Exodus 1:1 to Exodus 12:36. Israel in Egypt: I. Increase and Oppression.
Exodus 1:1-5 P, Exodus 1:6 J, Exodus 1:7 P. The Sons of Israel. The transition from the fortunes of a family, such as were the subject of the narratives of Gen., to the events of a people's history, such as Ex. is concerned with, is happily marked by the altered rendering children of Israel (7) for the Heb. phrase rendered sons of Israel (1). Exodus 1:1-5 gives the size of the group from which all the increase came. The round number 70 was a part of the older tradition (see Deuteronomy 10:22) which the later writers tried variously to justify. Sometimes Jacob is counted in (as Genesis 46:8; Genesis 46:27) and sometimes left out (as here). These lists all belong to P. The free handling of the material, which was customary in those times, is illustrated by the addition, in the Gr. of Genesis 46, of Joseph's three grandsons and two great-grandsons, making 75, the number also given in Stephen's speech, Acts 7:14. It is unlikely on several grounds that all the tribes were in Egypt (p. 64). But that the ancestors of the bulk of the nation shared the bitter experiences of Egyptian bondage is the convergent testimony of all our sources, and may be taken as assured fact. While the older Biblical writers, though venturing on a gigantic total (Exodus 12:37 and Numbers 11:21; cf. Numbers 1:1 *) equivalent to two millions, leave their estimate in round numbers, the post-exilic tradition professed to give precise figures of the distribution among the tribes, and the later rabbis solved the riddle by supposing the Hebrew mothers to have had from six to sixty children at a birth. Those who insist on the accuracy of the various enumerations only make the narrative less credible and less intelligible.
Exodus 1:6. Between Exodus 1:1-5 and Exodus 1:7, which belong to P, this verse from J is introduced, which is not required by its immediate context, but leads up to Exodus 1:8, and follows on Genesis 50:14.
Exodus 1:7. increased abundantly: the word (peculiar to P) is swarmed, and recalls the account of the creation of the swarming water-creatures in Genesis 1:20 f. (same Heb.). Perhaps, however, the similar word spread abroad (Exodus 1:12) should be read. The words multiplied and waxed mighty (Exodus 9:20) are borrowed from J's account.