12 and as they afflict it, so it multiplieth, and so it breaketh forth, and they are vexed because of the sons of Israel;
and he saith unto his people, `Lo, the people of the sons of Israel `is' more numerous and mighty than we;
For provocation slayeth the perverse, And envy putteth to death the simple,
There is no wisdom, nor understanding, Nor counsel, over-against Jehovah.
Fury `is' fierce, and anger `is' overflowing, And who standeth before jealousy?
being grieved because of their teaching the people, and preaching in Jesus the rising again out of the dead -- and they laid hands upon them, and did put them in custody unto the morrow, for it was evening already; and many of those hearing the word did believe, and the number of the men became, as it were, five thousand.
saying, `Did not we strictly command you not to teach in this name? and lo, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and ye intend to bring upon us the blood of this man.' And Peter and the apostles answering, said, `To obey God it behoveth, rather than men; and the God of our fathers did raise up Jesus, whom ye slew, having hanged upon a tree; this one God, a Prince and a Saviour, hath exalted with His right hand, to give reformation to Israel, and forgiveness of sins; and we are His witnesses of these sayings, and the Holy Spirit also, whom God gave to those obeying him.' And they having heard, were cut `to the heart', and were taking counsel to slay them,
for whom the Lord doth love He doth chasten, and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;' if chastening ye endure, as to sons God beareth Himself to you, for who is a son whom a father doth not chasten? and if ye are apart from chastening, of which all have become partakers, then bastards are ye, and not sons. Then, indeed, fathers of our flesh we have had, chastising `us', and we were reverencing `them'; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of the spirits, and live? for they, indeed, for a few days, according to what seemed good to them, were chastening, but He for profit, to be partakers of His separation; and all chastening for the present, indeed, doth not seem to be of joy, but of sorrow, yet afterward the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those exercised through it -- it doth yield.
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Commentary on Exodus 1 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Increase in the Number of the Israelites Their Bondage in Egypt - Exodus 1
The promise which God gave to Jacob in his departure from Canaan (Genesis 46:3) was perfectly fulfilled. The children of Israel settled down in the most fruitful province of the fertile land of Egypt, and grew there into a great nation (Exodus 1:1-7). But the words which the Lord had spoken to Abram (Genesis 15:13) were also fulfilled in relation to his seed in Egypt. The children of Israel were oppressed in a strange land, were compelled to serve the Egyptians (Exodus 1:8-14), and were in great danger of being entirely crushed by them (Exodus 1:15-22).
To place the multiplication of the children of Israel into a strong nation in its true light, as the commencement of the realization of the promises of God, the number of the souls that went down with Jacob to Egypt is repeated from Genesis 46:27 (on the number 70, in which Jacob is included, see the notes on this passage); and the repetition of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob serves to give to the history which follows a character of completeness within itself. “ With Jacob they came, every one and his house, ” i.e., his sons, together with their families, their wives, and their children. The sons are arranged according to their mothers, as in Genesis 35:23-26, and the sons of the two maid-servants stand last. Joseph, indeed, is not placed in the list, but brought into special prominence by the words, “ for Joseph was in Egypt ” (Exodus 1:5), since he did not go down to Egypt along with the house of Jacob, and occupied an exalted position in relation to them there.
After the death of Joseph and his brethren and the whole of the family that had first immigrated, there occurred that miraculous increase in the number of the children of Israel, by which the blessings of creation and promise were fully realised. The words פּרוּ ישׁרצוּ ( swarmed ), and ירבּוּ point back to Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 8:17, and יעצמוּ to עצוּם גּוי in Genesis 18:18. “ The land was filled with them, ” i.e., the land of Egypt, particularly Goshen, where they were settled (Genesis 47:11). The extra-ordinary fruitfulness of Egypt in both men and cattle is attested not only by ancient writers, but by modern travellers also (vid., Aristotelis hist. animal. vii. 4, 5; Columella de re rust. iii. 8; Plin. hist. n. vii. 3; also Rosenmüller a. und n. Morgenland i. p. 252). This blessing of nature was heightened still further in the case of the Israelites by the grace of the promise, so that the increase became extraordinarily great (see the comm. on Exodus 12:37).
The promised blessing was manifested chiefly in the fact, that all the measures adopted by the cunning of Pharaoh to weaken and diminish the Israelites, instead of checking, served rather to promote their continuous increase.
Exodus 1:8-9
“ There arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph .” ויּקם signifies he came to the throne, קוּם denoting his appearance in history, as in Deuteronomy 34:10. A “new king” (lxx: βασιλεὺς ἕτερος ; the other ancient versions, rex novus ) is a king who follows different principles of government from his predecessors. Cf. חדשׁים אלהים , “new gods,” in distinction from the God that their fathers had worshipped, Judges 5:8; Deuteronomy 32:17. That this king belonged to a new dynasty, as the majority of commentators follow Josephus