The sons of Israel multiply in Egypt, fulfilling the creation mandate, until a new Pharaoh who does not know Joseph enslaves them. When state-sponsored infanticide targets Hebrew boys, two midwives defy the king's order because they fear God.
What Makes This Chapter Remarkable
The chapter opens with a cascade of creation-language verbs — paru, vayyishretzu, vayyirbu ('were fruitful, swarmed, multiplied') — deliberately echoing Genesis 1:28 and the teeming life of Genesis 1:20-21. Covenant fruitfulness thrives inside imperial oppression. Meanwhile, two named women (Shiphrah and Puah) resist an unnamed Pharaoh; the text grants enduring honor to the resisters and anonymity to the tyrant.
Translation Friction
The verb vayyishretzu ('swarmed') posed a real translation decision. The root sharats is used for teeming aquatic life in Genesis 1 — it carries connotations of unstoppable, almost biological increase. We retained 'swarmed' rather than softening it, because the Hebrew deliberately makes Israel's growth sound like creation bursting its banks. The phrase yotsei yerekh ('those who came out of Jacob's thigh') we rendered as 'from Jacob's own line' to preserve the kinship meaning without the anatomical idiom.
Connections
The tribal list echoes Genesis 46:8-27. The creation verbs point back to Genesis 1:28 and 9:1. The midwives' civil disobedience anticipates Daniel 3 and Acts 5:29. God building 'households' for the midwives (v21) foreshadows the house-building promise of 2 Samuel 7:11.
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each man with his household:
KJV Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The chapter opens with a deliberate echo of Genesis 46, linking Exodus to the covenant family history. The story of deliverance begins with remembered names, not anonymous masses.
Exodus 1:2
רְאוּבֵ֣ן שִׁמְע֔וֹן לֵוִ֖י וִיהוּדָֽה׃
namely Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
KJV Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The tribal list begins with Leah's first four sons, following established birth-order tradition in Genesis.
Exodus 1:3
יִשָּׂשכָ֥ר זְבוּלֻ֖ן וּבִנְיָמִֽן׃
Issachar and Zebulun and Benjamin,
KJV Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin complete the core sons born to Leah and Rachel before the sons of the maidservants are listed.
Exodus 1:4
דָּ֥ן וְנַפְתָּלִ֖י גָּ֥ד וְאָשֵֽׁר׃
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher.
KJV Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The full list preserves the continuity of the twelve-tribe identity before Israel becomes a nation in Egypt.
Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.
KJV Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
'Did not know Joseph' likely means more than personal ignorance; it signals political refusal to honor Joseph's legacy and policy shift toward oppression.
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and leave the land."
KJV 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.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
נִתְחַכְּמָהnitchakkemah
"let us deal shrewdly"—act wisely, deal cunningly, act strategically
Pharaoh's so-called wisdom is moral corruption: political cunning used to justify oppression.
Translator Notes
The Hebrew says 'deal wisely' (or shrewdly), but the wisdom is corrupt: it is strategic oppression disguised as national security.
So they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens, and they built supply cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.
KJV Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The move from anxiety to policy is immediate: economic exploitation through forced labor. 'Supply/treasure cities' indicates state-building through enslaved bodies.
They made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and brick and in every kind of field work. In all their labor they forced them to serve with brutality.
KJV And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The verse piles up labor terms to emphasize totalizing oppression: domestic production, construction labor, and agricultural service.
He said, "When you help the Hebrew women give birth and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, put him to death; if it is a daughter, let her live."
KJV And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
The command targets males to destroy covenant continuity while absorbing females into Egyptian society. It is population control through selective infanticide.
"the midwives feared God"—revered God, stood in awe of God, honored God's authority
Biblical 'fear of God' means moral allegiance to divine authority above human power.
Translator Notes
The midwives' civil disobedience is explicitly theological: they fear God above Pharaoh. This is the first direct human resistance to imperial decree in Exodus.
The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."
KJV And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
Notes & Key Terms
Translator Notes
Their reply functions as protective speech under tyranny. Whether fully factual or strategic, the narrative commends the life-preserving result.
And because the midwives feared God, He made households for them.
KJV And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
Notes & Key Terms
1 term
Key Terms
וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּיםvayya'as lahem battim
"He made households for them"—built houses, established families, gave enduring households
Likely refers to God establishing their family lines and legacy, a covenant-style reward for faithful courage.
Translator Notes
'He made households for them' likely means God granted them enduring family lines/status, reversing the threat of child-destruction with covenant-style fruitfulness.