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The Second Book of Moses: Exodus

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- Chapter 1 -

(Genesis 46:7–27)
1
These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:
2
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4
Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.
5
The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy (a) in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.
6
Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
7
but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

Oppression by a New King

(Acts 7:15–19)
8
Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.
9
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.
10
Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.(b)”
11
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12
But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.
13
They worked the Israelites ruthlessly
14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
15
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
16
“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”
17
The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.
18
So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”
20
So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
21
And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
22
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews (c) you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

Footnotes

(a)1:5 MT (see also Genesis 46:27); DSS and LXX (see also Acts 7:14) seventy-five
(b)1:10 Or and take the country
(c)1:22 SP, LXX, and Targum Yonaton; Hebrew does not include to the Hebrews.
(Genesis 46:7–27)
1
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
2
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5
All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.
6
Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.
7
The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

Oppression by a New King

(Acts 7:15–19)
8
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph.
9
He said to his people, “Behold,(a) the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
10
Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.”
11
Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.
12
But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel.
13
The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
14
and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
15
The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,
16
and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17
But the midwives feared God,(b) and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
18
The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”
19
The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
20
God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
21
Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22
Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Footnotes

(a)1:9 “Behold”, from “הִנֵּה”, means look at, take notice, observe, see, or gaze at. It is often used as an interjection.
(b)1:17 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
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