Exodus 1:1-6 - Exposition

The Book of Exodus, being written in continuation of the history recorded in Genesis, is carefully connected with it by a recapitulation. The recapitulation involves three points:—

1 . The names of Jacob's children;

2 . The number of Jacob's descendants who went down into Egypt; and

3 . The death of Joseph.

Exodus 1:1-4 are a recapitulation of Genesis 35:22-26 ; Genesis 35:5 , of Genesis 46:27 ; and Genesis 46:6 , of Genesis 1:26 . In no case, however, is the recapitulation exact, or (so to speak) mechanical. The "households" of Genesis 1:1 had not been mentioned previously; Joseph had not in Genesis been separated off from his brethren, as he is in Exodus 1:5 ; nor had the deaths of "his brethren" been recorded, much less of "all that generation." Thus there is here no " vain repetition." New facts come out in the course of the recapitulation; and the narrative advances while aiming especially at maintaining its continuity.