# Exodus 01 đź“–: Israel Oppressed in Egypt
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[[-Exodus Overview]] | [[Genesis 50]] | [[Exodus 02]]
> [!info] Table of Contents
> [[#đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)]]
> [[#đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary]]
> [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]]
> [[#🧠Chapter Summary]]
> [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]]
> [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]]
> [[#đź’¬ Discussion Questions]]
> [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]]
> [[#đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference]]
> [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]]
> [[#đź“‚ Internal Notes]]
## đź“ś Scripture Text (NET)
(The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005)
### Blessing during Bondage in Egypt
[[#Verse 01.]] These are the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt—each man with his household entered with Jacob:Â
[[#Verse 02.]]Â Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,Â
[[#Verse 03.]]Â Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
[[#Verse 04.]]Â Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
[[#Verse 05.]] All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered seventy. But Joseph was already in Egypt,Â
[[#Verse 06.]] and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died.Â
[[#Verse 07.]] The Israelites, however, were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, so that the land was filled with them.
[[#Verse 08.]] Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power over Egypt.Â
[[#Verse 09.]] He said to his people, “Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!Â
[[#Verse 10.]] Come, let’s deal wisely with them. Otherwise they will continue to multiply, and if a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with our enemies and fight against us and leave the country.”
[[#Verse 11.]] So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.Â
[[#Verse 12.]] But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites,Â
[[#Verse 13.]] and they made the Israelites serve rigorously.Â
[[#Verse 14.]] They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.
[[#Verse 15.]] The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,Â
[[#Verse 16.]] “When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: If it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live.”Â
[[#Verse 17.]] But the midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.
[[#Verse 18.]] Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”Â
[[#Verse 19.]] The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women—for the Hebrew women are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!”
[[#Verse 20.]] So God treated the midwives well, and the people multiplied and became very strong.Â
[[#Verse 21.]] And because the midwives feared God, he made households for them.
[[#Verse 22.]] Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons that are born you must throw into the river, but all daughters you may let live.”
## đź“– Verse-by-Verse Commentary
###### Overall.
###### Verse 01.
###### Verse 02.
###### Verse 03.
###### Verse 04.
###### Verse 05.
###### Verse 06.
###### Verse 07.
###### Verse 08.
###### Verse 09.
###### Verse 10.
###### Verse 11.
###### Verse 12.
###### Verse 13.
###### Verse 14.
###### Verse 15.
###### Verse 16.
###### Verse 17.
###### Verse 18.
###### Verse 19.
###### Verse 20.
###### Verse 21.
###### Verse 22.
## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights
1. Exodus opens with the words "These are the names," which is also the book's Hebrew title, *Shemot*.
2. The English name "Exodus" comes from the Greek Septuagint and means "departure" or "going out."
3. Seventy descendants of Jacob went down to Egypt (1:5; Genesis 46:27).
4. The words "fruitful," "multiplied," and "filled" in 1:7 echo God's creation blessing in Genesis 1:28.
5. The "new king who did not know about Joseph" (1:8) is never named. In fact, Exodus never gives the name of any pharaoh.
6. Pithom and Rameses (1:11) were supply cities. Rameses is generally linked with Pi-Ramesses, a royal city in the eastern Nile Delta.
7. The Hebrew word for "ruthless" or harsh labor in 1:13-14 appears again in Leviticus 25:43, where Israel is told never to rule over one another that way.
8. The midwives Shiphrah and Puah are named, while the mighty Pharaoh is not. Scripture remembers the faithful, not the famous.
9. The "birthstool" in 1:16 is literally "the two stones," likely the stones a woman crouched on during childbirth.
10. Pharaoh ordered the boys thrown into the Nile (1:22), the same river from which Moses would be drawn out (2:5-10) and which God would turn to blood (7:20).
## 🧠Chapter Summary
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter
Christ is the deliverer foreshadowed here. Pharaoh ordered Hebrew baby boys killed (1:22), and Herod later ordered the boys of Bethlehem killed, yet in both cases God preserved His chosen deliverer (Matthew 2:13-16).
## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application
> [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way.
## đź’¬ Discussion Questions
1. Israel kept growing even as Egypt oppressed them (1:12). Where have you seen God's people grow stronger under pressure?
2. The midwives feared God more than Pharaoh (1:17). What does it look like to fear God above the people with power over us?
3. God dealt well with the midwives and gave them families (1:20-21). How does God honor quiet, faithful courage?
## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember
- đź“– verse 7: The Israelites were fruitful and multiplied until the land was filled with them.
- đź“– verse 12: The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread.
- đź“– verse 17: The midwives feared God and refused to obey the king's order.
## đź”— Related Passages/Cross Reference
- đź”— [[Genesis 15#Verse 13.|Genesis 15:13-14]] - God foretold the oppression in Egypt and the deliverance.
- đź”— [[Acts 07#Verse 17.|Acts 7:17-19]] - Stephen retells Israel's growth and oppression.
- đź”— [[Acts 05#Verse 29.|Acts 5:29]] - We must obey God rather than people.
- đź”— [[Hebrews 11#Verse 23.|Hebrews 11:23]] - By faith Moses' parents were not afraid of the king's order.
- đź”— [[Matthew 02#Verse 16.|Matthew 2:16]] - Herod's attack on the children of Bethlehem.
## 🙏 Devotional Reflection
đź“ť SOAP: [[Exodus 01- SOAP|Fear God Above All Else]]
## đź“‚ Internal Notes