The Torah · Old Testament

Exodus 1

Israel grows under oppression, and the midwives refuse Pharaoh's order

General context

The chapter recalls Jacob's sons and the household of seventy, with Joseph already in Egypt. After Joseph, his brothers and their generation die, Israel grows greatly. A new king who does not know Joseph fears their numbers and imagines that they might join an enemy in war and leave the land. The Egyptians impose hard labor, including construction at Pithom and Raamses, but the people keep multiplying. Their lives become bitter with brickwork and field labor. Pharaoh orders the midwives Shiphrah and Puah to kill newborn Hebrew sons while allowing daughters to live. The midwives fear God and keep the boys alive. When questioned, they tell Pharaoh that the Hebrew women give birth before they arrive. God deals well with the midwives, and the people continue to grow. Because the midwives fear God, he gives them families. Pharaoh then commands all his people to throw newborn sons into the river while sparing daughters.

Cited passages: Exodus 1:1, Exodus 1:2, Exodus 1:3, Exodus 1:4, Exodus 1:5, Exodus 1:6, Exodus 1:7, Exodus 1:8, Exodus 1:9, Exodus 1:10, Exodus 1:11, Exodus 1:12, Exodus 1:13, Exodus 1:14, Exodus 1:15, Exodus 1:16, Exodus 1:17, Exodus 1:18, Exodus 1:19, Exodus 1:20, Exodus 1:21, Exodus 1:22

Exodus 1 (KJV)

¹Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which 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 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 with them.

⁸Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

⁹And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

¹⁰Come 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.

¹¹Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

¹⁴And 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.

¹⁵And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but 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, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

²⁰Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

²¹And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The opening links the people in Egypt to Jacob's named sons and distinguishes Joseph as already there. The new king is not personally named. The labor account names Pithom and Raamses and describes work with mortar, bricks and fields. The king's fear of wartime alliance and departure is his stated reason for repression. Shiphrah and Puah are the two named midwives addressed in the order against boys. Their explanation of rapid births is reported speech, not a medical description established by the narrator. The statement that God made them houses in the King James wording is rendered as households or families in the other bundled translations. The final order extends responsibility for killing the boys to the king's people.

Literary context

Repeated growth frustrates the king's attempts to control Israel. Forced labor is followed by an order to the midwives, then by a command to the wider population. The midwives' fear of God is explicitly placed against obedience to the king, and their refusal preserves the boys entrusted to their care. Their names stand out beside the unnamed ruler. God's favorable treatment and the people's growth do not end the threat: the chapter closes with the harsher public order. No rescue from that final order is narrated here.

Cited passages: Exodus 1:5, Exodus 1:6, Exodus 1:7, Exodus 1:8, Exodus 1:9, Exodus 1:10, Exodus 1:11, Exodus 1:12, Exodus 1:13, Exodus 1:14, Exodus 1:15, Exodus 1:16, Exodus 1:17, Exodus 1:18, Exodus 1:19, Exodus 1:20, Exodus 1:21, Exodus 1:22

Key moments

A new king does not know Joseph (Exodus 1:8). The account introduces a new king over Egypt who does not know Joseph.
Oppression does not stop growth (Exodus 1:12). The people multiply and spread despite the burdens imposed on them.
The midwives keep the boys alive (Exodus 1:17). Because they fear God, the midwives refuse the king's command to kill the boys.
Pharaoh issues a public killing order (Exodus 1:22). Pharaoh commands his people to throw the newborn sons into the river and let the daughters live.

For reflection

How does the midwives' refusal change the account of oppression even though the chapter ends with a wider threat?

People in this chapter

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