Exodus 1:6 Kommentar

We have here, I. God's kindness to Israel, in multiplying them exceedingly (Exo 1:1-7). II. The Egyptians' wickedness to them, 1. Oppressing and enslaving them (Exo 1:8-14). 2. Murdering their children (Exo 1:15-22). Thus whom the court of heaven blessed the country of Egypt cursed, and for that reason.

This chapter begins with an account of the names and number of the children of Israel that came into Egypt with Jacob, Exo 1:1 and relates that increase of them after the death of Joseph, and the generation that went down to Egypt, Exo 1:6 and what methods the Egyptians took to diminish them, but to no purpose, as by obliging to cruel bondage and hard service; and yet the more they were afflicted, the more they increased, Exo 1:9 by ordering the midwives of the Hebrew women to slay every son they laid them of; but they fearing God, did not obey the order of the king of Egypt, which when he expostulated with them about, they excused, and so the people multiplied, Exo 1:15 and lastly, by ordering every male child to be cast into the river, Exo 1:22 and which is the leading step to the account of the birth of Moses, which follows in the next chapter.

And Joseph died, and all his brethren,.... It is a notion of the Jews, that Joseph died before any of his brethren; see Gill on Gen 50:26 and they gather it from these words; but it does not necessarily follow from hence, they might die some before him and some after him; and as they were all born in about seven years' time, excepting Benjamin, they might all die within a little time of each other: according to the Jewish writers (d), the dates of their death were these,"Reuben lived one hundred and twenty four years, and died two years after Joseph; Simeon lived one hundred and twenty years, and died the year after Joseph; Levi lived one hundred and thirty seven years, and died twenty four years after Joseph; Judah lived one hundred and nineteen years, Issachar one hundred and twenty two, Zebulun one hundred and twenty four, and died two years after Joseph; Dan lived one hundred and twenty seven years, Asher one hundred and twenty three years, Benjamin one hundred and eleven years, and died twenty six years before Levi; Gad lived one hundred and twenty five years, and Naphtali one hundred and thirty three years;''but though this account of the Jews, of their times, and of the times of their death, is not to be depended upon, yet it is certain they all died in Egypt, though they were not buried there; but as Stephen says, Act 7:16 they were carried over to Shechem and interred there, either quickly after their decease, or, however, were taken along with the bones of Joseph by the children of Israel, when they departed out of Egypt: and it is also evident that they all died before the affliction and oppression of the children of Israel in Egypt began; and this account seems to be given on purpose to point this out unto us, being placed in the order it is. Levi lived the longest of them all, and the affliction did not begin till after his death; and the Jewish chronologers say (e) that from his death to the children of Israel's going out of Egypt were one hundred and sixteen years; and they further observe (f), that it could not last more than one hundred and sixteen years, and not less than eighty seven, according to the years of Miriam: and all that generation; in which Joseph and his brethren had lived. These also died, Egyptians as well as Israelites, before the oppression began. (d) R. Bechai apud Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 3. 2. & 4. 1. (e) R. Gedaliah in Shalshalet, fol. 5. 1. Ganz. Tzemach David: par. 1. fol. 6. 1. (f) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 3. p. 9.

The names and number of the children of Israel that went down into Egypt, Exo 1:1-5. Joseph and all his brethren of that generation die, Exo 1:6. The great increase of their posterity, Exo 1:7. The cruel policy of the king of Egypt to destroy them, Exo 1:8-11. They increase greatly, notwithstanding their affliction, Exo 1:12. Account of their hard bondage, Exo 1:13, Exo 1:14. Pharaoh's command to the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male children, Exo 1:15, Exo 1:16. The midwives disobey the king's command, and, on being questioned, vindicate themselves, Exo 1:17-19. God is pleased with their conduct, blesses them, and increases the people, Exo 1:20, Exo 1:21. Pharaoh gives a general command to the Egyptians to drown all the male children of the Hebrews, Exo 1:22.

Joseph died, and all his brethren - That is, Joseph had now been some time dead, as also all his brethren, and all the Egyptians who had known Jacob and his twelve sons; and this is a sort of reason why the important services performed by Joseph were forgotten.

Exodus 1:1 INCREASE OF THE ISRAELITES. (Exo. 1:1-22) Now these are the names--(See Gen. 46:8-26).

Increase in the Number of the IsraelitesTheir Bondage in Egypt - Exodus 1 The promise which God gave to Jacob in his departure from Canaan (Gen 46:3) was perfectly fulfilled. The children of Israel settled down in the most fruitful province of the fertile land of Egypt, and grew there into a great nation (Exo 1:1-7). But the words which the Lord had spoken to Abram (Gen 15:13) were also fulfilled in relation to his seed in Egypt. The children of Israel were oppressed in a strange land, were compelled to serve the Egyptians (Exo 1:8-14), and were in great danger of being entirely crushed by them (Exo 1:15-22).

After the death of Joseph and his brethren and the whole of the family that had first immigrated, there occurred that miraculous increase in the number of the children of Israel, by which the blessings of creation and promise were fully realised. The words פּרוּ ישׁרצוּ (swarmed), and ירבּוּ point back to Gen 1:28 and Gen 8:17, and יעצמוּ to עצוּם גּוי in Gen 18:18. "The land was filled with them," i.e., the land of Egypt, particularly Goshen, where they were settled (Gen 47:11). The extra-ordinary fruitfulness of Egypt in both men and cattle is attested not only by ancient writers, but by modern travellers also (vid., Aristotelis hist. animal. vii. 4, 5; Columella de re rust. iii. 8; Plin. hist. n. vii. 3; also Rosenmller a. und n. Morgenland i. p. 252). This blessing of nature was heightened still further in the case of the Israelites by the grace of the promise, so that the increase became extraordinarily great (see the comm. on Exo 12:37).