The big picture
Exodus opens in Egypt, a kingdom in northeast Africa where Jacob's family had settled during famine. Jacob, also called Israel, was the father of twelve sons. Joseph, one of those sons, had once held high office in Egypt. Joseph and his brothers are now dead. Their descendants, called the children of Israel or Hebrews, have become a large population. A new Pharaoh, the title for Egypt's king, sees their growth as a threat. He first uses forced labour. Then he tries to stop future Hebrew sons from surviving.
In this chapter
- Jacob's Family Becomes a People Exodus 1:1-7
The Book of Exodus begins by naming Jacob's sons who came into Egypt with their households.
- A New King Enslaves Israel Exodus 1:8-14
Egypt gets a new king who has no regard for Joseph's earlier service.
- The Midwives Refuse Pharaoh's Order Exodus 1:15-17
Pharaoh next speaks to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.
- Pharaoh Makes the Order Public Exodus 1:18-22
Pharaoh summons the midwives and asks why they kept the boys alive.
Central truth
Israel keeps growing while Pharaoh answers fear with forced labour and then an order to kill newborn Hebrew sons.
Scripture beside the summary
Exodus · King James Version · 22Exodus 1:1-7
Jacob's Family Becomes a People
The Book of Exodus begins by naming Jacob's sons who came into Egypt with their households. The count given for Jacob's descendants is seventy, with Joseph already in Egypt. Joseph later dies, along with his brothers and their generation. Their descendants do not disappear. They have many children and become very numerous. The wording keeps pressing the point: this once-small family has become a large people. Their growth fills the land. That change matters because the next ruler will see their numbers as a danger instead of a benefit.
In everyday life
A woman opens an old family album and counts the few relatives who first moved to her town. Years later, their reunion fills a rented hall. Children and grandchildren now live across the area. A small household has become a community. Exodus describes a people living under foreign rule, not a modern family reunion.
Notice
Exodus 1:5 The number seventy connects Exodus to Jacob's earlier move into Egypt. The people facing slavery are the same family line that arrived there generations before.
Exodus 1:1-7
King James Version1Now 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.
Exodus 1:8-14
A New King Enslaves Israel
Egypt gets a new king who has no regard for Joseph's earlier service. He tells his people that the Israelites are becoming too numerous and strong. He fears they could join an enemy during war and then leave Egypt. Pharaoh puts taskmasters over them and forces them into heavy labour. They build Pithom and Raamses as storage cities. They also make bricks and work in the fields. The policy fails to shrink them. The more Egypt oppresses Israel, the more Israel grows. Egyptian fear increases, so the work becomes harsher and their lives become bitter.
In everyday life
A landlord fears one immigrant family is becoming too influential in his apartment complex. He gives them extra work, harsher rules and unfair penalties. He hopes pressure will drive them away. Instead, more relatives settle nearby, and his fear grows. Pharaoh has royal power to enslave a whole people, which a landlord does not.
Notice
Exodus 1:12 Pharaoh's plan produces the opposite result from what he wants. Israel keeps growing under oppression, so Egyptian fear rises instead of easing.
Exodus 1:8-14
King James Version8Now 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.
Exodus 1:15-17
The Midwives Refuse Pharaoh's Order
Pharaoh next speaks to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. Midwives help women through childbirth. He orders them to kill each Hebrew boy at birth but let the girls live. The order targets newborn sons and aims to weaken Israel's future. Shiphrah and Puah refuse. Exodus says they fear God, so they do not obey the king. They keep the boys alive instead. Their choice puts them against the ruler of Egypt at the moment of birth. Two women with little public power block part of Pharaoh's plan by refusing to carry out his command.
In everyday life
A night-shift nurse receives an illegal order to falsify records so certain newborns lose needed care. She refuses, documents what happened and protects the patients. Her choice risks her job because the order comes from above. Shiphrah and Puah face a royal command to kill infants, not a workplace dispute.
Notice
Exodus 1:15 Shiphrah and Puah are named, while Pharaoh is not. Exodus preserves the names of the women who resist the order, not the ruler who gives it.
Exodus 1:15-17
King James Version15And 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.
Exodus 1:18-22
Pharaoh Makes the Order Public
Pharaoh summons the midwives and asks why they kept the boys alive. They answer that Hebrew women give birth before the midwives arrive. Exodus does not stop to judge their explanation. God deals well with the midwives, and Israel keeps growing. Because they fear God, he gives them households of their own. Pharaoh then expands his policy. He no longer depends on two midwives to carry it out. He commands all his people to throw every newborn Hebrew son into the river. Daughters may live. The attack has moved from forced labour and secret orders to a public command for killing children.
In everyday life
A plant manager tells two supervisors to hide an illegal purge, but they refuse. He then posts the order for the whole workforce and expects everyone to help carry it out. The wrongdoing spreads from a private command to a public system. Pharaoh's order requires the killing of children, so the stakes are far greater.
Notice
Exodus 1:22 Pharaoh now charges all his people with the order. Violence against Hebrew sons becomes a public duty imposed across Egyptian society.
Exodus 1:18-22
King James Version18And 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.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Exodus 1:1 begins with “Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.”
Where the chapter turns
Exodus 1:11 forms a natural hinge: “Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.”
The final note
Exodus 1:22 leaves the reader with “And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words children, midwives, Egypt, Israel, king, people help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- waxed
- Became or grew, especially in size, strength or number.
- taskmasters
- Overseers who forced workers to carry heavy assigned labour.
- rigour
- Harsh severity in the way forced labour was imposed.
- morter
- Mortar, the wet binding material used with bricks in building.
- ere
- Before, referring here to the time before the midwives arrive.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
