Exodus 1:22-2:4

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Exodus 1:22

The extreme cruelty of the measure does not involve improbability. Hatred of strangers was always a characteristic of the Egyptians (see Genesis 43:32), and was likely to be stronger than ever after the expulsion of an alien race. read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Exodus 1:1-22

1:1-4:31 PREPARATION OF MOSESEgypt’s oppression of Israel (1:1-22)The small community of Israelites who first settled in Egypt were all members of one family, the family of Jacob, and their early days were ones of happiness and prosperity (Genesis 46:1-7; Genesis 47:11-12). God had promised they would grow into a nation, and over the following centuries they increased in numbers and influence till they dominated the whole of the north-east corner of Egypt (1:1-7; cf. Genesis 13:16; Genesis... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Exodus 1:22

born . Samaritan Pentateuch, Targum of Onkelos, The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and Vulgate add "to the Hebrews. " save alive = suffer to live. read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Exodus 1:19-22

"And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them. And God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.""Hebrew women are not as... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Exodus 1:22

Exodus 1:22. Pharaoh charged all his people— This was, most probably, enjoined under severe penalties; and that, as it appears from the next chapter, not only upon the Egyptians, who were to see the order executed; but also upon the Israelites, who were to execute it themselves. The Lacedemonians, Calmet observes, used to destroy the children of their slaves, lest they should increase too much. This cruel order of the king was not published till after the birth of Aaron, and it was probably... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 1:8-22

2. The Israelites’ bondage in Egypt 1:8-22This pericope serves a double purpose. It introduces the rigorous conditions under which the Egyptians forced the Israelites to live, and it sets the stage for the birth of Moses. read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Exodus 1:15-22

Plan B consisted of ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male Hebrew babies at birth. Albriight confirmed that these women’s names were Semitic. [Note: W. F. Albright, "Northwest-Semitic Names in a List of Egyptian Slaves from the Eighteenth Century B.C.," Journal of the American Oriental Society 74 (1954):233.] "They were to kill them, of course, secretly, in such a way that the parents and relatives would be unaware of the crime, and would think that the infant had died of natural... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Exodus 1:1-22

Oppression of the Israelites5. Seventy souls] Jacob himself is included in the number: cp. Genesis 46:8-27. Of the seventy, sixty-eight were males. If to the direct descendants of Jacob we add the wives of his sons and grandsons, and the husbands of his daughters and grand-daughters, and all their servants with their families, it appears that the total number of those who entered Egypt was very considerable, several hundreds if not thousands. This fact, as well as the acknowlodged prolificness... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Exodus 1:22

(22) Every son that is born.—The LXX. add “to the Hebrews,” but without any necessity, since the context shows that only Hebrew children are meant.Ye shall cast into the river.—Infanticide, so shocking to Christians, has prevailed widely at different times and places, and been regarded as a trivial matter. In Sparta, the State decided which children should live and which should die. At Athens a law of Solon left the decision to the parent. At Rome, the rule was that infants were made away with,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Exodus 1:1-22

Exodus 1:8 It is a rare thing to find posterity heirs of their father's love. How should men's favour be but like themselves, variable and inconstant! There is no certainty but in the favour of God, in whom can be no change, whose love is entailed upon a thousand generations. Bishop Hall. Exodus 1:10 Crimes and criminals are swept away by time, nature finds an antidote for their poisons, and they and their ill consequences alike are blotted out and perish. If we do not forgive the villain at... read more

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