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The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:2-5
The sons of the legitimate wives Leah and Rachel are placed first, in the order of their seniority (Genesis 29:32-35; Genesis 30:18-20; Genesis 35:18); then these of the secondary wives, or concubines, also in the order…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:5
All the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls. This is manifestly intended as a repetition of Genesis 46:27, and throws the reader back upon the details there adduced, which make up the exact numb…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 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 complicat…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:6
And Joseph died. Or, "So Joseph died"—a reference to Genesis 1:26—and all his brethren. All the other actual sons of Jacob—some probably before him; some, as Levi (Genesis 6:16), after him. Joseph's "hundred and ten yea…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:7-14
Israel in Egypt. The life of a people, like that of an individual, to a great extent shaped by circumstances. In Canaan the Israelites might learn hardihood, but no room for much growth; few opportunities for national o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:7-11
A multiplying people and a king's fears. The increase of Israel in Egypt excited Pharaoh's jealousy. They were a useful people, and he dreaded their departure (Exodus 1:10). But their staying was almost equally an occas…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:7-14
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:7-14
Here the real narrative of Exodus begins. The history of the Israelites from and after the death of Joseph is entered on. The first point touched is their rapid multiplication. The next their falling under the dominion…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:7
The multiplication of the Israelites in Egypt from "seventy souls" to "six hundred thousand that were men" (Genesis 12:1-20 :37)—a number which may fairly be said to imply a total of at least two millions—has been decla…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:8-14
The land of Egypt became to Israel a house of bondage. The place where we have been happy, may soon become the place of our affliction; and that may prove the greatest cross to us, of which we said, This same shall comf…
Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:8-14
The land of Egypt here, at length, becomes to Israel a house of bondage, though hitherto it had been a happy shelter and settlement for them. Note, The place of our satisfaction may soon become the place of our afflicti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:8-22
The policy of Pharaoh. I. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE POLICY. This is indicated in Exodus 1:9, Exodus 1:10. It was a policy of selfish fear, proceeding upon an unconcealed regard for the supremacy of Egypt. Whatever interfered…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:8
There arose up a new king. It is asked, Does this mean merely another king, or a completely different king, one of a new dynasty or a new family, not bound by precedent, but free to adopt and likely to adopt quite new p…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:8
Joseph forgotten. "The evil that men do lives after them—the good is oft interred with their bones." Had Joseph been a tyrant, a conqueror, an egotist who crushed down the Egyptians by servile toil for the purpose of ra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:8-14
Egypt's sin. I. NATIONAL WRONG-DOING THE SEED OF NATIONAL DISASTER. The story of Egypt's suffering begins with the story of Egypt's injustice. There was wisdom in Pharaoh's statesmanship, and a sincere desire to serve h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:9
And he said unto his people, Behold, the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Literally, "great and strong in comparison with us." Actual numerical superiority is not, perhaps, meant; yet the expression is…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:10
Come on. The "Come then" of Kalisch is better. Let us deal wisely. "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." Severe grinding labour has often been used as a means of keeping…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:10-12
The wisdom of the wise brought to nought. God is wont to "destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent" (1 Corinthians 1:19). He "makes the devices of the people of none effect"…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:11-14
The bondage. I. HOW EFFECTED? Doubtless, partly by craft, and partly by force. To one in Pharaoh's position, where there was the will to enslave, there would soon be found the way. 1. The Israelites were politically wea…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:11
They did set over them taskmasters. Literally, "lords of tribute," or "lords of service." The term used, sarey massim, is the Egyptian official title for over-lookers of forced labour. It occurs in this sense on the mon…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:12
They were grieved because of the children of Israel. The word grieved very insufficiently renders the Hebrew verb, which "expresses a mixture of loathing and alarm". Kalisch translates forcibly, if inelegantly—"They had…
The Pulpit Commentary on Exodus 1:13
The Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour. The word translated rigour is a very rare one. It is derived from a root which means "to break in pieces, to crush." The "rigour" would be shown especially…