These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. (70+5 Joseph and his family[a])
Footnotes
a. Exodus 1:5 Masoretic Text (see also Gen. 46:27); Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint (see also Acts 7:14 and note at Gen. 46:27) seventy-five
INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 1
This chapter begins with an account of the names and number of the children of Israel that came into Egypt with Jacob, Ex. 1:1-5, and relates to the increase of them and the generation that went down to Egypt, Ex 1:6-8. Regardless of the methods the Egyptians used to diminish their number, it was to no avail because by forcing cruel bondage and hard labor upon them, the more they were afflicted, the more they increased. Ex 1:9-14. When ordering the midwives of the Hebrew women to slay every son, they refused to do it because they feared God more than they feared the orders of the King of Egypt. They did not obey the orders of their King.
Furthermore, when he admonished them for their disobedience, they made-up excuses; thus, the people multiplied, Ex 1:15-21. Lastly, the midwives refused the King's order to cast every male child into the Nile River, Ex 1:22. They did not do that either, which is the step leading to the account of the birth of Moses that follows in the next chapter.
1. COMMENTARY (NIV)
1. Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
The first seven verses of Exodus describe the rapid growth of the sons of Jacob during their time in Egypt. It begins with a review of Jacob's twelve sons. These "sons of Israel" were mentioned four times in Genesis before this verse (Genesis 42:5; 45:21; 46:5; 50:25) about Jacob's sons. In Exodus, the phrase "sons of Israel" will expand to encompass the entire nation of Israel. As explained in the book of Genesis, these men went to Egypt to buy food during a famine at the request of their aged father, Jacob. On their second journey to Egypt, Joseph, the younger brother they had sold into slavery and now second only to Pharaoh, revealed himself. At Pharaoh's request, Jacob and his sons and their households moved to Egypt and settled in the land of Goshen.
Four of Jacob's twelve sons are mentioned in this verse, starting with Reuben. Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob through Leah (Genesis 29:32; 35:23; 49:3). However, Reuben later had sex with his father's concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). This act caused him to lose his preeminence or role as a leader (Genesis 49:3–4). On the positive side, Reuben helped protect the life of Joseph from his brothers (Genesis 37:21–22).
Simeon, Levi, and Judah are the other three sons noted in this verse. Simeon and Levi were considered violent and angry (Genesis 49:5–7). They had attacked many people (Genesis 34:30). Simeon was the second son of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29:33). Joseph imprisoned Simeon on the first trip Jacob's sons took to Egypt (Genesis 42:24). Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah (Genesis 29:34). Judah was their fourth son, whose name sounds like the Hebrew word for "praise" (Genesis 29:35). Judah was considered powerful among Jacob's sons (Genesis 49:8–12).
The following verses describe the eleven sons of Jacob who moved to Egypt (Exodus 1:2–4), Joseph's family (Exodus 1:5), and the death of that generation (Exodus 1:6). Nevertheless, their death will not be the end of Israel. Instead, it will become the start of an entire nation (Exodus 1:7). God fulfills His promise to Abraham to turn his descendants into a nation of people He would bless (Genesis 12:1–3).
In these verses, we have,
1. A recital of the names of the twelve patriarchs, as they are called (Acts 7:8). Their names are often repeated in scripture, that they may not sound uncouth to us, like other hard names, but that, by their occurring so frequently, they may become familiar to us; and to show how precious God's spiritual Israel are to him, and how much he delights in them.
2. Notice that their increase in Egypt might appear the more remarkable. The account which was kept of the number of Jacob's family, when they went down into Egypt; they were in all seventy souls (v. 5), according to the computation we had, Gen. 46:27. According to the account given, this was just the number of nations by which the earth was peopled (Gen. 10). For when the Most High separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel, as Moses observes (Deu. 32:8). Note, It is suitable for those whose latter end dramatically increases to remember how small their beginning was (Job 8:7).
(1.) Though, no doubt, they increased considerably before, it should seem, it was not till after the death of Joseph that it began to be taken notice of as extraordinary. Thus, when they lost the benefit of his protection, God made their numbers their defense, and they became better able than they had been to shift for themselves. If God continues our friends and relations to us while we most need them, and removes them when they can be better spared, let us own that he is wise and not complain that he is hard upon us. After the death of Christ, our Joseph, his gospel Israel began most remarkably to increase: and his death influenced it; it was like the sowing of a corn of wheat, which, if it dies, bringeth forth much fruit, (Jn. 12:24).
(2.) This remarkable increase fulfilled the promise made unto the fathers long before. From the call of Abraham, when God first told him he would make of him a great nation, to the deliverance of his seed out of Egypt, it was 430 years, during the first 215 of which they were increased but to seventy, but, in the latter half, those seventy multiplied to 600,000 fighting men. Note,
[1.] Sometimes God's providences may seem for a great while to thwart his promises and go counter to them, that his people's faith may be tried, and his power the more magnified.
[2.] Though the performance of God's promises is sometimes slow, it is always sure; at the end, it shall speak and not lie, Hab. 2:3.
Verses 1-4 The *Hebrew word 'and' begins verse 1. This word and the list of names show that this book continues the record in Genesis. God gave Jacob the name 'Israel' (Genesis 32:28). So 'Israel's sons' refers to Jacob's own family. Egypt's ruler had invited Jacob and his family to live in Egypt. He gave land to them in the region called Goshen. Moreover, they had plenty of room for their sheep and other animals (Genesis 47:1-6). Jacob had four wives, and he had sons with each wife. This book records the names of Jacob's sons. They appear in the same order as in Genesis 35:23-26. His first wife was Leah. Her sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Then Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. Dan and Naphtali were the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s servant. Gad and Asher were the sons of Zilpah, Leah's servant.
The list in verses 2-4 does not include Joseph because he was already in Egypt. Many years before these events, his brothers had sold him as an enslaved person. However, he became powerful and influential in Egypt (Genesis chapters 37; 39-41).
Verse 5 - The number 70 is the number of males in the family who came to Egypt. The *Greek translation of Genesis 46:27 includes five more names. They were Joseph's grandsons. They were the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons. They make the number 75. Furthermore, Stephen mentioned 75 in his speech (Acts 7:9-15).
*Pharaoh's fear
"The trouble with the Bible … is that so much of it is Old Testament. Furthermore, the trouble with the Old Testament is just that. It is old. Now, of course, for some things, oldness speaks of permanence and lasting, even increasing, value. For other things, oldness spells outmoded, obsolete, and irrelevant. Which category does the Old Testament belong to?"
1 In the prologue to his excellent book, An Eye for an Eye: The Place of Old Testament Ethics Today, Christopher J. H. Wright raises a question that troubles many Christians today. Moreover, for those whom it does not trouble, it should. With a great deal of enthusiasm and expectation, I commence this Old Testament study, beginning with the Book of Exodus.
2 I believe we will find, as Wright's excellent book shows, that the Old Testament is a book rich in relevance to the New Testament saint.
Specifically, this series begins with the "birth" of the nation Israel, as described in the Book of Exodus, a book rich in themes that will recur in the Old and New Testaments.
3 While we will not cover this book in thorough, chapter-by-chapter analysis, we will begin our study in chapter 1, which sets the stage for the drama of the Exodus.
Linking the Past and the Present(1:1-7)
4 Verses 1-7 serve to link the events of the Book of Genesis
5 and those recorded in the Book of Exodus. These two books were intended to be understood in relationship to each other
6 Verses 1-6 sum up the history of Israel as a clan, as described more thoroughly in Genesis, chapters 12-50. These six verses remind us that all that will occur in this book is directly related to what has gone before, as described in Genesis.
7 The curse of God in Genesis 3 included hard toil, undoubtedly the lot of Israel in Egypt. As also promised in Genesis 3, it was through the birth of a child. So too, through the birth of a child (Moses, Exod. 2), God provided a deliverer for His people. As men strove to provide themselves with security and significance by building a city and a tower using bricks and mortar, Egypt sought to secure herself by forcing the Israelites to build cities with bricks and mortar (compare Gen. 11 with Exod. 1:14; 5:1ff.).
"Exodus is the record of Israel's birth as a nation," says The New Open Bible (introductory notes to Exodus). "The Hebrew title, We'elleh Shemoth, 'Now These Are the Names,' comes from the first phrase in 1:1. Exodus begins with 'Now' to show it as a continuation of Genesis. The Greek title is Exodus, meaning exit, departure, or going out. The Septuagint [Greek translation of the Old Testament] uses this word to describe the book by its key event (see 19:1, 'gone out')" (1990). Though a nation of enslaved people, Israel will leave Egypt victorious to meet their God in the wilderness.
Exodus is the second of the five books written by Moses (see Exodus 17:14). Jesus Christ affirmed him as the author (compare Exodus 3:6; Mark 12:26). After calling Moses, God sends him to lead the people. However, the power to free the Israelites is not the power of Moses. Instead, it is the power of the divine King of the universe. All the while, man's weakness is made quite clear—from Moses' initial resistance to God's will to the stubborn hardheartedness of Pharaoh to the incessant complaining, murmuring, and outright rebellion of the Israelites.
God, however, proves ultimately faithful. He will deliver His people. Moreover, this is all a mere type or forerunner of the future deliverance that He will accomplish through sending Jesus Christ—first to die as the true Passover lamb (represented in type here in Exodus) and then to come again as immortal Savior—to destroy His enemies and glorify all who choose to serve Him and live according to His law, a law first spelled out for us in the book of Exodus.
Archeologists and biblical scholars have discussed whether Israel's sojourn in Egypt and the Exodus occurred. Biblical "minimalists" dispute the historicity of these events because there is no evidence outside of the Bible for them. However, many distinguished scholars uphold the veracity of the biblical account. "'Absence of evidence,' observes Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen, 'is not evidence of absence.' Nahum Sarna, professor emeritus of biblical studies at Brandeis University, argues that the exodus story—tracing, as it does, a nation's origins to slavery and oppression—cannot possibly be fictional. 'If you are making up history,' adds Richard Elliott Friedman, professor at the University of California at San Diego, ' you were descended from gods or kings, not from slaves.' No nation would be likely to invent for itself and faithfully transmit century after century and millennium after millennium, an inglorious and inconvenient tradition of this nature, unless it had an authentic core.
"Indeed, the absence of direct material evidence of an Israelite sojourn in Egypt is not as surprising or as damaging to the Bible's credibility as it first might seem. What type of material evidence, after all, would one expect to find that could corroborate the biblical story? 'Slaves, serfs, and nomads leave few traces in the archeological record,' notes [respected archeologist] William Dever. Furthermore, since official records and inscriptions in the ancient Near East often were written to impress gods and potential enemies, it would be quite surprising to find an account of the destruction of the Pharaoh's army immortalized on the walls of an Egyptian temple."
Though Enslaved, Israel Becomes a Nation
Here we have a recount of the sons of Israel, interestingly not by order of age but listed according to the sons' mothers. First listed are the sons of Leah, then the sons of Leah's handmaid (Zilpah), Rachel's son Benjamin (Joseph was already in Egypt), then the sons of Rachel's handmaid (Bilhah). It is stated that Jacob's family of "seventy persons" had come into Egypt (verse 5), just as was stated in Genesis 46:27. However, some people see a conflict with Stephen's statement in Acts 7: "Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people" (verse 14). However, as Christ stated, "Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35).
Moreover, indeed, a simple explanation is given in John W. Haley's Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible: "Jacob's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren amounted to sixty-six [Genesis 46:8-26]. Adding Jacob himself and Joseph with his two sons, we have seventy. If to the sixty-six, we add the nine wives of Jacob's sons (Judah's and Simeon's wives were dead; Joseph could not be said to call himself, his wife, or his two sons into Egypt; and Jacob is specified separately by Stephen), we have seventy-five persons, as in Acts" (p. 389).
However, the Israelites were not to remain at these numbers for long. God had promised and covenanted with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand of the seashore (Genesis 22:17-18). He reiterated that promise with Isaac ( Genesis 26:4) and with Jacob (Genesis 28:14), who was renamed Israel (Genesis 32:28). Now we see in Exodus the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise, emphasized by the use of five different descriptions: "were fruitful"; "increased abundantly"; "multiplied"; "waxed exceeding mighty"; "the land was filled with them." It seems as though God inspired Moses to drive home the point that He was starting to fulfill the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is effortless to forget God's Word, especially when we fall upon difficult times, but this shows God's faithfulness to His promises.
Now we read that many years have passed since Joseph and his family (including his brothers and their families) died. A new pharaoh has come into power who does not know, remember, or acknowledge the deeds and position that Joseph once held. Ask any number of young adults today whether they remember men such as Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. It does not take long to forget men who once held apparent positions. Nevertheless, in Egypt, the tendency was far worse. There were no textbooks to read or T.V. news to watch. Moreover, a new pharaoh often erased evidence of the glory of the previous Pharaoh to aggrandize himself in the eyes of the people.
This new Pharaoh now regards the Israelites as a threat because of their vast population. So the Egyptians devise a plan to bring the Israelites into total submission through slavery. This is all according to God's plan revealed to Abraham (Genesis 15:13-14). The attempt by the Pharaoh to use the taskmasters to break the spirit of the Israelites, ruin their health through long, hard hours of work, and discourage them from having children who would be born into slavery was not working. So an edict was proclaimed to kill the male children, thus restraining the population growth. It is interesting to note God's intervention here, as the midwives were not punished for disobeying Pharaoh's command. God blessed the midwives due to their respect for Him! Pharaoh, in turn, commanded the Egyptians to engage in the murder of the male Hebrew children. Though many were killed, it is improbable that the edict lasted very long as we can see that by the time Moses returned to lead Israel out of Egypt as a grown man (in his 80s), the adult males of Israel numbered approximately 600,000.
Moses "Drawn Out"
Exodus 1:1 "Now these [are] the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob."
The Hyksos overrun " Egypt " during the Second Intermediate Period (1786-1550 B.C.). Thus, there arose a "new king over Egypt" who not only "knew not Joseph" but viewed the Israelites as "more and mightier than we." By 1550 B.C., the Hyksos were expelled by Ahmose, who ushered in the Eighteenth Dynasty (during which names ending with "mose" became popular), and the New Kingdom Period (1550-1070 B.C.). During the early phase of the New Kingdom Period, Egypt reached its most incredible heights of military and political power under Thutmose III, while Moses was in exile in Midian. When Moses finally returned to Egypt, Amen-Hotep II was on the throne and became the Pharaoh of the Exodus.
One man's (Jacob) family came into Egypt and grew into the nation of Israel. Joseph and his family were already in Egypt, and his father and eleven brothers and their families fled the famine and came to Egypt, where there was food. Because they were of Joseph's family, the then currently reigning Pharaoh treated them royally.
The Pharaoh had welcomed Joseph's family and given them land to dwell on. Joseph had led Egypt into a food storage program that saved Egypt and saved his family as well. The wealth Joseph had brought to Egypt was soon forgotten. When the Pharaoh died, the new Pharaoh became afraid of the Israelites and made slaves of them in Goshen to keep them from overthrowing the Egyptian government.
Exodus 1:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
"Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah" are the first sons of Jacob by Leah.
We see Reuben mentioned first because he was the oldest son. Reuben displeased his father greatly when he practiced incest with his father's concubine, Bilhah. This is a terrible sin, and Reuben was disinherited for this sin (Genesis 35:22).
Exodus 1:3 "Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,"
The sons of the legitimate wives are placed first, then those of the concubines. Leah has precedence over Rachel; Bilhah over Zilpah. The children of each wife and concubine are given in order of seniority. The omission of Joseph from the list is explained in the last part of Exodus 1:5.
"And Benjamin," who, though youngest of all, is placed before Dan, Naphtali, etc., because they were the children of the hand-maidens.
Exodus 1:4 "Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher."
Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, are last mentioned, being sons of the concubine wives.
Exodus 1:5 "And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt [already]."
The number "Seventy" agrees with (Genesis 46:27 and Deut. 10:22, but the Septuagint and Acts 7:14 have 75). The Dead Sea materials also agree with the Septuagint. The number 66 (in Genesis 46:26) does not include Joseph and his two sons, and Moses likely added these later, making 70.
Acts 7:14 reports 75 with the addition of 5 relatives of Joseph included in the LXX, but not the Hebrew text.
This is just speaking of the families of Jacob and his sons and their families in Egypt. We remember from the lessons in Genesis that Joseph realized that his being sold into Egypt was part of God's plan for the provision of the covenant people.
Joseph's name is excluded because he was already in Egypt. You remember from Genesis that his brothers had sold him as an enslaved person. Leah's children were even named before Rachel's child because Leah was Jacob's first wife. The servant girls' children were listed last.
