in process of time. — Heb., in those many days. As Moses was now eighty years old (Exodus 7:7), and only forty when he quitted Egypt, the Pharaoh from whom he fled must have reigned above forty years. Between the commencement of the eighteenth and the close of the nineteenth dynasty, two kings only seem to have reigned so long as this — Thothmes III. and Rameses II. Our choice of the Pharaoh from whom Moses fled thus lies between these two.
The children of Israel sighed. — Or, “groaned.” They had perhaps expected that a new king would initiate a new policy, or, at any rate, signalise his accession by a remission of burthens. But the new monarch did neither.
Their cry came up unto God. — “Exceeding bitter cries” always find their way to the ears of God. The existing oppression was such that Israel cried to God as they had never cried before, and so moved Him to have compassion on them. The miraculous action, begun in Exodus 3, is the result of the cries and groans here mentioned.