ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Exodus 1

Ex. 1:1–18:27 Exodus of Israel from Egypt. The first half of Exodus focuses on the departure of the people of Israel from Egypt.

1:1–2:25 Setting: Israel in Egypt. The opening pages of Exodus set the stage for the rest of the book. Here we see the connection to the events of Genesis (Ex. 1:1–7), the oppression that has arisen under a new pharaoh (1:8–22), the preservation of Moses at birth (2:1–10) and later in Midian (2:11–22), and God’s knowledge of Israel’s suffering and his faithfulness to his covenant with Abraham and his descendants (2:23–25).

Ex. 1:1–7 These verses link Genesis and Exodus together. They connect Joseph bringing Jacob and his family to Egypt (see Gen. 46:8–27) and the death of that generation (see Gen. 50:26) with their descendants living in Egypt as the people of Israel.

Ex. 1:1 the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob. In Genesis God declared that Jacob would be called Israel (Gen. 32:28; 35:10). Using both names here connects the story of Exodus with the promise that God would be faithful to his covenant with Abraham and with Jacob (Gen. 35:11–12). God’s faithfulness to his covenant promises is a central theme in Exodus (Ex. 2:24; 3:6–8; 15–17; 4:5; 6:2–8; 32:13).

Ex. 1:2–4 The names of Jacob’s sons appear in birth order, grouped by their mothers (compare Gen. 35:23–26), though Joseph’s name does not appear in the list.

Ex. 1:5 seventy persons. See note on Gen. 46:26–27.

Ex. 1:7 The Hebrew phrase translated the people of Israel is the same phrase as “the sons of Israel” in v. 1. Having mentioned the death of Joseph and all his generation (v. 6), the focus moves on from the 12 sons of Jacob to their offspring.

Ex. 1:8 The reference to a new leader in Egypt who did not know Joseph assumes that the reader is familiar with Joseph’s history in Egypt (see Genesis 37–50, especially 41:37–45).

Ex. 1:11 The description of the taskmasters who afflict Israel echoes Gen. 15:13. Most scholars agree that the site of Raamses is at Qantir in the eastern Nile delta, about 12 miles (19 km) south of Tanis. Pithom is probably about 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Raamses.

Ex. 1:15–22 The defiant actions of the Hebrew midwives show that they feared God (vv. 17, 21) more than they feared the king of Egypt. Their actions introduce a central theme of the book of Exodus: Israel is called to fear God above any other ruler, nation, or circumstance.

Ex. 1:19 Some think that the midwives’ answer is deceptive. It is not clear, however, that the reply is untrue; nor is it clear whether this is all that the women said. The narrator simply commends the women for refusing to go along with Pharaoh’s murderous scheme.

Ex. 1:22 Pharaoh chooses to let every daughter live because he is primarily worried about Israel’s sons fighting against Egypt (v. 10). However, some of Israel’s daughters who fear God more than Pharaoh (Shiphrah and Puah, v. 15; Moses’ mother and sister, 2:1–10) are part of the means by which God will bring his people out of slavery.