Exodus 1:7

5 All those¹ who were descendants of Jacob were ^aseventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).

6 And ^aJoseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.

7 ^aBut the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and¹ grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, ^awho did not know Joseph.

9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and ^amightier than we;

10 ^acome, let us ^bdeal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them ^ato afflict them with their ^bburdens. And they built for Pharaoh ^csupply cities, Pithom ^dand Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.

13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel ^aserve with rigor.

14 And they ^amade their lives bitter with hard bondage—^bin mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.

15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the ^aHebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;

16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a ^ason, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”

Commentaries:

Adam Clarke

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Exodus 1:8 >>

Exodus 1:7

The children of Israel were fruitful - paru , a general term, signifying that they were like healthy trees, bringing forth an abundance of fruit.

And increased - yishretsu , they increased like fishes, as the original word implies. See Genesis 1:20 (note), and the note there.

Abundantly - yirbu , they multiplied; this is a separate term, and should not have been used as an adverb by our translators.

And waxed exceeding mighty - vaiyaatsmu bimod meod , and they became strong beyond measure - superlatively, superlatively - so that the land (Goshen) was filled with them. This astonishing increase was, under the providence of God, chiefly owing to two causes:

1.The Hebrew women were exceedingly fruitful, suffered very little in parturition, and probably often brought forth twins.

2.There appear to have been no premature deaths among them. Thus in about two hundred and fifteen years they were multiplied to upwards of 600,000, independently of old men, women, and children.

Other Adam Clarke entries containing Exodus 1:7:

Exodus 3:8

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Exodus 1:8 >>

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