Exodus 1:1-7·~1 min

The Israelites Multiply in Egypt

The text recalls the sons of Israel who come to Egypt with Jacob and counts their descendants as seventy, while noting that Joseph is already there.

T¹hese are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: ²Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴Dan and Naphtali; ⁵The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

After Joseph, his brothers, and their generation die, the Israelites multiply rapidly and fill the land. Their increase outlasts the passing of the first family.

⁶Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.

Section summaryThe chapter begins by naming Jacob's sons and counting the small family that comes into Egypt. After that first generation dies, Israel grows with striking abundance until the land is filled with them.

Role in the chapterThis opening section binds Exodus to Genesis and establishes the central fact Pharaoh will fear. Israel begins as a remembered family line and quickly appears as a people too numerous to ignore.