Bible Study Exodus 1
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Exodus 1 · WEB

Israel Oppressed in Egypt

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who 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.
5All the souls who came out of Jacob's body were seventy souls, and Joseph was already in Egypt.
6Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.
7The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn't know Joseph.
9He said to his people, "Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
10Come, 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."
11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.
12But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
14and 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.
15The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,
16and 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."
17But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the boys alive.
18The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and saved the boys alive?"
19The 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."
20God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
21Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."
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Summary

The book of Exodus opens by connecting to Genesis: Jacob's seventy descendants have multiplied into a great nation in Egypt. A new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph rises to power and, fearing the Israelites' growth, enslaves them with brutal labor, setting them to build the store cities of Pithom and Raamses. When forced labor fails to curb their population, Pharaoh orders the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to kill male newborns, but they fear God and refuse. Pharaoh then commands all Egyptians to throw every Hebrew boy into the Nile.

Themes

  • God's faithfulness to the Abrahamic promise of a great nation
  • Oppression and the misuse of political power
  • Courageous civil disobedience rooted in the fear of God
  • God's blessing on those who honor him

Key verses

  • Ex 1:12 — “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out.”
  • Ex 1:17 — “But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the boys alive.”
  • Ex 1:7 — “The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.”

Context & background

The Israelites settled in the region of Goshen in the northeastern Nile Delta of modern Egypt, near present-day Zagazig and the ancient city of Tanis (biblical Zoan). The store cities of Pithom and Raamses (also spelled Ramesses) are associated with major construction projects in the eastern Delta, likely under the reign of Ramesses II (13th century BC) or an earlier pharaoh. The command to throw male infants into the Nile parallels other ancient Near Eastern stories of imperiled heroes and sets the stage for Moses' own miraculous preservation. The midwives' act of defiance is among the earliest recorded examples of conscience-driven civil disobedience in world literature.

Cross-references

  • Acts 7:17-19 — Stephen's speech recalling this oppression as Israel's history before God's deliverance.
  • Genesis 15:13 — God's covenant with Abraham predicting 400 years of affliction in a foreign land.
  • Genesis 46:27 — The seventy souls who came to Egypt, connecting the patriarchal narrative directly to Exodus.
  • Matthew 2:16 — Herod's massacre of infant boys mirrors Pharaoh's edict, connecting Moses and Jesus typologically.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    How many souls of Jacob's household came into Egypt according to Exodus 1?

  2. Observe

    What were the names of the two Hebrew midwives mentioned in this chapter?

  3. Interpret

    What does the statement "the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied" (v. 12) most likely communicate?

  4. Interpret

    Why did the midwives disobey Pharaoh's command (v. 17)?

  5. Apply

    What does the midwives' example teach about responding to unjust authority?

  6. Apply

    How should believers be encouraged by Exodus 1 when facing opposition to God's purposes?

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