service. Brickmaking for other buildings, and field labor. The bricks were hardened in the hot Egyptian sun; the field labor consisted especially in the hard work of irrigating the soil.

Exo 1:15-18. Second measure. Resort to brutal violence, but still concealed under demoniacal artifice. Probably there was an organized order of midwives, and the two midwives mentioned were at their head.He said unto them.And again: he said. He tried to persuade them, and at last the devilish command came outprobably secret instructions like those of Herod, to kill the children in Bethlehem.Over the bathing-tub. [So Lange.Tr.]. Knobel and Keil assume a figurative designation of the vagina in the phrase , referring to Jer 18:3. Since the child is generally born head first, there is only a moment from the time when the sex can be recognized to the use of the bathing-tub. On the various interpretations, comp. the lexicons and the Studien und Kritiken, 1834, S. 81ff.,6etc. A heathenish way, all over the world, of killing the males and forcing the women and girls to accommodate themselves to the mode of life of the murderers.

Exo 1:19. With this answer they could deceive the king, since the Arab women bear children with extraordinary ease and rapidity. See Burckhardt, Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabis, I., p. 96; Tischendorf, Reise I., p. 108. (Keil).

Exo 1:20-21. God built them housesHe blessed them with abundant prosperity. According to Keil, the expression is figurative: because they labored for the upbuilding of the families of Israel, their families also were built up by God. Their lie, which Augustine excuses on the ground that their fear of God outweighed the sinfulness of the falsehood, seems, like similar things in the life of Abraham, to be the wild utterance of a state of extreme moral exigency, and is here palliated by a real fact, the ease of parturition.

Exo 1:22. Now at last open brutality follows the failure of the scheme intervening between artifice and violence. On similar occurrences in profane history, see Keil.7 Probably also this command was paralyzed, and the deliverance of Moses by the daughter of Pharaoh might well have had the effect of nullifying the kings command; for even the worst of the heathen were often terrified by unexpected divine manifestations.

Footnotes:

[1][The Authorized Version is followed in the translation from the Hebrew, except that Jehovah is everywhere substituted for the Lord. In other cases, where a change in the translation is thought to be desirable, the proposed emendation is inserted in brackets.Tr]

[2][Exo 1:10. . Lange, Gesenius, Arnheim, and Philippson, translate this berlisten, outwit. But the Hithp. form occurs, besides here, only in Ecc 7:16, and there has the signification proper to the Hithpel, viz., to deem ones-self wise, to act the part of a wise man. Here, therefore, it is better to render it in nearly the same way., a plural verb with a singular subject. Knobel, following the Samaritan version (), translates wird uns treffen, shall befall us. But there is no need of this assumption of a corrupt text. See Ewald, Ausf. Gram., 191 c.Tr.].

[3][Exo 1:14. Lange, with many others, takes here as a preposition, meaning together with, besides. and supplies other before service. Grammatically this is perhaps easier than to take it (as we have done as the sign of the Acc. But it requires us to supply the word on which the whole force of the clause depends.Tr.].

[4][Exo 1:19. Lange translates, unaccountably, as being equivalent to a genitive: die Hebammen des Pharaoh, Pharaohs midwives.Tr.].

[5][Aristotle, Polit. v. 9; Livy, Hist. i. 56, 59. The references to Keil conform to the translation published by the Clarks. Edinburgh. But the translations, when given here, are made directly from the original, and from a later edition than that from which the Edinburgh translation was made.Tr.].

[6][An article by Prof. Rettig. There is, however, still another article on the same subject in the same volume of this periodical, p. 641 sqq., by Redslob. The principal views on this vexed phrase are these: (1) That being the same word as is ued (and elsewhere only used) in Jer 18:3, of a potters wheel, must denote the same thing; or, rather, the seat on which the potter sits, this being adapted to the use of a parturient woman. (2) That it means bathing-tub, the dual form being accounted for by the supposition that a cover belonged to it. (3) That it is derived from in the sense of turn, and refers to the pudenda of the parturient, from which the child is, as it were, turned forth, like the vessel from the potters wheel. (4) That the word, being radically the same as , and being in the dual, may be used for the testiculi of the male child. (5) That , from , may mean Kinds, sexes. (6) That being derived from in the sense of to separate (and so a stone is that which is separated from a rock), it means the two distinctions (so Meier, Studien und Krttiken, 1842, p. 1050). It is obvious to remark that, in order to determine the sex of the child, the thing to be looked at is not the bathing-tub, or the stool, or any part of the mother. This consideration is almost, if not quite, conclusive against the first three interpretations. But it is perhaps useless to hope for a complete solution of the meaning of the phrase.Tr.].

[7][Probably a slip of the pen for Knobel. See his commentary on Exodus, p. 9, in the Kurzgefasstes exegetisches Handbuch zum alten Testament.Tr.].

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

This first chapter opens with an account of the increase of the children of Israel: the jealousy of the king of Egypt, in consequence thereof: the cruel policy which he and his people adopted to decrease the growing number of the Israelites; and the Lord’s gracious interposition to counteract their design.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

The Holy Ghost is particular in several parts of his sacred word, to mention by name the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel: and the precise number of souls arising from that stock, which went down into Egypt. Rev 21:2 ; Gen 46:27 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Exo 1:8

It is a rare thing to find posterity heirs of their father’s love. How should men’s favour be but like themselves, variable and inconstant! There is no certainty but in the favour of God, in whom can be no change, whose love is entailed upon a thousand generations.

Bishop Hall.

Exo 1:10

Crimes and criminals are swept away by time, nature finds an antidote for their poisons, and they and their ill consequences alike are blotted out and perish. If we do not forgive the villain at least we cease to hate him, as it grows more clear to us that he injures none so deeply as himself. But the , the enormous wickedness by which humanity itself has been outraged and disgraced, we cannot forgive; we cannot cease to hate that; the years roll away, but the tints of it remain on the page of history, deep and horrible as the day on which they were entered there.

Froude, Short Studies, I. pp. 468-469.

Reference. I. 10-12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 997.

Exo 1:12

I have observed, the more the Lord’s people are afflicted, and persecuted, the more they grow; and the Gospel never thrives better than when it is persecuted.

Fraser of Brea.

Exo 1:22

By the decree of Pharaoh, Moses is dead as soon as he is born; by the decree of God, Moses is brought up in Pharaoh’s house. In spite of his own decree Pharaoh nurses, feeds, educates Moses; and Moses, on behalf of God, uses against Pharaoh all that he derives from Pharaoh. God is wiser than Pharaoh. The devil is old, but God is older. The devil is God’s lowest drudge, and servant of servants, who knows not the wonderful fabric which will result from his cross-working.

Dr. Pulsford, Quiet Hours, p. 18.

References. I. 22. J. Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 77. II. 1-10. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 22. J. Parker, Wednesday Evenings at Cavendish Chapel, p. 77. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture The Book of Exodus, etc., p. 12. II. 2. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 15. A. Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 70. II. 3. C. Leach, Mothers of the Bible, p. 27. E. Tremayne Dunstan, Christ in the Commonplace, p. 41.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Moses on the Nile

Exo 1:22

A very easy plan, was it not? Whom you fear, destroy; that is a brief and easy creed, surely? This was turning the river to good account. It was a ready-made grave. Pharaoh did not charge the people to cut the sod, and lay the murdered children in the ground; the sight would have been unpleasant, the reminders would have been too numerous; he said, Throw the intruders into the river: there will be but a splash, a few bubbles on the surface, and the whole thing will be over! The river will carry no marks; will tell no stories; will sustain no tomb-stones; it will roll on as if its waters had never been divided by the hand of the murderer. All bad kings have feared the rise of manhood. If Pharaoh has been afraid of children, there must be something in children worthy of the attention of those who seek to turn life into good directions. The boy who is the terror of a king may become valiant for the truth. Never neglect young life: it is the seed of the future; it is the hope of the world. Nothing better than murder occurred to the mind of this short-sighted king. He never thought of culture, of kindness, of social and political development; his one idea of power was the shallow and vulgar idea of oppression.

“And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives” ( Exo 1:15 ).

So the king could not carry out his own command. A king can give an order, but he requires the help of other people to carry it into effect Think of the proud Pharaoh having to take two humble midwives into his confidence! The plan of murder is not so easy a plan after all. There are persons to be consulted who may turn round upon us, and on some ground deny our authority. From the king we had a right to expect protection, security, and encouragement; yet the water of the fountain was poisoned, and the worm of destruction was gnawing the very roots of power. What if the midwives set themselves against Pharaoh? Two humble women may be more than a match for the great king of Egypt. No influence, how obscure soever, is to be treated with contempt. A child may baffle a king. A kitten has been known to alarm a bear. A fly once choked a pope. What if a midwife should turn to confusion the sanguinary counsels of a cowardly king?

“But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive” ( Exo 1:17 ).

They who fear God are superior to all other fear. When our notion of authority terminates upon the visible and temporary, we become the victims of fickle circumstances; when that notion rises to the unseen and eternal, we enjoy rest amid the tumult of all that is merely outward and therefore perishing. Take history through and through, and it will be found that the men and women who have most devoutly and honestly feared God, have done most to defend and save the countries in which they lived. They have made little noise; they have got up no open-air demonstrations; they have done little or nothing in the way of banners and trumpets, and have had no skill in getting up torchlight meetings; but their influence has silently penetrated the national life, and secured for the land the loving and mighty care of God. Where the spiritual life is profound and real, the social and political influence is correspondingly vital and beneficent. All the great workers in society are not at the front. A hidden work is continually going on; the people in the shade are strengthening the social foundation. There is another history beside that which is written in the columns of the daily newspaper. Every country has heroes and heroines uncanonised. Let this be spoken for the encouragement of many whose names are not known far beyond the threshold of their own homes.

“Therefore God dealt well with the midwives…. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses” ( Exo 1:20-21 ).

They who serve God serve a good Master. Was God indifferent to the character and claims of the midwives who bore practical testimony for him in the time of a nation’s trial? His eye was upon them for good, and his hand was stretched out day and night for their defence. They learned still more deeply that there was another King beside Pharaoh; and in the realisation of his presence Pharaoh dwindled into a secondary power, whose breath was in his nostrils, and whose commands were the ebullitions of moral insanity. No honest man or woman can do a work for God without receiving a great reward. God made houses for the midwives! He will make houses for all who live in his fear. There are but few who have courage to set themselves against a king’s commandment; but verily those who assert the authority of God as supreme shall be delivered from the cruelty of those who have no pity. There are times when nations are called upon to say, No, even to their sovereigns. Such times are not to be sought for with a pertinacious self-assertion, whose object is to make itself very conspicuous and important; but when they do occur, conscience is to assert itself with a dignity too calm to be impatient, and too righteous to be deceived.

How will these commands and purposes be received in practical life? This inquiry will be answered as we proceed to the second chapter.

“And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi” ( Exo 2:1 ).

There is nothing extraordinary in this statement. From the beginning men and women have married and have been given in marriage. It is therefore but an ordinary event which is described in this verse. Yet we know that the man of Levi and the daughter of Levi were the father and mother of one whose name was to become associated with that of the Lamb! May not Renown have Obscurity for a pedestal? Do not the pyramids themselves rest on sand? What are the great rocks but consolidated mud? We talk of our ancestry, and are proud of those who have gone before us. There is a sense in which this is perfectly justifiable, and not only so, but most laudable; let us remember, however, that if we go back far enough, we land, ii not in a common obscurity, yet in a common moral dishonour. Parents may be nameless, yet their children may rise to imperishable renown. The world is a great deal indebted to its obscure families. Many a giant has been reared in a humble habitation. Many who have served God, and been a terror to the Wicked One, have come forth from unknown hiding-places. I would dart this beam of light into the hearts of some who imagine that they are making little or no contribution to the progress of society. Be honest in your sphere, be faithful to your children, and even out of your life there may go forth an indirect influence without which the most sounding reputation is empty and worthless.

“And when she could not longer hide him, [that is, the child that was born to her,] she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink” ( Exo 2:3 ).

The first going from home of any child always marks a period of special interest in the family. What a going was this! When some of you went from home, how you were cared for! How your family gathered round you to speak a kind farewell! What a box-filling, and portmanteau-strapping, what a fluttering of careful, anxious love there was! What has become of you? Were you suffocated with kindness? were you slain by the hand of a too anxious love? Truly, some men who have had the roughest and coldest beginning have, under the blessing of God, turned out to be the bravest, the strongest, the noblest of men! I believe in rough beginnings: we have less to fear from hardship than from luxury. Some children are confectioned to death. What with coddling, bandaging, nursing, and petting, the very sap of their life is drained away. There is indeed another side to this question of beginnings. I have known some children who have hardly ever been allowed to go out lest they should wet their feet, who have been spared all drudgery, who have had every wish and whim gratified, whose parents have suddenly come to social ruin, and yet these very children have, under their altered circumstances, developed a force of character, an enduring patience, and a lofty self-control never to have been expected from their dainty training. But a man is not necessarily a great man because he has had a rough beginning. Many may have been laid on the river Nile, whose names would have done no honour to history. Accept your rough beginning in a proper spirit; be not overcome by the force of merely external circumstances; wait, hope, work, pray, and you will yet see the path which leads into light, and honour, and peace. The mother of Moses laid the ark in the flags by the river’s brink. Ay, but before doing so she laid it on the heart of God! She could not have laid it so courageously upon the Nile, if she had not first devoutly laid it upon the care and love of God. We are often surprised at the outward calmness of men who are called upon to do unpleasant and most trying deeds; but could we have seen them in secret we should have known the moral preparation which they underwent before coming out to be seen of men. Be right in the sanctuary, if you would be right in the marketplace. Be steadfast in prayer, if you would be calm in affliction. Start your race from the throne of God itself, if you would run well, and win the prize.

“And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him” ( Exo 2:4 ).

Society needs watchers as well as workers. Had we been passing the spot at which the sister of Moses took up her position of observation, we might have condemned her as an idler standing there and doing nothing! We should be careful of our condemnation, seeing how little we know of the reality of any case. In doing nothing, the girl was in reality doing everything. If she had done more, she would have done less. There is a silent ministry as well as a ministry of thunder. Mark the cunning of love! The watcher stood afar off. Had she stood quite close at hand, she would have defeated the very object of her watching. She was to do her work without the slightest appearance of doing it. Truly there is a great art in love, and in all good ministry. There are wise master-builders, and also builders who are very foolish. Sometimes we must look without staring; we must speak without making a noise; we must be artful without dissimulation, and hide under the calmest exterior the most urgent and tumultuous emotion.

“And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children” ( Exo 2:5-6 ).

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” When the child cried, the heart of the daughter of Pharaoh was moved, as simple and beautiful a piece of human nature as is to be found anywhere. How poor would the world be without its helpless ones! Little children by their very weakness make strong men stronger. By the wickedness of the wicked, the righteousness of the righteous is called forth in some of its most impressive and winsome forms. Looking at the daughter of Pharaoh from a distance, she appears to be haughty, self-involved, and self-satisfied; but, stooping near that little ark, she becomes a woman, having in her the instinct of motherliness itself! We should all be fathers and mothers to the orphan, the lost, and the desolate. The government of humanity is so ordered that even the most distressing circumstances are made to contribute to the happy development of our best impulses and energies. No man can be permanently unhappy who looks into the cradles of the poor and lonely, as Pharaoh’s daughter looked into this ark of bulrushes. Go by the river’s side, where the poor lost child is, and be a father and a mother to him if you would have happiness in the very core of your heart! Even a king’s daughter is the richer and gladder for this stoop of love. Some have been trying to reach too high for their enjoyments; the blooming fruit has been beyond their stature; they have therefore turned away with pining and discontent, not knowing that if they had bent themselves to the ground they would have found the happiness in the dust, which they attempted in vain to pluck from inaccessible heights.

“Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?” ( Exo 2:7 ).

The watcher came without making a noise. Who ever heard the light come over the hills? Who ever heard the violet growing? The watcher, too, spoke to the king’s daughter without introduction or ceremony! Are there not times in life when we are superior to all formalities? Are there not sorrows which enable us to overcome the petty difficulties of etiquette? Earnestness will always find ways for its own expression. The child might well have pleaded timidity; fear of the greatness of Pharaoh’s daughter, or shamefacedness in the presence of the great and noble; under ordinary circumstances she would undoubtedly have done so; but the life of her brother was at risk, the command of her mother was in her heart, and her own pity yearned over the lonely one: under the compulsion of such considerations as these, the watcher urged her way to the side of Pharaoh’s daughter, and made this proposition of love. False excuses are only possible where there is lack of earnestness. If we really cared for lost children, we should find ways of speaking for them in high quarters. There is a boldness which is consistent with the purest modesty, and there is a timidity which thinly disguises the most abject cowardice.

“And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it lor me, and I will give thee thy wages” ( Exo 2:8-9 ).

All done in a moment, as it were! Such are the rapid changes in lives which are intended to express some great meaning and purpose of God. They are cast down, but not destroyed; persecuted, but not forsaken! From the action of Pharaoh’s daughter we learn that first thoughts are, where generous impulses are concerned, the only thoughts worth trusting. Sometimes we reason that second thoughts are best; in a certain class of cases this reasoning may be substantially correct, but, where the heart is moved to do some noble and heroic thing, the first thought should be accepted as an inspiration from God, and carried out without self-consultation or social fear. Those who are accustomed to seek contribution or service for the cause of God, of course know well what it is to encounter the imprudent prudence which says, “I must think about it.” Where the work is good, don’t think about it; do it, and then think. When a person goes to a place of business, and turns an article over and over, and looks at it with hesitation, and finally says, “I will call again,” the master of the establishment says in his heart, “Never!” If Pharaoh’s daughter had considered the subject, the probability is that Moses would have been left on the Nile or under it; but she accepted her motherly love as a Divine guide, and saved the life of the child.

“And the woman took the child, and nursed it” ( Exo 2:9 ).

What her self-control in that hour of maddening excitement cost, no tongue can tell. She took the child as a stranger might have taken it, and yet her heart was bursting with the very passion of delight. Had she given way for one instant, her agitation might have revealed the plot. Everything depended upon her calmness. But love can do anything! The great question underlying all service is a question not so much of the intellect as of the heart. We should spoil fewer things if our love was deeper. We should finish our tasks more completely if we entered upon them under the inspiration of perfect love. The mother consented to become a hireling, to take wages for nursing her own child! Love can thus deny itself, and take up its sweet cross. How little did Pharaoh’s daughter know what she was doing! Does any one really know what work he is doing in all its scope and meaning? The simplest occasion of our lives may be turned to an account which it never entered into our hearts to imagine. Who can tell where the influence of a gentle smile may end? We know not the good that may be done by the echo as well as by the voice. There is a joyful bridegroom throwing his dole into the little crowd of laughing eager boys. One of those boys is specially anxious to secure his full share of all that is thrown: he has snatched a penny, but in a moment it has been dashed out of his hand by a competitor: see how anger flushes his face, and with what determination he strikes the successful boy: he is a savage, he is unfit to have his liberty in the public streets, his temper is uncontrollable, his covetousness is shocking: he wins the poor prize, and hastens away; watch him: with his hard-earned penny he buys a solitary orange, and with quick feet he finds his way up a rickety staircase into a barely-furnished garret; he gives his orange to his poor dying sister, and the juice assuages her burning thirst. When we saw the fight, we called the boy a beast ; but we knew not what we said!

We call the early life of Moses a miracle. There is a sense of course in which that is literally true. But is there not a sense in which every human life has in it the miraculous element? We are too fond of bringing down everything to the level of commonplace, and are becoming almost blind to the presence of elements and forces in life which ought to impress us with a distinct consciousness of a power higher than our own. Why this worship of commonplace? Why this singular delight in ah things that are supposed to be level and square, and wanting in startling emphasis? I would rather speak thus with myself: My life too is a miracle; it was put away upon a river and might have been lost in the troubled water; kind eyes watched the little vessel in which the life was hidden; other persons gathered around it and felt interested in its fortunes; it was drawn away from the stream of danger and for a time hidden within the security of love and comfort and guidance. It has also had to contend with opposition and difficulty, seen and unseen; it has been threatened on every side. Temptations and allurements have been held out to it, and it has been with infinite difficulty that it has been reared through all the atmosphere intended to oppress and to poison it. I could shut out all these considerations if I pleased, and regard my life within its merely animal boundaries, and find in it nothing whatever to excite religious wonder or religious thankfulness; but this is not the right view. To do so would be to inflict injustice upon the Providence which has made my life a daily wonder to myself. I will think of God’s tender care, of the continual mercy which has been round about me, and of the blessed influences which have strengthened and ennobled every good purpose of my heart; and I, too, will stand side by side with Moses when he sings the wonders of the hand Divine. The miracle is not always in the external incident; it may be hidden in the core of things and may slowly disclose itself to the eyes of religious reverence and inquiry. O that men were wise: that they would consider their beginning as well as their latter end, and learn to trace the hand of Heaven even in those comparative trifles which are supposed to lie within the scope and determination of time.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

(The Exodus Book comments contain the first two introductory sections of Exodus)

III

A REVIEW AND A PROLOGUE

Exo 1:1-14

It now becomes necessary to refer, though briefly, to some matters behind us. First, this book not only commences with the conjunction, “and,” showing direct connection with the preceding book, of which it is a continuation, but also its prologue, the first six verses, rehearses the closing part of Genesis as an introduction. Moreover, throughout the book, there are so many back references to Genesis that one unfamiliar with Genesis can never understand Exodus.

We find in Genesis the following race trials: The first was the race trial in Adam, under a covenant of works, which culminated in his fall, the fall of the race with him and his expulsion from the garden of Eden. The second race trial was the establishment of the throne of grace, where God dwelt between the Cherubim on the east of the garden of Eden, as a Shekinah, or flame of fire, to keep open the way to the tree of life. This was a covenant of grace. Here, under this second trial, Adam and his descendants must approach God through faith in an atoning sacrifice. It is true that this sacrifice was only typical. This trial culminated at the flood with the race destruction. The third race trial was on the new earth under Noah, under a more enlarged covenant than the covenant with Adam. Still, however, the method of approach to God was by sacrifice and through faith in that atoning sacrifice. This trial culminated in the great sin at Babel, the confusion of tongues and the dispersion of the nations. From that time on our history does not deal with mankind at large, but the fourth trial commences at the call of Abraham; that in his descendants as a nation God might have a peculiar people, isolated from others, sanctified to him, becoming the depository of his revelations, and through that nation to reach all the nations of the earth. This is the fourth trial which was national.

But this trial was not consummated in Genesis; only its preparatory states. Abraham and his family, so far as Genegig goes, had not yet become a nation. It is to Exodus we must look to find the chosen line becoming a nation. So from Exodus on, until I give you notice, we are under the fourth trial. It is in the book of Exodus you must find the fulfillment in a great part of the prophecies and promises made to or through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. These preliminary observations show how necessary an understanding of Exodus is. Indeed, the whole book of the Pentateuch was formerly just one book, and the division into volumes, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, is really artificial.

The second thing is that two preliminary introductory chapters have been given; the first, devoted mainly to the geography, archeology and history of Egypt, and the Sinaitic Peninsula. As Egypt, and the desert lying between Egypt and the Holy Land, is the arena upon which all the events in the book of Exodus are performed, it is necessary to get clearly before us something of the geography, archeology, and history of those sections of country. On the map can be seen the sections of the country, the rivers, the deserts, the mountains, and the character of the country. Each reader should provide himself with Huribut’s Bible Atlas.

Now, our last chapter was devoted mainly to a consideration of the materials, or the sources of information necessary to a history of the life of Moses. These sources are found to be: first, biblical the Old and New Testaments; second, Jewish, but not biblical; third, non-Jewish historians, myths, and legends. In that chapter there was particularly pointed out what parts of the Bible contributed material to the history of Moses. For instance, Psalm 90 a psalm written by Moses; and in the New Testament are some valuable contributions to the life of Moses: Act 7 ; Heb 11 , the 11 sage in the letter to Timothy; one in the book of Revelation, and one in Jude, all of which are fully cited.

Chapter 2 was devoted partly to an examination of the religious light possessed by the Israelites in Egypt and their religious status under that light, up to the call of Moses recorded in Exo 3 . Then, by way of contrast, I considered the civilization of Egypt; noted its religion, its system of agriculture, its schools, arts, sciences, and government. The chapter closed with a commendation of some books on Exodus, the safest, most needed, most valuable, and withal, best suited to beginners in the study of Exodus. For the most part one who has only a knowledge of the English language is little prepared for a more extended bibliography. I will repeat the list of books:

Dr. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study. In that syllabus you will find an outline of the book of Exodus that is about as good as anybody can give. And all along through the Old Testament you will find the chronological chart at the end of the book of very great value.

Hurlbut’s Bible Atlas.

Then I want each reader to have in compact form and according to a reliable author, a history of the Old Testament, and the book that I specially commended was “Edersheim’s History of the Bible,” a history of Israel and Judah. The second volume of that history is the one that treats particularly of the book of Exodus.

The next book that I commended was Rawlinson’s Moses, His Life and Times. Rawlinson is a very great scholar, one of the best that we have; and his book, a little book prepared with a great deal of care, were I a student, I would buy. I would always read that part of it which touches the lesson. The fifth book is Dr. Wilkinson’s Epic of Moses. The Epic of Moses and the Epic of Paul are the best interpretative books in the way of epics in all literature. Milton’s Paradise Lost won’t begin to compare with Dr. Wilkinson’s books in the safeness of the interpretative spirit. Very seldom, so far as I am able to judge, does he ever get away from the right construction and meaning to be put on an event. There are intruded into the book, for filling in, of course, some characters that are not Bible characters, but all of these are interpretative.

Kadesh-barnea, by H. Clay Trumbull, was also commended. The books usually commended are Robinson’s Researches in the Holy Land , and Thomson’s The Land and the Book . But these books are of a long time ago. Kadesh-barnea touches the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. It is the book of the pilgrimage in the wilderness, from the going out of the people until they entered into the Holy Land.

The seventh book is Philo’s Life of Moses. That part of Josephus which covers the book of Exodus you should read, though I want to caution you that when Josephus gets outside of what the Bible says, what he says is to be received with a great deal of caution. He and Philo put in a great deal about Moses that the Bible does not give at all; all of it is based on some tradition; some of it is very wild; other things are probable.

There are two other books which I commend to you with much reservation: Stanley’s Jewish Church, Vol. 1; and Geikie’s “Hours with the Bible,” Vol. II, both of which touch Exodus. These are both great writers, but in many respects unsafe. It does not hurt me to read them. I get great benefit from them, but one who has not studied the ground which they cover, can be misled either by Stanley or Geikie. Hence the commendation of these two books is with reservation.

Now, there is a set of books to which I wish to call attention. I never call attention to a book that I have not examined. Dr. Hengstenberg, a German author, who pleases Die better than all the rest put together, has a series of volumes on “Christology of the Old Testament.” In the first of that “Christology” is an article on the Angel of the Lord, aa he is set forth in Genesis, Exodus, etc. That is a very valuable contribution. Then he has another book, The History of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament . The first of that where it touches Exodus is very fine. He has a third book called Egypt and Moses, which is devoted mainly to rebutting the attacks of the higher critics.

The book of Exodus, and the ground covered by it, has been the theme of fiction, and I call attention to a book Tom Moore’s Epicurean, as throwing light upon the mysteries of the Egyptian priesthood and religion. I called attention to two or three of the Ebers’ books, bearing on this question. Another book of fiction which people like to read very much, though it is what Dr. Broadus would call “a third-class novel” as to its reliability, is the Pillar of Fire, by J. H. Ingraham. Nearly all of the young people like to read that book without stopping to reflect that the author committed suicide. He was an Episcopal clergyman. There is a modern book of very considerable value called Lex Mosaica , the Mosaic law. The first article in it is devoted to a consideration of this question: The literary activities in the time of Moses. Some of the higher critics have said that in the time of Moses there was no such thing as literature, and therefore it was impossible for any man in his time to have written the Pentateuch. That article “knocks the bottom out of” that contention. It shows there were schools and universities just as we have now. Moses himself was educated in a university at Heliopolis, and they not only had a system of writing, but many systems of writing. They even had alphabetical writing. The fact is that we get our alphabet from the Egyptians rather than from the Phenicians. The Arabians had schools and books of learning; the Babylonians more than any other had them. The land of Canaan was full of literature. One of the cities captured by Joshua was a book city, a city of books and public libraries. Archeological discoveries have gently brought to light whole libraries in which correspondQgg on love matters and business matters of that day are brought to light, showing the absurdity of trying to assert that there were no literary attainments in the days of Moses that would justify the statement that he was the author of the Pentateuch. The first article in the Lex Mosaica is very valuable on the subject.

In the January, 1907, issue of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Magazine is an article by Dr. Ashmore on “The Kingship of Jehovah.” Try to get a copy of that publication and hold on to it. When I get to Exo 20 I want to dig under the foundations of some of the statements by Dr. Ashmore in that article. Although it is a very fine article I am sure that its value is to be discounted in some of his positions. There is another magazine which, if the reader had access to, I would insist that he secure it. I do not remember the name and issue of the magazine, but the article is by Dr. A. G. Dayton, author of “Theodosia Earnest.” In considering the politics and religion of Egypt this article bears directly upon the question of modern spiritualism. Probably the article is in the Southwestern Review or it may be in a magazine that J. R. Graves started. That man could not write without throwing light on a subject. So much for the books.

While we were in Genesis I called attention to a question of chronology. It comes in the twelfth chapter, but I will give you the references now, and you can study them: Gen 15:13 ; Exo 12:40-41 ; Act 7:6 ; Gal 3:17 . The Genesis passage is in the prophecy made to Abraham that his people should be afflicted 400 years, a prophecy which distinctly tells that they should be led away into another nation to be subject to them, and that God would deliver them and bring them out. It is the great declaration that kept hope alive in the hearts of those people all the time they were in exile. Joseph refers to it in the last chapter of Genesis when he said: “God will certainly visit you and bring you out of this land.” The point of chronology is that this seems to put the stay in Egypt at 430 years. The Exo 12 declares that at the very day God said their time in Egypt should end it did end, and gives the number as 430 years. But in the Greek Septuagint, and in the Samaritan Pentateuch, Exo 12 , reads differently. It gives the 430 years, but it includes in the 430 years in this text all the sojourners, including Abraham, commencing with the call of Abraham to the Exodus, in order to get the 430 years. In Act 7 , Stephen, speaking of it, refers to this 400 years of Gen 15:13 . In Gal 3 , Paul evidently does not think that they were in Egypt 430 years, but he makes the law, delivered on Mount Sinai just a few months after they left Egypt, just 430 years after the call of Abraham. Now, here is one of my examination questions: How long were the children of Israel in Egypt? My own opinion is that they were in Egypt 210 years, and that the sojourning covers the whole time, as Paul gives it, from the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law, 430 years. Ussher, in his chronology, which you find in the margin of the King James Version, adopts this view. Dr. Sampey adopts it in his chronology.

While the chronology of the Old Testament is always difficult, yet Gen 15:13 ; Exo 12:40-41 ; Acts 7-8; Gal 3:17 may be harmonized thus:

(1) Gal 3:17 reckoning from the grace promise, “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen 12:3 )” to the giving of the Law at Sinai, fixes the time at 430 years.

(2) Exo 12:40-41 may be rendered, according to some versions: “The sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was 430 years.” The sojourning of Exo 12 coincides in its commencement with Paul’s promise (see Gen 12:1-3 ), and terminates with the departure from Egypt. As the Law was given about two months after the departure these two periods of 430 years are practically the same.

(3) The emphasis of Gen 15:13 is on the afflictions of Abraham’s seed while sojourning, which commencing with the persecution of Isaac by Hagar and Ishmael extended to the departure from Egypt, a period of 400 years.

(4) Stephen, in Act 7:6 merely quotes the Septuagint Version of Gen 15:13 .

(5) This harmony would make the stay in Egypt 210 years and it is generally, though not exclusively, accepted.

Another examination question will be this: There were seventy odd of these people not including their servants, which might have made them three thousand when they went into Egypt. When they entered Egypt their occupation was pastoral. They were nomads people that lived under tents and changed their stopping place as pasturage and water demanded. Now give me proof from the book of Exodus that the people had changed largely from a pastoral people to agriculturalists and artisans. The evidences on the subject can be found in the following scriptures: Exo 3:10-22 , which shows that the Israelites in Egypt lived in houses. The same thing is clearly brought out in Exo 11:1-3 ; Exo 12:7 . Here are some important passages to show that the greater part of them had become agriculturalists: Num 11:5 ; Num 20:5 ; Deu 11:10 . Now here are some scriptures that show that numbers of them had become architects and manufacturers: Exo 1:14 , and many others. It is very important for the reader to fix in his mind that great change which had come over these people from the nomadic, or pastoral life, to the agricultural life. Egypt was an agricultural land. True, there were only about five thousand square miles of the whole territory that could be tilled, but as it was tilled under irrigation, a small plot could support a great many people. It was the highest form of agriculture, and these people served in the fields. In some of these passages it says that they would run along and open trenches with their feet for the water to run from the big irrigation canal. Then, how did Aaron know how to take metal and put it into a furnace and mold a calf? How did they know how to construct a tabernacle, and many things necessary to its equipment? A great change must have come over this people.

Now, I commence the book of Exodus. The first thing in your book is the Prologue, which simply rehearses the closing part of Genesis, as Exo 1:7 says: “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” Here was a most marvelous fecundity, or reproduction of the race. When we go to lead these people out there will be 600,000, from twenty years old and upward, without counting the women and children, besides the mixed population. You will see a multitude go out of that country, at least 3,000,000 in number, including the mixed population and their servants. Their male servants were circumcised, and became thereby constituent members of the Jewish economy. Exodus goes on to tell us that it was utterly impossible to keep these people from multiplying; and when the call of Moses takes place it takes place under the marvelous symbol of a bush that was all the time burning, and never consumed. These people might be afflicted, and effort might be made to stop the increase of the population, but all the powers of affliction did not destroy the bush; they kept on growing. This was under the blessing of God.

The next verse says: “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph.” When Abraham entered Egypt and particularly when Joseph and these Israelites entered Egypt, the rulers were (what is called in history) the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. They were of the Semitic blood; they were really kind and good to the Israelites. And they were monotheists. They knew about the pastoral life. These kings that came from Syria and the Holy Land, and other places, and took possession of Egypt, driving out the native population, or rather obtaining the rule over the native population, were there several hundred years. That made it very opportune for these people to go into Egypt in order to be nourished, but just before the Exodus, soon after the death of Joseph, the native Egyptians expelled the Hyksos kings and re-established the old rule all over Egypt. It was quite natural that when they drove out these shepherds that had held their country they would hold in mind no longer Joseph, who was a prime minister under the Hyksos kings, as the former kings had done. So they did not cherish the same kindly feeling toward the descendants of Jacob as the former kings had done. That part of Egyptian history every student ought to be familiar with, as it explains how this new king knew not Joseph.

Now, from Exo 1:9 , we have what is called a great state problem. Don’t you make any mistake it was a problem. Always in history there has been a problem when there has been an imperium in imperio, a nation within a nation, a people within a people, differing in customs and feelings. What are you going to do with them when they are side by side, like the Moorish population in Spain? A fair illustration is the Negro population in the South. We find that to be a real problem, too. Here we have 10,000,000 Negroes and most of them in the South, a different race of people; it is a hazardous situation. Now the new kings of Egypt found that great problem; a great population that looked like it was going to be greater than the Egyptian population. The Egyptians did not multiply. Notice what the king said, “Behold, the people of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there falleth out any war, they join themselves also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.” He did not want to lose all that population, and yet he did not know what to do with that problem. So he called his council together and considered what should be done. A nation is always in danger when it comes to deal with a people inside of its own boundaries that are not homogeneous. That is the greatest problem England has today in dealing with Ireland. They do not assimilate. Scotland did assimilate. The English and Irish differ in religion and in everything. They are really different in racial origin, one Celtic and other Teutonic.

Let us see what measures this king adopted: (1) He enslaved them. Heretofore they had not been slaves. You notice the position they occupied in Goshen on one of the mouths of the Nile that was nearest to the Holy Land, where the great Hittite and Philistine nations were. Really, just at the time there had been great wars between the Hittite nation and the Egyptians, and if the Hittites were to invade Egypt like the Hyksos they would first strike Goshen where they would find a large population, almost as large as the Egyptians, and they might join hands, and it would then be only a few hours’ march to the greatest cities of Egypt. So the king determined to make slaves out of them.

“Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh storecities, Pithom and Rameses.” The pyramids were already built, and had been built before Abraham, but they built these treasure cities. If you were to go there today you would find the foundation of that great city of Rameses, built of sundried brick like the adobe houses of Mexico, of mixed mortar and straw. All the land in Egypt belonged to the king, from the time of Joseph. The people held the land as tenants of the king, and these treasure cities were built to hold his revenue.

QUESTIONS 1. What evidence of the direct connection with Genesis?

2. What race trials in Genesis?

3. What trial in Exodus?

4. Name the books commended on Exodus.

5. What works of fiction mentioned?

6. What evidence of the literary activity in the time of Moses?

7. Briefly, how do you clear the chronological difficulty of Gen 16:13 ; Exo 12:40-41 ; Act 7:6 ; Gal 3:17 ?

8. Give proof from the book of Exodus that the people had changed largely from pastoral people to agriculturists and artisans

9. Give evidence that Israel increased rapidly in Egypt and how was their endurance symbolized?

10. Explain bow the new king knew not Joseph.

11. What great state problem did the new king find?

12. What two modern illustrations of this problem?

13. What policy did the king adopt?

14. Did it succeed and why?

15. What is meant by the treasure cities that the Israelites built for the Egyptians?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Exo 1:1 Now these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

Ver. 1. Now these are. ] Heb., And these are, &c. For this book is a continuation of the former history, and this verse a repetition of what was before recorded in Gen 46:8 , The whole law, say the Schoolmen, is but one copulative. The whole Scripture but Cor et anima Dei, saith a father, a the heart and soul of God, uttered “by the mouth of the holy prophets, which have been since the world began.” Luk 1:70

a Illyric. Clavit.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Exodus

FOUR SHAPING CENTURIES

Exo 1:1 – – Exo 1:14 .

The four hundred years of Israel’s stay in Egypt were divided into two unequal periods, in the former and longer of which they were prosperous and favoured, while in the latter they were oppressed. Both periods had their uses and place in the shaping of the nation and its preparation for the Exodus. Both carry permanent lessons.

I. The long days of unclouded prosperity. These extended over centuries, the whole history of which is summed up in two words: death and growth. The calm years glided on, and the shepherds in Goshen had the happiness of having no annals. All that needed to be recorded was that, one by one, the first generation died off, and that the new generations ‘were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty.’ The emphatic repetitions recall the original promises in Gen 12:2 , Gen 17:4 – Gen 17:5 , Gen 18:18 . The preceding specification of the number of the original settlers repeated from Gen 46:27 brings into impressive contrast the small beginnings and the rapid increase. We may note that eloquent setting side by side of the two processes which are ever going on simultaneously, death and birth.

One by one men pass out of the warmth and light into the darkness, and so gradually does the withdrawal proceed that we scarcely are aware of its going on, but at last ‘all that generation’ has vanished. The old trees are all cleared off the ground, and everywhere their place is taken by the young saplings. The web is ever being woven at one end, and run down at the other. ‘The individual withers, but the race is more and more.’ How solemn that continual play of opposing movements is, and how blind we are to its solemnity!

That long period of growth may be regarded in two lights. It effected the conversion of a horde into a nation by numerical increase, and so was a link in the chain of the divine working. The great increase, of which the writer speaks so strongly, was, no doubt, due to the favourable circumstances of the life in Goshen, but was none the less regarded by him, and rightly so, as God’s doing. As the Psalmist sings, ‘ He increased His people greatly.’ ‘Natural processes’ are the implements of a supernatural will. So Israel was being multiplied, and the end for which it was peacefully growing into a multitude was hidden from all but God. But there was another end, in reference to which the years of peaceful prosperity may be regarded; namely, the schooling of the people to patient trust in the long-delayed fulfilment of the promise. That hope had burned bright in Joseph when he died, and he being dead yet spake of it from his coffin to the successive generations. Delay is fitted and intended to strengthen faith and make hope more eager. But that part of the divine purpose, alas! was not effected as the former was. In the moral region every circumstance has two opposite results possible. Each condition has, as it were, two handles, and we can take it by either, and generally take it by the wrong one. Whatever is meant to better us may be so used by us as to worsen us. And the history of Israel in Egypt and in the desert shows only too plainly that ease weakened, if it did not kill, faith, and that Goshen was so pleasant that it drove the hope and the wish for Canaan out of mind. ‘While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept.’ Is not Israel in Egypt, slackening hold of the promise because it tarried, a mirror in which the Church may see itself? and do we not know the enervating influence of Goshen, making us reluctant to shoulder our packs and turn out for the pilgrimage? The desert repels more strongly than Canaan attracts.

II. The shorter period of oppression. Probably the rise of a ‘new king’ means a revolution in which a native dynasty expelled foreign monarchs. The Pharaoh of the oppression was, perhaps, the great Rameses II., whose long reign of sixty-seven years gives ample room for protracted and grinding oppression of Israel. The policy adopted was characteristic of these early despotisms, in its utter disregard of humanity and of everything but making the kingdom safe. It was not intentionally cruel, it was merely indifferent to the suffering it occasioned. ‘Let us deal wisely with them’-never mind about justice, not to say kindness. Pharaoh’s ‘politics,’ like those of some other rulers who divorce them from morality, turned out to be impolitic, and his ‘wisdom’ proved to be roundabout folly. He was afraid that the Israelites, if they were allowed to grow, might find out their strength and seek to emigrate; and so he set to work to weaken them with hard bondage, not seeing that that was sure to make them wish the very thing that he was blunderingly trying to prevent. The only way to make men glad to remain in a community is to make them at home there. The sense of injustice is the strongest disintegrating force. If there is a ‘dangerous class’ the surest way to make them more dangerous is to treat them harshly. It was a blunder to make ‘lives bitter,’ for hearts also were embittered. So the people were ripened for revolt, and Goshen became less attractive.

God used Pharaoh’s foolish wisdom, as He had used natural laws, to prepare for the Exodus. The long years of ease had multiplied the nation. The period of oppression was to stir them up out of their comfortable nest, and make them willing to risk the bold dash for freedom. Is not that the explanation, too, of the similar times in our lives? It needs that we should experience life’s sorrows and burdens, and find how hard the world’s service is, and how quickly our Goshens may become places of grievous toil, in order that the weak hearts, which cling so tightly to earth, may be detached from it, and taught to reach upwards to God. ‘Blessed is the man . . .in whose heart are thy ways,’ and happy is he who so profits by his sorrows that they stir in him the pilgrim’s spirit, and make him yearn after Canaan, and not grudge to leave Goshen. Our ease and our troubles, opposite though they seem and are, are meant to further the same end,-to make us fit for the journey which leads to rest and home. We often misuse them both, letting the one sink us in earthly delights and oblivion of the great hope, and the other embitter our spirits without impelling them to seek the things that are above. Let us use the one for thankfulness, growth, and patient hope, and the other for writing deep the conviction that this is not our rest, and making firm the resolve that we will gird our loins and, staff in hand, go forth on the pilgrim road, not shrinking from the wilderness, because we see the mountains of Canaan across its sandy flats.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

Now. The conj. “now” = “and”; thus connecting Exodus closely with Genesis: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deut. begin in the same way. Thus the Pentateuch is one book. For the relation of Exodus to the other books of the Pentateuch, see App-1.

names. Thus Redemption is connected with names. Compare Exo 1:1-4 with Exo 39:6, Exo 39:7, Exo 39:8-14.

The Name of the Redeemer is published throughout. He reveals His name: Exo 3:14, Exo 3:15; Exo 6:3; Exo 33:19; Exo 34:5-7.

Moses speaks to Pharaoh in His name: Exo 5:23.

Pharaoh raised up to add glory to it: Exo 9:16.

Law given in the name of Jehovah: Exo 20:2.

His name in the Angel: Exo 23:21.

God knows Moses by his name: Exo 33:12, Exo 33:17.

Bezaleel and Aholiab, &c.: Exo 31:26; Exo 35:30, Exo 35:34.

Names of Israel’s sons: Exo 1:1-4; and Exo 28:9-12, Exo 28:15-21; Exo 39:6, Exo 39:7, Exo 39:8-14.

children = sons; and so throughout O.T.

came into Egypt. Compare Genesis 46.

man. Hebrew. ‘ish. See App-14.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

The first word of Exodus, “Now,” might with equal accuracy be rendered “And.” Either word serves to suggest continuity. The story of Genesis is taken up in Exodus. It begins by recording the prolific and rapid growth of the sons of Jacob in Egypt. They “were fruitful . . . increased abundantly . . . multiplied . . . waxed exceeding mighty . . . the land was filled with them.” The progress of God is seen. After the fathers, the children, and the program of God is carried forward. Jacob and his sons lived in their children. Their faults were perpetuated through long generations. It is equally true that the underlying principle of faith continued, and though failure often occurred, seeming to overwhelm faith, the vital principle was never lost.

In the account of the enslavement and oppression of these people, human and divine elements are equally apparent. The policy of the new Pharaoh was politically selfish. He attempted to stay the growth and break the power of the people. How little he understood the infinite Force against which he was setting himself. All the sufferings endured by these people gained for them that strength which even today makes them a people who cannot be destroyed. Luxury ever tends to weakness in national life, while suffering stiffens and strengthens the national character.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

the Children of Israel Afflicted

Exo 1:1-14

The buried seed began to bear an abundant harvest, notwithstanding the efforts of Pharaoh and his people. The kings of the earth take counsel together to thwart the divine purpose. They might as well seek to arrest the incoming tide. The days of persecution and opposition have always been the growing days of the Church.

The new king probably belonged to a great dynasty, intent on preventing the recurrence of shepherd domination. The first move of the new policy was to embitter Israels existence by cruel bondage. The pictured walls of the Pyramids bear witness to sufferings inflicted on slaves of a Hebrew cast of face by taskmasters armed with whips. Pharaoh and his counselors had to learn that they were not only dealing with a subject nation, but with the Eternal God.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Exo 1:6

I. Joseph was still a son, though lord over Egypt (Gen 45:9-11). His heart yearned over his father with all a child’s clinging trustfulness.

II. Jacob’s heart fainted, for the news was to him too good to be true. There is in life an element which is constantly upsetting probabilities; thus calling men up from lethargy. The news was too romantic at first for Jacob; but he always had an eye for the practical, and when he saw the wagons, his heart revived (vers. 25-28).

III. In the meeting of Joseph with his father there is a beautiful combination of official duty and filial piety. Joseph is administrator of the resources of Egypt; he cannot abandon his position and go away to Canaan, but he goes part of the way to meet his father (Gen 46:29-30).

IV. Jacob summed up his earthly life by calling it a pilgrimage. His days seemed few and evil when he looked back upon them. We get to see the brokenness of the life, its incompleteness, its fragmentariness, when we get to the end of it (Gen 47:7-9).

V. The last scene of this eventful history is given us in the text. (1) Joseph died. The best, wisest, and most useful men are withdrawn from their ministry. The world can get on without its greatest and best. The death of Joseph was a national event, an event of wide importance. (2) His brethren died. There we begin to lose individuality; we cannot all be equally conspicuous, each cannot have his name written in history as having died. The great thing is to leave behind us, not a mere name, but influences that hearts will feel.

Parker, The City Temple, 1871, p. 161.

References: Exo 1:6.-R. S. Candlish, Scripture Characters and Miscellanies, p. 9.1:10-12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii., No. 997. Exo 1:12.-J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. ii., p. 385. 1-J. Monro Gibson, The Mosaic Era, p. 1; Parker, vol. ii., p. 17.1:8-11, Exo 2:5-10.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., pp. 50, 53.1-2.-G. Gilfillan, Alpha and Omega, vol. ii., p. 42. 2-Parker, vol. ii., p. 19. Exo 2:1-3.-H. Wonnacott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv., p. 24. Exo 2:3-J. Hamilton, Works, vol. v., p. 1. Exo 2:5-15.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 55. Exo 2:6.-T. Champness, Little Foxes, p. 72. Exo 2:6-9.-F. W. Robertson, Sermons, 4th series, p. 250. Exo 2:10.-Parker, vol. ii., p. 26. Exo 2:1-10.-W. M. Taylor, Moses the Lawgiver, p. 7.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

Analysis and Annotations

I. ISRAEL’S DELIVERANCE OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE EGYPTIANS

1. The House of Bondage

CHAPTER 1

1. The names of the children of Israel; their increase (Exo 1:1-7)

2. The new king and his policy (Exo 1:8-11)

3. The continued increase (Exo 1:12)

4. Their hard bondage (Exo 1:13-14)

5. The midwives commanded (Exo 1:15-16)

6. Their disobedience and Gods reward (Exo 1:17-21)

7. Pharaohs charge to all his people (Exo 1:22)

The opening verses take us back once more to the end of Genesis; as already stated the word now (literally, and) makes Exodus a continuation of the previous book. They had come into Egypt while Joseph was already there. Joseph and all his brethren had passed away, but their descendants multiplied rapidly. The Hebrew word increased means swarmed. The seventh verse (Exo 1:7) emphasizes their wonderful increase both in numbers and in power. Inasmuch as a comparatively short time had elapsed after Josephs death, some 64 years only, infidelity has sneered at the description of this increase. It is generally overlooked that besides the 70 souls which came into Egypt a very large number of servants must have accompanied them. Abraham had 318 servants born in his house. Jacob had a still larger number. And they had been received into the covenant, though they were not natural descendants. The command of circumcision extended to every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not thy seed (Gen 17:12). There may have been thousands of such servants besides immense herds of cattle. Yet even this does not fully explain the great increase. It was miraculous, the fulfillment of the promises given to the patriarchs. God witnessed thereby that they were His people.

The Egyptian account given by their historian Manetho, speaking of the Hyksos, the shepherd kings of the East, is in all probability a distorted account of the increase and influence of the Israelites. A new king, or dynasty, then arose. Josephus, the Jewish historian, states: The government was transferred to another family. The debt which Egypt owed to Joseph was forgotten.

The increasing Israelites filled the Egyptians with terror, hence the attempt to crush them by hard labor and the cruel taskmasters. They were used in the construction of some of the great monumental buildings and became the slaves of the Gentiles. The ruins of cities bear witness to it, for they were composed of crude brick and in many of them straw was not used (Exo 5:10-12). The oppression was in degrees. But the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew. Here we may read the history of Israel among the Gentiles. Their increase and expansion has produced what is known as anti-Semitism. The Gentiles fear the Jews. Their miraculous increase always takes place when oppression and persecution is upon them. When they are oppressed then Gods time for deliverance draws nigh.

Their oppression and sorrow in Egypt was also permitted for their own good. The idolatry of Egypt began to corrupt the chosen people. See Jos 24:14; Eze 20:5-8; Eze 23:8.

The attempt to destroy all the male children follows next. Satan, who is a murderer from the beginning, manifested his cunning and power in this way. He desired to destroy the seed of Abraham so as to make the coming of the Promised One impossible. The murder of Abel was his first attempt. Here is an attempt on a larger scale, which was followed by many others. See Exodus 14, 2Ch 21:4; 2Ch 21:17; 2Ch 22:10; Est 3:6; Est 3:12-13; Matt. 2, etc. Throughout the history of Israel during this age Satan has made repeated attempts to exterminate this wonderful people, because he knows Gods purpose concerning their future. His final attempt is recorded in Rev. 12.

Pharaoh was the instrument of Satan, and is a type of him. Blessed is the record of the faithful Hebrew midwives. They were pious women. Satan tried to use woman again for his sinister purposes, but he failed. Later we find that the wicked Pharaoh was defeated by the faith of a Hebrew mother and by the loving kindness of his own daughter (chapter 2). And God rewarded the actions of these women. They received honors; their families increased and were blest. When Pharaoh saw his attempt frustrated he appealed to his own people to commit wholesale murder. They began to sow an awful seed; the harvest came when years later there was no house in Egypt without one dead, when the firstborn were slain. Gal 6:7 applies also to nations, Whatsoever a man soweth, that he shall also reap. God honored the Hebrew midwives because they honored Him. The retribution came upon cruel Egypt in Gods own time.

And yet there are other lessons. Egypt is the type of the world; Pharaoh the type of the prince of this world. The bondage of sin and the wretchedness of Gods people, still undelivered, are here depicted. God permitted all so that they might groan for deliverance. The house of bondage opens the way for redemption by blood and by power.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Exo 6:14-16, Gen 29:31-35, Gen 30:1-21, Gen 35:18, Gen 35:23-26, Gen 46:8-26, Gen 49:3-27, 1Ch 2:1, 1Ch 2:2, 1Ch 12:23-40, 1Ch 27:16-22, Rev 7:4-8

Nehemiah, Neh 10:1, in the month, Ezr 10:9, Zec 7:1, in the twentieth, Ezr 7:7, Shushan, Shushan, or Susa, was the capital of Susiana, a province of Persia, and the winter residence of the Persian monarchs; situated about 252 miles east of Babylon, and the same distance south-south-east of Ecbatana, in lat. 32 degrees, long. 49 degrees. The circumference of its walls was about 120 stadia. Shouster is supposed to occupy its site. Est 1:2, Est 3:15, Dan 8:2

Reciprocal: Gen 15:13 – thy Gen 35:22 – Now the sons Exo 28:10 – according to their birth Num 1:2 – the children Eze 48:1 – the names Act 7:8 – and Jacob Rev 4:1 – a door

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The book of Exodus opens with a recapitulation of the sons of Jacob, and with the fact that not only Joseph died but all his brethren and all that generation. But in spite of this their descendents multiplied exceedingly. God was with them and they grew to be a powerful people in the land of Goshen.

As the years lengthened out, a great change came over the whole situation, occasioned by the rising up of a new king, who “knew not Joseph.” This expression may not mean that he was unaware of his existence but rather that, regarding him as an interloper and an oppressor, he ignored him altogether.

During the last century or so, our knowledge of Egyptian history has been greatly increased by the discovery of many monuments and other records of the past, coupled with the discovery of the secrets of their hieroglyphic writing, permitting it to be deciphered. It now seems certain that not very long after the death of Joseph the rule of the “Hyksos,” or “Shepherd kings,” came to an end. There was an uprising of the real, native Egyptians, which thrust them out and put a representative of their ancient dynasties on the throne. Joseph, being allied in race with the Shepherd kings, was of course anathema to the new rulers, and the people of Israel were regarded in a similar light and therefore as a potential danger for Egypt.

Verses Exo 1:8-10, then, evidently refer to this state of things that developed as a century or two rolled by, and it led to a complete change in their fortunes. Egypt had been to them a place of refuge, a kindly sanctuary in the time of famine and affliction. It now became to them the house of bondage. It became the “smoking furnace” that Abraham had seen when the “horror of great darkness” fell upon him, as recorded in Gen 15:12. They were enslaved building treasure cities for Pharaoh under the taskmasters.

This did not, however, hinder what God had purposed. Verse Exo 1:12 records that, “the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” So here was an illustration and verification of the word uttered by the Psalmist, “Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress” (Psa 4:1). Pharaoh’s efforts at suppression were completely neutralized by the abundant increase that God gave.

They did however succeed in making their lives “bitter with hard bondage” in all manner of rigorous service. Egypt is clearly a type of the world, and one of the first steps into spiritual blessing is when the world, that once fascinated us as the scene of our pleasures, is turned for us into a place of bitter bondage. Sin brings bitterness in its train and we cannot escape it. We shall see this presented again in this typical history recorded in Exodus, for in Exo 12:8, we read of the “bitter herbs,” with which the Passover lamb had to be eaten; and again in Exo 15:23, we read of the “bitter” waters of Marah, that met them directly they entered the wilderness. Happy for us, it is, when “the pleasures of sin” lose their attraction and instead the bitterness of sin fills our souls.

The latter part of the first chapter reveals the desperate measures taken by Pharaoh in the effort to stem what God was doing. His first effort to destroy the male children failed since the fear of God was on the midwives. His second effort, that of casting all the male babies into the river, which was entrusted to the people generally, looked much more like achieving a complete success.

But we open Exo 2:1-25, and we at once discover two things. First that there were still among the children of Israel men and women of faith. This is made plain in Heb 11:23, where the faith, not of Moses, but of his parents is cited. Moses was born and, according to our chapter, his mother hid him for three months, seeing he was a “goodly child.” The verse in Hebrews reveals that his father as well as his mother saw that he was “a proper child,” and having the eye of faith fixed on God, they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. A greater than Pharaoh commanded their allegiance.

The second thing we notice is that again God makes the wrath of man to praise Him. The wicked design of the king prepared the way for the future deliverer of Israel to be brought into his own house and court, and gain an experience of Egyptian customs and ways that stood him in good stead, when, as the fruit of God’s discipline he was ready to act in the name of Jehovah. The story of Moses in the ark of rushes is so well known that one need hardly call attention to the skill of the Divine hand, which ordered that Moses should be nursed by his own mother, that she should be paid wages for doing so, and that finally he should be adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Little did the Pharaoh of that day think that his design of death was preserving in life the man whom God would use in the days of his successor to overthrow the might of Egypt. But so it was.

Pharaoh’s daughter called him Moses, meaning, “Drawn out,” because she drew him out of the river. It was however an appropriate name since God had drawn him out, or rather called him out, to be a servant of His in a very special way.

In Exodus we are only told as to Moses so much as suits the purpose of this book, recording Israel’s typical redemption from Egypt. Passing from verse Exo 1:10 of chapter 2, to verse Exo 1:11, we read what came to pass “in those days,” and we might suppose that the incident recorded took place soon after he came under the protection of Pharaoh’s daughter. From the address of Stephen, recorded in Act 7:1-60, we learn that many years, probably more than 20, elapsed between those two verses. He attained to greatness, but it is passed over in silence as far as Exodus is concerned.

Stephen said: “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” This informs us that he was what the world would call a man of genius. Not a few men can be found who are good talkers – they have oratorical gifts, but are hardly men of action. Others there are, whose ability is seen in what they accomplish. Their actions are wise and powerful, but their powers of speech are small. The man who shines in both spheres is a rarity.

In Moses three things were combined – learning, oratory and action. We might have said: Here is a man fully equipped for God’s service! But it was not so!

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

The Birth and Youth of Moses

Exo 1:1-14, Exo 1:22

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

By way of introduction, we wish to discuss the meaning of the word, “Exodus.” The first Book of the Bible is Genesis; it is the Book of the Beginnings. It is, however, more than a Book of Beginnings. It is the Book of Entrance-of entrance into sin, and into shame, into all of those deep and dismal details of iniquity. As we come into the Book of Exodus, we have set before us in clear and graphic language not only the way out of Egypt and out of bondage, but the way out of death and out of human iniquity.

You have seen over many a door the word “Exit,” which seemed to be saying, “This way out.” As you see the word, Exodus, therefore, it also seems to say, “This way out.”

1. The exodus out of Egypt. The first chapter of Exodus gives itself to telling us of the bondage which befell the Children of Israel in the land of their exile. The second chapter tells us of the birth of Moses, the deliverer. It also relates Moses’ first failure in seeking to help the Children of Israel. The chapters which follow begin and conclude the story of Israel’s exodus.

2. The exodus out of all the nations of the earth. There is a verse of Scripture which tells Israel that the time will come when it shall no longer be said, “The Lord liveth, which brought up the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seed of the House of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them.” Thus it is that there yet awaits Israel’s greatest exodus. A wonderful exodus awaits them, and a wonderful entrance will be theirs.

3. The saved sinner and his exodus. The unregenerate are in bondage. Jesus Christ came to set them free. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, * * to preach deliverance to the captives, * * to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

4. The Church and its Exodus. The very word “Church” is a form of the word “exodus.” The Church is an “Ecclesia,” that is, a called-out people. We are called out of the world, out of our former walk and way. We are a people separated unto the Lord. The time is coming, also, when we will be called out of the physical earth, and called up to meet our Lord in the air. We, too, shall have our exodus.

5. Christ and His Exodus. There is a little verse in Luk 9:30-31, which describes the transfiguration of Christ. This verse tells us that there appeared with Him Moses and Elias, and they talked of His decease. The Greek word is “exodus.” They talked of His going out, of His exodus from a body that had held Him captive, into a body risen and glorified.

I. ISRAEL IN EGYPT (Exo 1:5)

Our minds go back to the time when Joseph was carried captive into Egypt, and to the time when Jacob and his eleven sons came to Joseph. When we think of the Children of Israel dwelling for so many years in Egypt, several lessons come before our minds.

1. We are in the world. We may marvel at the fact that God permitted the Children of Israel to be in Egypt, but He permits us to be placed in a world which is under the sway and power of the wicked one. There is not a true and separated believer anywhere but who must realize that he is surrounded by much of evil and sin.

2. We are not of the world. Israel was in Egypt, but Israel was not of Egypt. Pharaoh himself recognized this. He knew that the Hebrews were a different people from the Egyptians, that they were a peculiar people. Satan is never more contented than when he causes saints to forget their stranger and pilgrimage attitude. The earth is not our home. It is but an abiding place.

3. We are sent to the world. There is no doubt in our mind whatsoever but that Israel in Egypt carried a testimony from God to Egypt. Joseph meant a great deal in his day to the Egyptians. Through him they learned of his God. We who are saved are not only in the world, but we are there that the world may know of God, and that, knowing, they may come into His salvation.

4. We are hated by the world. In it, and not of it, and sent to it, does not tell the whole story of the believer in his attitude toward the world. Christ said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me.” It was not long until the Children of Israel were hated by the Egyptians, and it will not be long until we are hated by the world which knows not God.

II. A MIGHTY NATION AT ITS BEGINNING (Exo 1:7)

The Jewish race has been a race which began under the eye of Jehovah. It grew and developed under His blessing. It has been kept through all the vicissitudes of history in His hand, and it will finally be led out into a marvelous world-wide benefaction by His power.

The nation of Israel was composed of twelve tribes. Each tribe was the outgrowth of one of the twelve sons of Jacob. The names of the tribes bear the names of Jacob’s sons. These shall yet be united again in Palestine.

We remember there was a division in Israel following the death of Solomon. Jeroboam and Rehoboam headed the two divisions. For the first time in history the twelve tribes will be united when Christ returns as their King.

It was in the land of Egypt that the children of Jacob’s sons began to multiply, and in the day of their Exodus they numbered six hundred thousand men, and much more than a million all told. What great things come from small beginnings! Away back God had said to Abraham, “Get thee out.” He promised that from him should come a multitude of people. Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat the twelve sons, which formed the twelve tribes. Those tribes today number, so far as human reckoning is concerned, more than fifteen million Jews.

III. GOD’S BLESSINGS UPON ISRAEL (Exo 1:7)

Our key text tells us that “the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.” Let us look at these words.

1. They were fruitful. This expression had to do more with their numerical increase. Many sons and daughters were added unto them. There is, however, a spiritual message. The Lord wants us to bear fruit. We read, “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” God grant that we may not be a vine without any grapes, or a fig tree without any figs. It became true of Israel in her later history that God looked upon His vineyard to see if there was any fruit, and He found none.

2. They increased. As the decades passed the Children of Israel increased. We think of the days of the early Church. The Bible tells us of the small beginning, the twelve whom the Lord called. It also tells us how at Pentecost there were added unto them about three thousand souls. A little later we are told that the number of disciples multiplied greatly. What right do we have to be saved unless we are going to bring others to the Lord Jesus Christ? We are called to increase.

3. They were mighty. They were not only many in number, but they waxed great in influence and power. They filled the land. God grant that we, too, may be filled with the Holy Ghost and power, and that our testimony may grip men.

IV. THE KING WHO KNEW NOT JOSEPH (Exo 1:8)

1. Pharaoh knew not what Joseph had done. It was under God and by Joseph’s wisdom and skill that Egypt had been greatly enriched through seven years of plenty, and the following seven years of famine. All the people of the earth had come to Joseph for bread.

How easy it is to forget the Lord and to imagine that the blessings which He gives through His people were begotten through our own power. There were ten lepers cleansed, but only one returned to give thanks unto God. There are multiplied millions who are recipients of God’s graciousness. How many are there who thank Him for what He has done?

2. Pharaoh refused the Lord whom Joseph loved. The gods of Egypt were gods of wood and stone which see not, neither hear, nor know. The God of Joseph was Jehovah, the Lord. The gods of this present age are the gods of human intellect, brain and personality. The gods of accomplishment by human prowess and skill.

At this very moment the world is in a turmoil of difficulty. Never has there been such a world-wide S O S call, and yet our own government, and the other governments, are not turning their faces toward the Lord.

In the expression, “He knew not Joseph” there lies hidden the whole story of this present-hour depression. Had we known the Lord, obeyed His voice, and sought His will, we would not be in our present plight.

V. THE KING’S STRATEGY (Exo 1:10)

1. An Acknowledgment. Pharaoh recognized Israel’s growth and said, “Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we.” The men of the world cannot but see that God is with His own. They are compelled to recognize the superiority morally, intellectually, and every other way, of real God-led and God-filled saints to the common run of the unregenerate. He who walks with God walks in touch with the power and wisdom that is beyond man. He partakes of the might of his Lord.

2. Trusting human strategy. Pharaoh said, “Let us deal wisely with them.” His conception of wisdom was some human manipulation by which he might deplete the number and the power of the people of God. He confessed his fear lest the Children of Israel should join in war against him, and against his people, possessing their land.

The Bible tells us that the wisdom of men is foolishness with God. Pharaoh proved utterly helpless and unwise in his dealings. Beloved, it is time for the Church to consider these things. If we are going forth to war, or to work for the Lord in our own wisdom and strength we will utterly fail; when the churches try to raise money, or to conduct their ministrations upon humanly conceived and humanly planned lines of activity, they are certain to fail.

Our power is in prayer. Our power is in our contact with Christ, the Head of the Church. The Holy Spirit is the One who must lead us on to victory.

VI. THE KING’S PLAN (Exo 1:11-14)

We spoke of the king’s strategy, based solely upon his human wisdom.

We now speak of the king’s plan. This plan was the outgrowth of his own strategy and wisdom. The king sought to afflict the Children of Israel. He “set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.” This expression carries with it a great weight because it has been tried out frequently against God’s people down through the ages.

Some one, however, has truly written that “the blood of the martyrs has proved to be the seed of the Church.”

Far back in the beginning Satan sought by affliction to rid the earth of a man who knew God. He entered into Cain, and Cain rose up and slew his brother. This spirit of persecution was used against Israel during the wars of David, and in subsequent wars. It was used against the Church in its earliest history.

Remember how it was written, “And at that time there was a great persecution against the Church.” The Apostles, Peter and John, were cast into prison. Stephen was stoned. James was killed. Paul was driven from city to city.

We remember reading as a boy, the story of the early martyrs written by Fox. We know, however, that persecution and even martyrdom never stopped the increase of the Church. It seems that the more they were persecuted, the faster they multiplied.

At this moment in Russia multiplied thousands of Christians have been murdered or exiled, and yet, in spite of it all, Christians still multiply in the land where atheism and Bolshevism rule.

Thus it was that Pharaoh’s plan utterly failed. We read in verse twelve: “The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” Pharaoh sought to make their lives bitter with hard bondage, but God kept His eye upon His people.

VII. PHARAOH’S CLIMACTIC STROKE (Exo 1:22)

1. In this slaughter of Israel’s sons. we see Satan’s effort to stay the numerical increase of God’s people. If the sons were slain there could be no multiplication among the Children of Israel. This was the objective of the king.

2. In this slaughter of the sons we see a Satanic background. an effort on Satan’s part to make impossible the birth of THE Son. God promised that through Abraham the Seed of the woman was to come, the. Seed which was to bruise the serpent’s head. Satan, therefore, was one with Pharaoh in this slaughter, thinking, perhaps, that the people of Israel would be annihilated, and that, therefore, the Son of God could never come.

3. In this slaughter the natural result would be the amalgamation of the race with the Egyptians. With the male children slain, Israel’s daughters would be taken as wives to the Egyptians. In that way the identity of Israel, as a separate people, would be entirely lost, and within the course of years, partaking the nature of their fathers, Israel would be Egyptianized. Satan still seeks to swallow up the saints by causing them to mingle with the world until their peculiar power as a separated people is entirely lost.

4. In this slaughter against the sons we see, in anticipation, the final strategy of Satan against the Son. There is a verse of Scripture which tells us the dragon sought to slay the Son as soon as it was born. Jesus Christ was scarcely born when an edict of Herod went forth that all the male children in Judea should be slain, God, however, shielded His Son and protected Him from the wrath of the king.

AN ILLUSTRATION

CHOKING THE WEEDS

“The way to destroy ill weeds is to plant good herbs that are contrary.” We have all heard of weeds choking the wheat; if we were wise we should learn from our enemy, and endeavor to choke the weeds by the wheat. Pre-occupation of mind is a great safeguard from temptation. Fill a bushel with corn, and you will keep out the chaff: have the heart stored with holy things, and the vanities of the world will not so readily obtain a lodging-place.

Herein is wisdom in the training of children. Plant the mind early with the truths of God’s Word, and error and folly will, in a measure, be forestalled. The false will soon spring up if we do not early occupy the mind with the true. He who said that he did not wish to prejudice his boy’s mind by teaching him to pray, soon discovered that the devil was not so scrupulous, for his boy soon learned to swear. It is well to prejudice a field in favor of wheat at the first opportunity.

In the matter of amusements for the young, it is much better to provide than to prohibit. If we find the lads and lasses interesting employments they will not be so hungry after the gaities and ensnarements of this wicked world. If we are afraid that the children will eat unwholesome food abroad, let us as much as possible take the edge from their appetites by keeping a good table at home.-Chas. H. Spurgeon.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

Section 1. (Exo 1:1-22.)

The first actings of grace: the hidden hand of overruling power.

Grace in its first actings is here shown to us: the small beginning of a nation in the seventy souls that came into Egypt with Jacob, contrasted with their marvelous and irrepressible increase. Even the bondage into which they come had been already assured them, and what seemed most against them was really the working out of promise for them. The hand of power works in disguise, yet one to faith quite penetrable. It is the same story essentially, whether told of the nation of Israel or of any of the Lord’s redeemed.

First, we are reminded how it is the children of Israel are found in Egypt: every man and his household came with Jacob. The natural name of their father is in perfect place here. We do not inherit grace. We came into the land of bondage with our father Adam.

The bondage itself, however, does not begin at once; for conscious bondage is not the expression of our mere natural state. The man in the seventh of Romans is not a mere child of nature. You will not find such an one crying out, “Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?” That is an expression of felt bondage. There was a time when Egypt pleased us well enough, as there was a time when Egypt pleased Israel well enough. Afterward, we find them remembering with desire the good things they had in Egypt, as the golden calf was an imitation of the worship of Egypt. They had had a flourishing and happy time there, as we know; and it was God who, seeing a need in them they saw not, as He says Himself, “raised up Pharaoh,” and thus brought about a state of bondage. Egypt thus became “the smoking furnace” of Abraham’s vision (Gen 15:1-21), in which, however, it was really God who thought upon His covenant.

So with us all -the life of God begins in the very ability to feel death; and the light, as at the beginning, shines but on a chaos. Thus are our hearts set yearning after Himself. The famine in the far-off land makes us think upon the bread in a father’s house.

Pharaoh’s expedient to keep the people down and in bondage should be noted: he uses their own strength against themselves. They build him store-cities, -cities whence he may provision his troops; and these cities are in Goshen, -in the lands allotted to themselves. Thus every where men rivet their own chains. If it is money that a man is after, every dollar he puts into his treasury only sets his heart more upon it. Every thing that the heart prizes here, the more one succeeds in getting it, the more will it attach the heart to itself. “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” And this is true, in principle, of Christians also. If we allow our hearts to go out after the world in any shape, the more we gain of it, the more its weight will drag us down to earth.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

JOSEPHS DEATH, MOSES CALL

In Exodus we have the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt and the establishment of their relationship with Jehovah their Deliverer.

It opens by rehearsing the names of Jacobs sons and the passing away of Joseph and his generation (Exo 1:1-6) matters considered in Genesis. Then follows a statement of the numerical development of Israel. Count the adverbs, adjectives and nouns describing it, and see how God has fulfilled already one part of His prediction to Abraham (Gen 15:13-14).

ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER 1

What circumstance is mentioned (Exo 1:8)? What course does the king pursue toward Israel and why (Exo 1:9-11)? What effect had this on the development of the people (Exo 1:12)? How further did the Egyptians oppress Israel (Exo 1:13-14)? How was the execution of the last-named method of oppression subsequently extended (Exo 1:22)?

DEFINITION, EXPLANATION AND APPLICATION

Exodus begins with Now which might be translated And, suggesting that the book was not originally divided from Genesis, but constituted a part of it. This is true of all the first five books of the Bible, which were originally one unbroken volume and known as The Law or The Law of Moses (Luk 16:31; Luk 24:44).

The new king.., which knew not Joseph means a new dynasty altogether, the result of some internal revolution or foreign conquest. If that of Josephs day was a dynasty of shepherd kings from the East or the neighborhood of Canaan, we can understand their friendship for Joseph and his family outside of any special debt of gratitude they owed him. For the same reason we can understand how the new regime might have been jealous and fearful of his clan in the event of a war with the people of that region (Exo 1:10). Perhaps, more and mightier than we, is not to be taken in a literal but comparative sense.

Notice concerning the Hebrew midwives that while the names of but two are given these may have been heads of schools of the obstetric art. Stools (Exo 1:16) might be translated stones and suggests a vessel of stone for holding water like a trough, the application being to the children rather than to the mothers. When a newborn child was laid in the trough for bathing may have been the time for the destruction of the male issue.

Exo 1:21 will be better understood if we know that them is masculine and refers not to the midwives but Israel. The midwives feared God, and because of this they did not execute Pharaohs orders, and those orders remaining unexecuted, God built up Israel. He made them houses refers doubtless to the way in which the Israelites begat children and their families grew. It was for this reason that the king now gave commandment to his people generally to engage in the destructive work.

ANALYSIS OF CHAPTER 2

The story now descends from the general to the particular and the history of one family and one child is given. To which tribe did this family belong (Exo 2:1)? For the names of the father and mother, see 6:20. What measures were taken to preserve the child (Exo 2:3)? Compare Heb 11:23 for evidence of a divine impulse in this action. What is the meaning of Moses (in Hebrew, Mosheh, Exo 2:10)? While Moses was to have the advantage of all the wisdom and learning of the Egyptian court (Act 7:22), what arrangement is made for his instruction in the traditions of his fathers (Exo 2:7-9)?

Do you see any relation between this training of Moses and his action in Exo 2:11-12? May it have been that Moses was fired by a carnal desire to free his people at this time and in his own way? What led to his flight from Egypt (Exo 2:13-14)? Were his fears well grounded (Exo 2:15)?

Identify Midian on the map, and from your studies in Genesis recall what Abrahamic stock had settled in that neighborhood. Is there anything in Exo 2:15 and the following verses to recall an ancestor of Moses, and if so, which one?

DEFINITION, EXPLANATION AND APPLICATION

It is probable the marriage of Moses parents had taken place previous to the order for the destruction of the male children, for Aaron, the brother of Moses, was older than he and there is no intimation that his infancy was exposed to peril.

Speaking of the wisdom and learning of the Egyptian, Dr. Murphy has a paragraph explaining it as follows:

The annual overflow of the Nile, imparting a constant fertility to the soil, rendered Egypt preeminently an agricultural country. The necessity of marking the time of its rise led to the study of astronomy and chronology. To determine the right to which it rose in successive years and the boundaries of landed property liable to be obliterated by these waters, they were constrained to turn their attention to geometry. For the preservation of mathematical science and the recording of the observation needful for its practical application, the art of writing was essential; and the papyrus reed afforded the material for such records. In these circumstances the heavenly bodies, the Nile and the animals of their country became absorbing objects of attention and eventually of worship.

This part of Moses history should be studied in connection with Act 7:20-29 and Heb 11:23-27, where we have an inspired commentary on his actions and motives.

It would appear that he declined all the honor and preferment included in his relation by adoption to Pharaohs daughter, and for all we know the throne of Egypt itself, in order to throw in his lot with the Hebrews, and this before the incident recorded in this lesson. And if this be so, no man except Jesus Christ ever made a choice more trying or redounding more to His credit; for it is to be remembered that the step was taken not in youth or old age, but at the grand climacteric of his life when he was forty years of age.

The Midianites being descended from Abraham by Keturah, had doubtless to some degree preserved the worship of Jehovah so that Reuel (elsewhere called Jethro) may, like Melchisedec, have been a priest of the Most High God, and Moses in marrying his daughter was not entering into alliance with an idolator.

QUESTIONS

1.What are the two main subjects of Exodus?

2.What is suggested as to the original form of the first five books of Moses?

3.How would you explain the opposition of the Egyptians?

4.Can you give the history of their learning and wisdom?

5.How do the events of this lesson exalt Moses?

Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary

Exo 1:1. These are the names This list of names is here repeated, that by comparing this small root with the multitude of branches which arose from it, we may see and acknowledge the wonderful providence of God in the fulfilment of his promises. Every man and his household That is, his children and grand-children.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exo 1:1. The children of Israel. Some think we should read here, the sons of Israel. Paul, Gal 4:3; Gal 4:5, makes a distinction between children and sons, in the words and .

Exo 1:7. The land was filled with them. The prodigious increase of the Israelites while in Goshen is accounted for, from the peculiar fruitfulness of their females, who often had, as the Jews allow, two, three, and four children at a birth; from their indulgence in a plurality of wives, and the longevity of the fathers. What a diversity of providence, that in two hundred and fifteen years, while they wandered as shepherds, the males should be no more than seventy or seventy five; and in two hundred and fifteen years more, the men able to bear arms were more than six hundred thousand. The whole number could not be less than three millions.

Exo 1:11. Pithom and Raamses. The former of these is said to be Pelusium, now Damiette, situate at the eastern mouth of the Nile, a strong frontier town. Raamses was called Heliopolis, after the Emperor Helius, who surrounded it with a triple wall. The Greeks say it was built by Peleus, father of Achilles, which has little probability of truth. They built also pyramids and other public monuments. Greek , wheat, grain, probably gave the name of pyramids, because those buildings have a resemblance to a stack of wheat.

Exo 1:19. Are lively. This no doubt was often true, and the king believed it. These midwives had the character of confessors of righteousness, because they risked their lives for their religion, and their people. Women engaged in some laborious employment have a great advantage over those of softer habits of life, at the time of parturition, because of their superior hardiness and strength. This edict, it would seem, was too cruel to be of long continuance.

Exo 1:21. Made them houses. Their fortitude in resisting the kings bloody decrees, so exalted their character, that they were married into the first families of Levi; or the Lord blessed them with a vast posterity in their houses.

Exo 1:22. Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, that the land might not be polluted with blood. Elijah took the prophets of Baal to the brook and slew them. In many parts of Africa the blacks preserve this custom, and in the West Indies many instances of this kind have occurred.

REFLECTIONS.

This short chapter comprises a considerable number of years, during which the Hebrews increased in number, increased in wickedness, and almost lost their religion. They worshipped the gods, and revered the abominations of Egypt. Jos 24:14. Eze 20:8. Circumcision, the grand seal of their covenant fell into total disuse, Joshua 5.; and having partially adopted the idolatry of their oppressors, they made little scruple of intermarrying with the daughters of the Egyptians. Lev 24:10. Exo 12:38. Hence the Lord permitted the sorest calamities to befal his people. Hence also ministers, and the heads of houses may learn, that among a numerous people, rigour of discipline must be preserved. If the reins are once abandoned to passion and the populace, a nation is in full route to become an object of divine visitation.

We may farther observe, that the first strokes of Gods afflictions are to sanctify rather than destroy. Israel in bondage cried unto the Lord: and it is very remarkable that God never brought a man, or a people to distinction and honour, but he began, or very early accompanied his work by affliction. The oppression of the Israelites had a most salutary effect, in weaning their affections from Egypt, and preparing them for the hardships of the desert. Let us then be supported under all our troubles, by a firm persuasion, that soon or late it shall appear that they were intended for our good.

Pharaoh and his court, who decreed the destruction of the male infants, show us that when wicked men are assailed with fears and menaced with danger, they are apt to substitute policy for prudence and cruelty for justice; and in that case, they are sure to fall into the pit they dig for another, as the history before us amply proves. Ah, how many dreadful portraits have we in sacred and profane history of the character of man. To what an extent of wickedness may he not rapidly attain? And who can be preserved, that does not properly believe in God, doing all things in his sight.

In the midwives who feared God, and risked their lives for righteousness, persons may learn how to conduct themselves in the crisis of temptation and trouble. When a man is poor, and persecuted, and friendless, what has he left but his God? And if he, in those circumstances, forfeit the divine favour, he is ruined indeed. Joseph, abandoned in prison, and long forgotten of the butler, had nothing left but his piety; and it proved a hundredfold reward in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting. Let us learn therefore to reject the wisdom of the flesh, and to cherish the wisdom from above, which is pure, peaceable, full of mercy and of good fruit.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Exodus 1

We now approach, by the mercy of God, the study of the Book of Exodus, of which the great prominent theme is redemption. The first five verses recall to the mind the closing scenes of the preceding book. The favoured objects of God’s electing love are brought before us; and we find ourselves, very speedily, conducted, by the inspired penman, into the section of the book.

In our meditations on the Book of Genesis, we were led to see that the conduct of Joseph’s brethren toward him was that which led to their being brought down into Egypt. This fact is to be looked at in two ways. In the first place, we can read therein a deeply solemn lesson as taught in Israel’s actings toward God; and, secondly, we have, therein unfolded, an encouraging lesson, as taught in God’s actings toward Israel.

And, first, as to Israel’s actings toward God, what can be more deeply solemn than to follow out the results of their treatment of him who stands before the spiritual mind as the marked type of the Lord Jesus Christ? They, utterly regardless of the anguish of his soul, consigned Joseph into the hands of the uncircumcised. And what was the issue, as regards them They were carried down into Egypt, there to experience those deep and painful exercises of heart which are so graphically and touchingly presented in the closing chapters of Genesis. Nor was this all. A long and dreary season awaited their offspring in that very land in which Joseph had found a dungeon.

But then God was in all this, as well as man; and it is His prerogative to bring good out of evil. Joseph’s brethren might sell him to the Ishmaelites, and the Ishmaelites might sell him to Potiphar, and Potiphar might cast him into prison; but Jehovah was above all, and He was accomplishing His own mighty ends. “The wrath of man shall praise him.” The time had not arrived in which the heirs were ready for the inheritance, and the inheritance for the heirs. The brickkilns of Egypt were to furnish a rigid school for the seed of Abraham, while, as yet, “the iniquity of the Amorites” was rising to a head, amid the “hills and valleys” of the promised land.

All this is deeply interesting and instructive. There are “wheels within wheels” in the government of God. He makes use of an endless variety of agencies, in the accomplishment of His unsearchable designs. Potiphar’s wife, Pharaoh’s butler, Pharaoh’s dreams, Pharaoh himself, the dungeon, the throne, the fetters, the royal signet, the famine – all are at His sovereign disposal, and all be made instrumental in the development of His stupendous counsels. The spiritual mind delights to dwell upon this. It delights to range through the wide domain of creation and providence, And to recognise, in all, the machinery which an All-wise and an Almighty God is using for the purpose of unfolding His counsels of redeeming love. True, we may see many traces of the serpent; many deep and well-defined footprints of the enemy of God and man; many things which we cannot explain nor even comprehend; suffering innocence and successful wickedness may furnish an apparent basis for the infidel-reasoning of the sceptic mind; but the true believer can piously repose in the assurance that “the Judge of all the earth shall do right.” He knows right well that,

Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan His ways in vain;

God is His own interpreter,

and He will make it plain.”

Blessed be God for the consolation and encouragement flowing out of such reflections as these. We need them, every hour, while passing through an evil world, in which the enemy has wrought such appalling mischief, in which the lusts and passions of men produce such bitter fruits, and in which the path of the true disciple presents roughnesses which mere nature could never endure. Faith knows, of a surety, that there is One behind the scenes whom the world sees not nor regards; and, in the consciousness of this, it can calmly say, “it is well,” and, “it shall be well.”

The above train of thought is distinctly suggested by the opening lines of our book. “God’s counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure.” The enemy may oppose; but God will ever prove Himself to be above him; and all we need is a spirit of simple, child-like confidence and repose in the divine purpose. Unbelief will rather look at the enemy’s efforts to countervail, than at God’s power to accomplish. It is on the latter that faith fixes its eye. Thus it obtains victory, and It has to do with God and His infallible faithfulness. It rests not upon the ever shifting sands of human affairs and earthly influences, but upon the immovable rock of God’s eternal Word. That is faith’s holy and solid resting-place. Come what may, it abides in that sanctuary of strength. “Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.” What then? Could death affect the counsels of the living God? Surely not. He only waited for the appointed moment, the due time, and then the most hostile influences were made instrumental in the development of His purposes.

“Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 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.” (Vv. 8-10) All this is the reasoning of a heart that had never learnt to take God into its calculations. The unrenewed heart never can do so; and hence, the moment you introduce God, all its reasonings fall to the ground. Apart from, or independent of Him, they may seem very wise; but only bring Him in, and they are proved to be perfect folly.

But why should we allow our minds to be, in any wise, influenced by reasonings and calculations which depend, for their apparent truth, upon the total exclusion of God? To do so is, in principle, and according to its measure, practical atheism. In Pharaoh’s case, we see that he could accurately recount the various contingencies of human affairs, the multiplying of the people, the falling out of war, their joining with the enemy, their escape out of the land. All these circumstances he could, with uncommon sagacity, put into the scale; but it never once occurred to him that God could have anything whatever to do in the matter. Had he only thought of this, it would have upset his entire reasoning, and have written folly upon all his schemes.

Now it is well to see that it is ever thus with the reasonings of man’s sceptic mind. God is entirely shut out; yea, the truth and consistency thereof depend upon His being kept out. The death-blow to all scepticism and infidelity is the introduction of God into the scene. Till He is seen, they may strut up and down upon the stage, with an amazing show of wisdom and cleverness; but the moment the eye catches even the faintest glimpse of that Blessed One, they are stripped of their cloak, and disclosed in all their nakedness and deformity.

In reference to the king of Egypt, it may, assuredly, be said, he did “greatly err,” not knowing God, or His changeless counsels. He knew not that, hundreds of years back, before ever he had breathed the breath of mortal life, God’s word and oath – “two immutable things” – had infallibly secured the full and glorious deliverance of that very people whom he was going, in his wisdom, to crush. All this was unknown to him; and, therefore, all his thoughts and plans were founded upon ignorance of that grand foundation-truth of all truths, namely, that GOD IS. He vainly imagined that he, by his management, could prevent the increase of those concerning whom God had said, “they shall be as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore.” His wise dealing, therefore, was simply madness and folly.

The wildest mistake which a man can possibly fall into is to act without taking God into his account. Sooner or later, the thought of God will force itself upon him, and then comes the awful crash of all his schemes and calculations. At best, everything that is undertaken, independently of God, can last but for the present time. It cannot, by any possibility, stretch itself into eternity. All that is merely human, however solid, however brilliant, or however attractive, must fall into the cold grasp of death, and moulder in the dark, silent tomb. The clod of the valley must cover man’s highest excellencies and brightest glories; mortality is engraved upon his brow, and all his schemes are evanescent. On the contrary, that which is connected with, and based upon, God, shall endure for ever. “His name shall endure for ever, and his memorial to all generations.”

What a sad mistake, therefore, for a feeble mortal to set himself up against the eternal God, to “rush upon the thick bosses of the shield of the Almighty!” As well might the monarch of Egypt have sought to stem, with his puny hand, the ocean’s tide, as to prevent the increase of those who were the subjects of Jehovah’s everlasting purpose. Hence, although “they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens,” yet, “the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.” Thus it must ever be. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision.” (Ps. 2: 4) Eternal confusion shall be inscribed upon all the opposition of men and devils. This gives sweet rest to the heart, in the midst of a scene where all is, apparently, so contrary to God and so contrary to faith. Were it not for the settled assurance that “the wrath of man shall praise” the Lord, the spirit would often be cast down, while contemplating the circumstances and influences which surround one in the world. Thank God, “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4: 18) In the power of this, we may well say, “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his may, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.” (Ps. 37: 7) How fully might the truth of this be seen in the case of both the oppressed and the oppressor, as set before us in our chapter! Had Israel “looked at the things that are seen,” what were they? Pharaoh’s wrath, stern taskmasters, afflictive burdens, rigorous service, hard bondage, mortar and brick. But, then, “the things which are not seen,” what were they? God’s eternal purpose, His unfailing promise, the approaching dawn of a day of salvation, the “burning lamp” of Jehovah’s deliverance. Wondrous contrast Faith alone could enter into it. Nought save that precious principle could enable any poor, oppressed Israelite to look from out the smoking furnace of Egypt, to the green fields and vine-clad mountains of the land of Canaan. Who could possibly recognise in those oppressed slaves, toiling in the brick-kilns of Egypt, the heirs of salvation, and the objects of Heaven’s peculiar interest and favour.

Thus it was then, and thus it is now. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5: 7) “It doth not yet appear what we shall be.” (l John 3: 2) We are “here in the body pent,” “absent from the Lord.” As to fact, we are in Egypt, yet, in spirit, we are in the heavenly Canaan. Faith brings the heart into the power of divine and unseen things, and thus enables it to mount above everything down here, in this place “where death and darkness reign. Oh! for that simple child-like faith that sits beside the pure and eternal fountain of truth, there to drink those deep and refreshing draughts, which lift up the fainting spirit, and impart energy to the new man, in its upward and onward course.

The closing verses of this section of our book present an edifying lesson in the conduct of those God-fearing women, Shiphrah and Puah. They would not carry out the king’s cruel scheme, but braved his wrath, and hence, God made them houses. “Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” (1 Sam. 2: 30) May we ever remember this, and act for God, under all circumstances!

Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch

Exo 1:1 to Exo 12:36. Israel in Egypt: I. Increase and Oppression.

Exo 1:1-5 P, Exo 1:6 J, Exo 1:7 P. The Sons of Israel.The transition from the fortunes of a family, such as were the subject of the narratives of Gen., to the events of a peoples history, such as Ex. is concerned with, is happily marked by the altered rendering children of Israel (7) for the Heb. phrase rendered sons of Israel (1). Exo 1:1-5 gives the size of the group from which all the increase came. The round number 70 was a part of the older tradition (see Deu 10:22) which the later writers tried variously to justify. Sometimes Jacob is counted in (as Gen 46:8; Gen 46:27) and sometimes left out (as here). These lists all belong to P. The free handling of the material, which was customary in those times, is illustrated by the addition, in the Gr. of Genesis 46, of Josephs three grandsons and two great-grandsons, making 75, the number also given in Stephens speech, Act 7:14. It is unlikely on several grounds that all the tribes were in Egypt (p. 64). But that the ancestors of the bulk of the nation shared the bitter experiences of Egyptian bondage is the convergent testimony of all our sources, and may be taken as assured fact. While the older Biblical writers, though venturing on a gigantic total (Exo 12:37 and Num 11:21; cf. Num 1:1*) equivalent to two millions, leave their estimate in round numbers, the post-exilic tradition professed to give precise figures of the distribution among the tribes, and the later rabbis solved the riddle by supposing the Hebrew mothers to have had from six to sixty children at a birth. Those who insist on the accuracy of the various enumerations only make the narrative less credible and less intelligible.

Exo 1:6. Between Exo 1:1-5 and Exo 1:7, which belong to P, this verse from J is introduced, which is not required by its immediate context, but leads up to Exo 1:8, and follows on Gen 50:14.

Exo 1:7. increased abundantly: the word (peculiar to P) is swarmed, and recalls the account of the creation of the swarming water-creatures in Gen 1:20 f. (same Heb.). Perhaps, however, the similar word spread abroad (Exo 1:12) should be read. The words multiplied and waxed mighty (Exo 9:20) are borrowed from Js account.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

ISRAEL MULTIPLIED

(vs.1-7)

The first five verses of Exodus indicate its continuity with the book of Genesis, for they confirm what is written in more detail in Gen 46:8-27. This small number of 70 persons, however, rather than integrating with the Egyptian nation, which would be normally expected, maintained an identity totally distinct from them. Since that time too, even though Israel has been scattered for centuries among other nations, God has preserved a clear distinction between them and all Gentile nations, even giving their land back in 1948. After the death of Joseph and all his generation, the number of Jacob’s descendants multiplied tremendously, so that “the land was filled with them” (v.7).

PERSECUTION RAISED BY EGYPT

(vs.8-22)

Joseph’s influence in Egypt was forgotten after his death, and with the rise of a new king Israel could only expect to be discriminated against. The king perceived that the Israelites were becoming more numerous and strong than the Egyptians, and was alarmed that if ever war took place, Israel might become allies of their enemies (vs.9-10). He did not want them to leave Egypt, for their presence had actually made Egypt prosperous.

Therefore, his proposal was to reduce all Israelites to the status of slaves, putting them under slave-drivers to keep them continually under pressure of work so they could have no opportunity to organize and no strength to resist. They were forced to build two store cities, which were cities of provision for Pharaoh’s troops, and in this way they were continuing to forge the chains of their bondage (v.11).

However, God’s wisdom and power are infinitely greater than all the scheming artifice of the world. He used the affliction in such a way as to make Israel multiply greatly in number, which caused vexation and alarm among the Egyptians (v.12). they could imagine no other answer to this than to increase the rigor of Israel’s bondage. As to the three areas of labor mentioned in verse 14, “mortar” would speak of their being made to work in order to help Egypt’s unity, for it is mortar that unites. The “brick” speaks of Egypt’s progress; and “all manner of service,” of Egypt’s prosperity. The world is determined to have believers bow to its authority for the sake of its own selfish ends.

In all the afflictions of Israel God was working in sovereign power and wisdom to make Israel a striking object lesson for all mankind. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is the picture of sin personified, and Egypt a type of the world in its willingly serving sin (Joh 8:34). But there are others, typified by Israel, in whom God is working, who find themselves helpless to resist the state of bondage into which sin has brought them. God in His wisdom allows the affliction to increase to such a point that the people virtually cry out in distress for deliverance.

The king then conceived the wicked plan of demanding that Hebrew midwives must kill every boy at the time of birth and keep the girls alive (vs.15-16). But the midwives, because their fear of God was greater than their fear of the king, did not obey the king’s cruel commandment (v.17).

The king called the midwives to account for this disobedience, for which they have a good answer to the effect that Hebrew children were already born before the parents called a midwife: therefore the mother knew the child was alive. (vs.18-19).

Because of the faith of the midwives in thus putting the fear of God first, God further increased the population of Israel by providing households for the midwives (v.21), that is, giving them children.

Frustrated in his efforts, the king of Egypt takes more drastic action, commanding all his people (the Egyptians) that they should interfere in the Hebrews’ households, to throw into the river every Hebrew boy who was born, allowing the girls to live. This reminds us of Herod’s decree that all the boys under two years of age in the area of Bethlehem were to be put to death (Mat 2:16). Satanic hatred was behind this in both cases, working by means of men’s jealous lust for power and authority, but neither succeeded in destroying the child that God had destined as Israel’s deliverer.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

1:1 Now {a}these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

(a) Moses describes the wonderful order that God observes in performing his promise to Abraham; Gen 15:14.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

I. THE LIBERATION OF ISRAEL 1:1-15:21

"The story of the first half of Exodus, in broad summary, is Rescue. The story of the second half, in equally broad summary, is Response, both immediate response and continuing response. And binding together and undergirding both Rescue and Response is Presence, the Presence of Yahweh from whom both Rescue and Response ultimately derive." [Note: Durham, p. xxiii.]

A. God’s preparation of Israel and Moses chs. 1-4

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. The growth of Jacob’s family 1:1-7

The purposes of this section are three at least.

1. These verses introduce the Israelites who are the focus of attention in Exodus.

2. They also tie the Israelites back to Jacob and explain their presence in Egypt.

3. They account for the numerical growth of the Israelites during the 360 years that elapsed between Genesis and Exodus following Joseph’s death and preceding Moses’ birth.

Moses used the round number 70 for the number of Jacob’s descendants when the patriarch entered Egypt (Exo 1:5; cf. Gen 46:27). [Note: For a good short history of Egypt, see Hannah, pp. 105-7; Youngblood, pp. 20-25, or Siegfried Schwantes, A Short History of the Ancient Near East, pp. 51-109.] The writer’s purpose was to contrast the small number of Israelites that entered Egypt with the large number that existed at the time Exodus begins (Exo 1:8 ff.), about two million individuals (cf. Exo 12:37; Exo 38:26; Num 1:45-47). It is quite easy to prove mathematically that Jacob’s family of 70 that moved into Egypt could have grown into a nation of two million or more individuals in 430 years. [Note: See Ralph D. Winter, "The Growth of Israel in Egypt (The Phenomenon of Exponential Growth)," a paper published by the Institute of International Studies, Pasadena, Ca., 14 April 1993.]

The fruitfulness of the Israelites in Goshen was due to God’s blessing as He fulfilled His promises to the patriarchs (Exo 1:7).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER I.

THE PROLOGUE.

Exo 1:1-6.

“And these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt.”

Many books of the Old Testament begin with the conjunction And. This fact, it has been often pointed out, is a silent indication of truth, that each author was not recording certain isolated incidents, but parts of one great drama, events which joined hands with the past and future, looking before and after.

Thus the Book of the Kings took up the tale from Samuel, Samuel from Judges, and Judges from Joshua, and all carried the sacred movement forward towards a goal as yet unreached. Indeed, it was impossible, remembering the first promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, and the later assurance that in the seed of Abraham should be the universal blessing, for a faithful Jew to forget that all the history of his race was the evolution of some grand hope, a pilgrimage towards some goal unseen. Bearing in mind that there is now revealed to us a world-wide tendency toward the supreme consummation, the bringing all things under the headship of Christ, it is not to be denied that this hope of the ancient Jew is given to all mankind. Each new stage in universal history may be said to open with this same conjunction. It links the history of England with that of Julius Caesar and of the Red Indian; nor is the chain composed of accidents: it is forged by the hand of the God of providence. Thus, in the conjunction which binds these Old Testament narratives together, is found the germ of that instinctive and elevating phrase, the Philosophy of History. But there is nowhere in Scripture the notion which too often degrades and stiffens that Philosophy–the notion that history is urged forward by blind forces, amid which the individual man is too puny to assert himself. Without a Moses the Exodus is inconceivable, and God always achieves His purpose through the providential man.

* * * * *

The Books of the Pentateuch are held together in a yet stronger unity than the rest, being sections of one and the same narrative, and having been accredited with a common authorship from the earliest mention of them. Accordingly, the Book of Exodus not only begins with this conjunction (which assumes the previous narrative), but also rehearses the descent into Egypt. “And these are the names of the sons of Israel which came into Egypt,”–names blotted with many a crime, rarely suggesting any lovable or great association, yet the names of men with a marvellous heritage, as being “the sons of Israel,” the Prince who prevailed with God. Moreover they are consecrated: their father’s dying words had conveyed to every one of them some expectation, some mysterious import which the future should disclose. In the issue would be revealed the awful influence of the past upon the future, of the fathers upon the children even beyond the third and fourth generation–an influence which is nearer to destiny, in its stern, subtle and far-reaching strength, than any other recognised by religion. Destiny, however, it is not, or how should the name of Dan have faded out from the final list of “every tribe of the children of Israel” in the Apocalypse (Rev 7:5-8), where Manasseh is reckoned separately from Joseph to complete the twelve?

We read that with the twelve came their posterity, seventy souls in direct descent from Jacob; but in this number he is himself included, according to that well-known Orientalism which Milton strove to force upon our language in the phrase–

“The fairest of her daughters Eve.”

Joseph is also reckoned, although he “was in Egypt already.” Now, it must be observed that of these seventy, sixty-eight were males, and therefore the people of the Exodus must not be reckoned to have sprung in the interval from seventy, but (remembering polygamy) from more than twice that number, even if we refuse to make any account of the household which is mentioned as coming with every man. These households were probably smaller in each case than that of Abraham, and the famine in its early stages may have reduced the number of retainers; yet they account for much of what is pronounced incredible in the rapid expansion of the clan into a nation.[1] But when all allowance has been made, the increase continues to be, such as the narrator clearly regards it, abnormal, well-nigh preternatural, a fitting type of the expansion, amid fiercer persecutions, of the later Church of God, the true circumcision, who also sprang from the spiritual parentage of another Seventy and another Twelve.

“And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.” Thus the connection with Canaan became a mere tradition, and the powerful courtier who had nursed their interests disappeared. When they remembered him, in the bitter time which lay before them, it was only to reflect that all mortal help must perish. It is thus in the spiritual world also. Paul reminds the Philippians that they can obey in his absence and not in his presence only, working out their own salvation, as no apostle can work it out on their behalf. And the reason is that the one real support is ever present. Work out your own salvation, for it is God (not any teacher) Who worketh in you. The Hebrew race was to learn its need of Him, and in Him to recover its freedom. Moreover, the influences which mould all men’s characters, their surroundings and mental atmosphere, were completely changed. These wanderers for pasture were now in the presence of a compact and impressive social system, vast cities, gorgeous temples, an imposing ritual. They were infected as well as educated there, and we find the men of the Exodus not only murmuring for Egyptian comforts, but demanding visible gods to go before them.

Yet, with all its drawbacks, the change was a necessary part of their development. They should return from Egypt relying upon no courtly patron, no mortal might or wisdom, aware of a name of God more profound than was spoken in the covenant of their fathers, with their narrow family interests and rivalries and their family traditions expanded into national hopes, national aspirations, a national religion.

Perhaps there is another reason why Scripture has reminded us of the vigorous and healthy stock whence came the race that multiplied exceedingly. For no book attaches more weight to the truth, so miserably perverted that it is discredited by multitudes, but amply vindicated by modern science, that good breeding, in the strictest sense of the word, is a powerful factor in the lives of men and nations. To be well born does not of necessity require aristocratic parentage, nor does such parentage involve it: but it implies a virtuous, temperate and pious stock. In extreme cases the doctrine of race is palpable; for who can doubt that the sins of dissolute parents are visited upon their puny and short-lived children, and that the posterity of the just inherit not only honour and a welcome in the world, “an open door,” but also immunity from many a physical blemish and many a perilous craving? If the Hebrew race, after eighteen centuries of calamity, retains an unrivalled vigour and tenacity, be it remembered how its iron sinew has been twisted, from what a sire it sprang, through what ages of more than “natural selection” the dross was thoroughly purged out, and (as Isaiah loves to reiterate) a chosen remnant left. Already, in Egypt, in the vigorous multiplication of the race, was visible the germ of that amazing vitality which makes it, even in its overthrow, so powerful an element in the best modern thought and action.

It is a well-known saying of Goethe that the quality for which God chose Israel was probably toughness. Perhaps the saying would better be inverted: it was among the most remarkable endowments, unto which Israel was called, and called by virtue of qualities in which Goethe himself was remarkably deficient.

Now, this principle is in full operation still, and ought to be solemnly pondered by the young. Self-indulgence, the sowing of wild oats, the seeing of life while one is young, the taking one’s fling before one settles down, the having one’s day (like “every dog,” for it is to be observed that no person says, “every Christian”), these things seem natural enough. And their unsuspected issues in the next generation, dire and subtle and far-reaching, these also are more natural still, being the operation of the laws of God.

On the other hand, there is no youth living in obedience alike to the higher and humbler laws of our complex nature, in purity and gentleness and healthful occupation, who may not contribute to the stock of happiness in other lives beyond his own, to the future well-being of his native land, and to the day when the sadly polluted stream of human existence shall again flow clear and glad, a pure river of water of life.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Professor Curtiss quotes a volume of family memoirs which shows that 5,564 persons are known to be descended from Lieutenant John Hollister, who emigrated to America in the year 1642 (Expositor, Nov. 1887, p. 329). This is probably equal in ratio to the increase of Israel in Egypt.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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