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1–7. Multiplication of Jacob's descendants in Egypt. 8–22. Their oppression by the new pharaoh. Ex.1:1. These are the names of the children of Israel who entered Egypt with Jacob [their father], each one with his household: Ex.1:2. Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Ex.1:3. Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, Ex.1:4. Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Ex.1:5. All the souls that came from the loins of Jacob were seventy [five], and Joseph was already in Egypt. Ex.1:6. And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all their descendants; By listing the names of the sons of Israel who entered Egypt and mentioning the death of Joseph, Moses refers the reader to the last chapters of the book. Genesis (Gen. 46:8–27, 50:26) and thereby makes it clear that the book. The outcome is closely connected with them. Like them, its subject is a description of the life of the descendants of Jacob in Egypt, and starting from the moment of the death of Joseph, it is their continuation. The sons of Jacob, the heads of generations, are listed in the order of their mothers (Gen. 35:23–26). The total number of those who emigrated (Gen. 46:27, Deut. 10:22), which is greater in Greek-Slavic compared to Hebrew by five due to the fact that the LXX translators add three grandchildren and two great-grandsons of Joseph (Gen. 46:20), does not include the wives of the sons of Jacob (Gen. 46:26) and other persons belonging to the patriarchal family - slaves and slaves (Gen. 32:6). With the addition of these latter, the right to which is given by the expression of the 1st verse, “everyone entered with his household” - with his family, including wives, children, servants (Gen. 7:1), in general with the generation (1 Sam. 20:16), - the number of those who entered Egypt rightly increases to several hundred. The death of Joseph and the entire old generation is marked as the beginning of a new, below-described period in the life of Jacob's family. It is characterized by two features: the increased reproduction of the Jews and the new attitude of the Egyptians towards them. Ex.1:7. and the children of Israel became fruitful and multiplied, and grew and became exceedingly strong, and the land was filled with them. The Jewish expression “vaishretsu” also speaks of the multiplication of the Jews - they began to swarm, like small animals multiplying quickly (Gen. 1:20), and the number of Israelites who left Egypt clearly testifies. By the time of the Exodus, the patriarchal family had grown into at least 2,000,000 people. Of these, 600,000 were men on foot, i.e. having 20 years of age or more (Num. 1:3–46), noted in v. 37. Chapter 12 book Exodus (Exodus 12:37); the rest of the figure, 1,400,000, is made up of wives and children. Being a direct fulfillment of the promise given to Jacob (Gen. 46:3), the work of God (Ps. 104:24), the reproduction of the Jews is also explained by purely natural reasons. The first place among them is occupied by the extraordinary productivity of Egyptian nature, which was also reported to the inhabitants of the Nile Valley. According to the testimony of Pliny, Seneca, Aristotle, Strabo and others, Egyptian women gave birth often and in large numbers - three, four and five children. The idea of ​​the influence of Egyptian nature on the reproduction of Jews is expressed, by the way, in the Greco-Slavic translation, which uses instead of the original expression: “the earth was filled with them,” another: “multiply their land,” “ἐπλήθυνεν δὲ ἡ γῆ αὐτούς “. Reproduction Jews are believed to have been facilitated by marriages with related Semitic tribes that had long settled on the eastern border of Egypt. Ex.1:8. And a new king arose in Egypt, who did not know Joseph, During the period of Jewish reproduction, a change in their social status occurs. The culprit for this is the “new 1st king”. Why it is called by this name, whether because of its new relationship with the Jews, or because of its origins from a new dynasty compared to the previous one, is quite difficult to say. Most exegetes, however, hold the view that the persecuting pharaoh (Totmes III) came from the native Egyptian dynasty, which overthrew the yoke of the shepherd tribe of the Hykses, during whose reign Jacob moved to Egypt. He transferred his hatred of his former enslavers to the Jews who were friendly to them. The validity of such a view can be confirmed by the consideration that Pharaoh Hyks had no incentive to oppress the Jews. On the contrary, the Gixa aliens naturally had to seek support from Jewish aliens like them. The new king “did not know Joseph,” perhaps he had heard about his name and deeds, but did not recognize his merits as the first dignitary under the pharaoh of a hostile dynasty. Exodus 1:9. and he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are numerous and mightier than we; Ex.1:10. let us outwit him so that he does not multiply; otherwise, when war happens, he will unite with our enemies, and arm himself against us, and leave [our] land. Pharaoh's fears that the Jews, already superior in numbers and strength (Ps. 104:24) to the natives of Goshen - the Egyptians, could easily leave Egypt with their further reproduction, had a basis in their own behavior. As can be seen from the evidence of book 1. Chronicles about the defeat of the two sons of Ephraim by the inhabitants of Gath (1 Chronicles 7:21) and about the construction in Canaan by the daughter or granddaughter of the same Ephraim of the cities of Beth-Oron and Uzzen-Sheera (1 Chronicles 7:24), the Jews during their life in Egypt maintained relations with Palestine and tried to establish themselves in it. This attraction to the land of their ancestors indicated that the Jews had not merged with the indigenous population of Egypt, and therefore, at the first opportunity, during the usual war on the eastern border at that time, they could easily leave a country alien to them. Ex.1:11. And they appointed work commanders over him to exhaust him with hard work. And he built for Pharaoh Pithom and Rameses, cities for stores, [and He, otherwise Heliopolis]. Ex.1:12. But the more they exhausted him, the more he multiplied and the more he grew, so that [the Egyptians] feared the children of Israel. Ex.1:13. And therefore the Egyptians cruelly forced the children of Israel to work Ex.1:14. and they made their life bitter from hard work on clay and bricks and from all field work, from all work to which they were forced to do with cruelty. The fear of removing an entire tribe from Egypt, which represented the free labor force, gave rise to a number of measures aimed at limiting the reproduction of Jews: “let us outwit him, we will come up with insidious measures (“heat” - Ps. 104:25) so that he does not multiply.” It was impossible to act with open force both due to the lack of a plausible pretext and for fear of the strength of the Jews. The first of the measures was hard work (Deut. 26:6, Ps. 79:7), invented by Pharaoh. In the calculation that by exhausting the Jews, making them physically weak, they will stop their further reproduction, since a physically weak people cannot have many offspring. Representing particular difficulty in view of the existence of special commanders, chosen, according to the testimony of Egyptian monuments, from the harsh Lebanese tribe and depicted with short sticks for striking in their hands, the work at first was reduced to the construction (or perhaps expansion, renewal, Hebrew “ban” - see Ps. 122:3, Am. 9:14)) of two cities for supplies (for storing provisions and weapons, - 2 Chron. 32:28), "Pithom and Rameses." The first refers to the city that lay at the western end of the Tumilat valley, on the banks of the canal into the Red Sea, and was called Patumos or Toum by the Greco-Roman writers, and the second refers to the city located in the land of Goshen, east of the Pelusian branch of the Nile. Calling these two cities “solid” cities based on their existing fortifications, the LXX text mentions the construction by the Jews of a third city - Ona, or Heliopolis. The general opinion of exegetes sees in it the famous city of An (Greek: He) in lower Egypt, which also bears the sacred name of Pera, the house of the sun, whence the Greek Heliopolis. Ex.1:15. The king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shifra, and the other Puah, Ex.1:16. and he said to [them]: When you give birth to Hebrew women, then watch during childbirth: if there is a son, then kill him, and if there is a daughter, then let him live. Ex.1:17. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt told them, and left the children alive. The implementation of the second measure - the killing of Jewish male babies at the moment of their birth 2 - is entrusted to midwives. According to the Jewish text, these were Jewish women, due to which the measure itself seems strange and unattainable, since it is difficult to allow Jewish women to kill the children of their fellow tribesmen. The reading of LXX, which is followed by the Russian translation, as well as the testimony of Josephus, expresses the idea of ​​their Egyptian origin. The validity of this understanding is confirmed by the unsatisfactory production of the names Shifra and Puah from the Hebrew language and the possibility of explaining them from the Egyptian language. Shifra – “fruitful”, or according to another interpretation – “beautiful”; Fua - “giving birth to a child”, “shining”. The mention of only two grandmothers is explained by the fact that only they were known to the Egyptian government. Ex.1:18. The king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them: why are you doing such a thing as leaving children alive? Exodus 1:19. The midwives said to Pharaoh: The women of the Hebrews are not like the women of Egypt; they are healthy, because before the midwife comes to them, they are already giving birth. The answer of the midwives could satisfy the pharaoh in view, perhaps, of the cases known to him of the unusually easy birth of children by Arab women. Ex.1:20. For this reason God did good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became very strong. Ex.1:21. And because the midwives feared God, He built their houses. Exodus 1:22. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: Every newborn son [of the Jews] you throw into the river, and every daughter you leave alive. The second measure, impossible to implement due to the fear of God of grandmothers, is replaced by an order similar in purpose to throwing newborn boys into the river. The expression “into the river” (Hebrew “yeor”) does not necessarily indicate the Nile, in which understanding the new measure seems strange, since in the land of Goshen, where the Jews lived, the Nile does not flow. The Hebrew "yeor" means the Nile with its branches (Ex. 7:19, Ex. 8:5, Isa. 19:6), and sometimes (Ezek. 29:3–5, 9) these latter. And since, according to the instructions of Strabo and the latest research of Brugsch, the eastern part of Egypt, in which the Jews lived, was replete with canals, the Jewish boys threw themselves into them. Giving a new order to “all the people,” Pharaoh hoped for their sympathy in view of the general fear of the multiplication of the Jews (Ex. 1:12). Greek ἕτερος, slav. "in" (Acts 7.18). euro "gaobnaim" slav.: "essence to birth"; Russian: “at childbirth” (Exodus 1:16). You might be interested in: