CHAPTER 1
. INCREASE OF THE
ISRAELITES.
7. children of Israel were
fruitful—They were living in a land where, according to the
testimony of an ancient author, mothers produced three and four
sometimes at a birth; and a modern writer declares "the females
in Egypt, as well among the human race as among animals, surpass all
others in fruitfulness." To this natural circumstance must be
added the fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham.
8. Now there arose up a new
king—About sixty years after the death of Joseph a revolution
took place—by which the old dynasty was overthrown, and upper and
lower Egypt were united into one kingdom. Assuming that the king
formerly reigned in Thebes, it is probable that he would know nothing
about the Hebrews; and that, as foreigners and shepherds, the new
government would, from the first, regard them with dislike and scorn.
9, 10. he said . . . Behold, the . .
. children of Israel are more and mightier than we—They had
risen to great prosperity—as during the lifetime of Joseph and his
royal patron, they had, probably, enjoyed a free grant of the land.
Their increase and prosperity were viewed with jealousy by the new
government; and as Goshen lay between Egypt and Canaan, on the border
of which latter country were a number of warlike tribes, it was
perfectly conformable to the suggestions of worldly policy that they
should enslave and maltreat them, through apprehension of their
joining in any invasion by those foreign rovers. The new king, who
neither knew the name nor cared for the services of Joseph, was
either Amosis, or one of his immediate successors [OSBURN].
11. Therefore they did set over them
taskmasters—Having first obliged them, it is thought, to pay a
ruinous rent and involved them in difficulties, that new government,
in pursuance of its oppressive policy, degraded them to the condition
of serfs—employing them exactly as the laboring people are in the
present day (driven in companies or bands), in rearing the public
works, with taskmasters, who anciently had sticks—now whips—to
punish the indolent, or spur on the too languid. All public or royal
buildings, in ancient Egypt, were built by captives; and on some of
them was placed an inscription that no free citizen had been engaged
in this servile employment.
they built for Pharaoh
treasure cities—These two store-places were in the land of
Goshen; and being situated near a border liable to invasion, they
were fortified cities (compare ). Pithom (Greek, Patumos), lay on the eastern
Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about twelve Roman miles from
Heliopolis; and Raamses, called by the Septuagint Heroopolis,
lay between the same branch of the Nile and the Bitter Lakes. These
two fortified cities were situated, therefore, in the same valley;
and the fortifications, which Pharaoh commanded to be built around
both, had probably the same common object, of obstructing the
entrance into Egypt, which this valley furnished the enemy from Asia
[HENGSTENBERG].
13, 14. The Egyptians . . . made
their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick—Ruins
of great brick buildings are found in all parts of Egypt. The use of
crude brick, baked in the sun, was universal in upper and lower
Egypt, both for public and private buildings; all but the
temples themselves were of crude brick. It is worthy of remark that
more bricks bearing the name of Thothmes III, who is supposed to have
been the king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, have been
discovered than of any other period [WILKINSON].
Parties of these brickmakers are seen depicted on the ancient
monuments with "taskmasters," some standing, others in a
sitting posture beside the laborers, with their uplifted sticks in
their hands.
15. the king of Egypt spake to the
Hebrew midwives—Two only were spoken to—either they were the
heads of a large corporation [LABORDE],
or, by tampering with these two, the king designed to terrify the
rest into secret compliance with his wishes [CALVIN].
16. if it be a son, then ye shall
kill him—Opinions are divided, however, what was the method of
destruction which the king did recommend. Some think that the
"stools" were low seats on which these obstetric
practitioners sat by the bedside of the Hebrew women; and that, as
they might easily discover the sex, so, whenever a boy appeared, they
were to strangle it, unknown to its parents; while others are of
opinion that the "stools" were stone troughs, by the river
side—into which, when the infants were washed, they were to be, as
it were, accidentally dropped.
17. But the midwives feared
God—Their faith inspired them with such courage as to risk
their lives, by disobeying the mandate of a cruel tyrant; but it was
blended with weakness, which made them shrink from speaking the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
20, 21. God dealt well with the
midwives—This represents God as rewarding them for telling a
lie. This difficulty is wholly removed by a more correct translation.
To "make" or "build up a house" in Hebrew
idiom, means to have a numerous progeny. The passage then should be
rendered thus: "God protected the midwives, and the people waxed
very mighty; and because the midwives feared, the Hebrews grew and
prospered."
CHAPTER 1
. INCREASE OF THE ISRAELITES.
1. Now these are the names—(See Genesis 46:8-26).
7. children of Israel were fruitful—They were living in a land where, according to the testimony of an ancient author, mothers produced three and four sometimes at a birth; and a modern writer declares "the females in Egypt, as well among the human race as among animals, surpass all others in fruitfulness." To this natural circumstance must be added the fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham.
8. Now there arose up a new king—About sixty years after the death of Joseph a revolution took place—by which the old dynasty was overthrown, and upper and lower Egypt were united into one kingdom. Assuming that the king formerly reigned in Thebes, it is probable that he would know nothing about the Hebrews; and that, as foreigners and shepherds, the new government would, from the first, regard them with dislike and scorn.
9, 10. he said . . . Behold, the . . . children of Israel are more and mightier than we—They had risen to great prosperity—as during the lifetime of Joseph and his royal patron, they had, probably, enjoyed a free grant of the land. Their increase and prosperity were viewed with jealousy by the new government; and as Goshen lay between Egypt and Canaan, on the border of which latter country were a number of warlike tribes, it was perfectly conformable to the suggestions of worldly policy that they should enslave and maltreat them, through apprehension of their joining in any invasion by those foreign rovers. The new king, who neither knew the name nor cared for the services of Joseph, was either Amosis, or one of his immediate successors [OSBURN].
11. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters—Having first obliged them, it is thought, to pay a ruinous rent and involved them in difficulties, that new government, in pursuance of its oppressive policy, degraded them to the condition of serfs—employing them exactly as the laboring people are in the present day (driven in companies or bands), in rearing the public works, with taskmasters, who anciently had sticks—now whips—to punish the indolent, or spur on the too languid. All public or royal buildings, in ancient Egypt, were built by captives; and on some of them was placed an inscription that no free citizen had been engaged in this servile employment.
they built for Pharaoh treasure cities—These two store-places were in the land of Goshen; and being situated near a border liable to invasion, they were fortified cities (compare ). Pithom (Greek, Patumos), lay on the eastern Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about twelve Roman miles from Heliopolis; and Raamses, called by the Septuagint Heroopolis, lay between the same branch of the Nile and the Bitter Lakes. These two fortified cities were situated, therefore, in the same valley; and the fortifications, which Pharaoh commanded to be built around both, had probably the same common object, of obstructing the entrance into Egypt, which this valley furnished the enemy from Asia [HENGSTENBERG].
13, 14. The Egyptians . . . made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick—Ruins of great brick buildings are found in all parts of Egypt. The use of crude brick, baked in the sun, was universal in upper and lower Egypt, both for public and private buildings; all but the temples themselves were of crude brick. It is worthy of remark that more bricks bearing the name of Thothmes III, who is supposed to have been the king of Egypt at the time of the Exodus, have been discovered than of any other period [WILKINSON]. Parties of these brickmakers are seen depicted on the ancient monuments with "taskmasters," some standing, others in a sitting posture beside the laborers, with their uplifted sticks in their hands.
15. the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives—Two only were spoken to—either they were the heads of a large corporation [LABORDE], or, by tampering with these two, the king designed to terrify the rest into secret compliance with his wishes [CALVIN].
16. if it be a son, then ye shall kill him—Opinions are divided, however, what was the method of destruction which the king did recommend. Some think that the "stools" were low seats on which these obstetric practitioners sat by the bedside of the Hebrew women; and that, as they might easily discover the sex, so, whenever a boy appeared, they were to strangle it, unknown to its parents; while others are of opinion that the "stools" were stone troughs, by the river side—into which, when the infants were washed, they were to be, as it were, accidentally dropped.
17. But the midwives feared God—Their faith inspired them with such courage as to risk their lives, by disobeying the mandate of a cruel tyrant; but it was blended with weakness, which made them shrink from speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
20, 21. God dealt well with the midwives—This represents God as rewarding them for telling a lie. This difficulty is wholly removed by a more correct translation. To "make" or "build up a house" in Hebrew idiom, means to have a numerous progeny. The passage then should be rendered thus: "God protected the midwives, and the people waxed very mighty; and because the midwives feared, the Hebrews grew and prospered."