Exodus · chapter 1 of 40
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Exodus 1 tells how the descendants of Jacob multiply in Egypt until a new king who did not know Joseph forces them into hard labor. Because the people keep growing, Pharaoh orders the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to kill the baby boys, but they fear God and refuse. Pharaoh then commands that every newborn Hebrew son be thrown into the Nile.
The book of Exodus picks up where Genesis ends: Jacob's family lives in Egypt because of Joseph. Generations of blessing now give way to oppression. Exodus 1 sets up everything that follows, because it shows the problem God will rescue his people from and reminds us that his promise to multiply Abraham's descendants is being kept even under threat.
The chapter opens by naming the sons of Jacob who came to Egypt, seventy people counting Joseph, who was already there. Joseph, his brothers and that whole generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful, multiplied and filled the land.
Then a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. Afraid that the Hebrew people were so numerous they might join an enemy in a war, he enslaved them harshly. Taskmasters were set over them, and they built the store cities of Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh, working with mud, bricks and every kind of field labor. Yet the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, and the Egyptians came to dread them.
The king of Egypt then spoke to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, and told them to kill the baby boys at birth and let the girls live. The midwives feared God and did not do what the king commanded. When Pharaoh demanded an explanation, they answered that the Hebrew women gave birth before they arrived. God dealt well with the midwives and gave them families, while the people kept growing. In the end Pharaoh ordered all his people to throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the river, while letting the girls live.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Israelites were fruitful, increased greatly and the land was filled with them. The verse shows God keeping his promise to Abraham of countless descendants, even in a foreign land.
A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. The text marks the turn from blessing to oppression and explains how a welcomed family became an enslaved people.
The more the Israelites were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread. Oppression cannot stop God's plan; the people grow exactly where human power tries to shrink them.
The midwives feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt told them, but let the boys live. Their reverent fear of God was greater than their fear of Pharaoh and led them to brave obedience.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Seventy people, counting Joseph, who was already in Egypt. — Exodus 1:5
Answer: A new king who did not know Joseph. — Exodus 1:8
Answer: They were numerous and strong, and might join Egypt's enemies in a war. — Exodus 1:9-10
Answer: The store cities of Pithom and Rameses. — Exodus 1:11
Answer: Shiphrah and Puah; he ordered them to kill the baby boys at birth. — Exodus 1:15-16
Answer: Because they feared God. — Exodus 1:17
Exodus 1 teaches that God's people can move from blessing to hardship without God having forgotten his promise. When circumstances seem to contradict what the Lord has said, this chapter invites us to remember that he is still at work, even when it is not yet visible.
The midwives show what the fear of God looks like in daily life: people with no power and no famous name who, faced with an unjust order, chose to protect life. In a small group you can ask where today we need to respectfully refuse to take part in something unjust, and how to recognize that God honors humble faithfulness.
Exodus 1 ends with the gravest threat yet: every newborn Hebrew boy is to be thrown into the Nile. It is the darkest hour, and Exodus 2 will introduce a baby rescued from the water, Moses, whom God will use to free his people.
The Bible does not give his name. Scholars debate which Pharaoh it was and when this happened, and the date of the exodus is usually placed around the fifteenth century BC or the thirteenth century BC. What the text stresses is that this king owed no gratitude to Joseph's family.
The text says God dealt well with them and does not frame the matter as a rebuke. Some readers see their answer as a way of protecting life against an unjust order; others stress that the heart of the passage is their fear of God, and that the Bible does not turn this case into a general rule about lying.
They were store cities that the Israelites built for Pharaoh with mud bricks. They held provisions and showed the king's economic power over his slaves.