Preface: The sons of Jacob are named; and the hatred and lawlessness of later generations of Egyptians is revealed.

Bible Summary: The Israelites prospered in Egypt, but a new king arose and forced them into hard labour. He commanded that their baby boys be killed.

There are many chapter commentaries on the book of Exodus. This will be the most extensive examination of Exodus 1, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text. Every attempt has been made to make this both a complete and self-contained study. Therefore, all references, vocabulary, and related concepts should be found within this extensive study. Easy access links to more in-depth studies of some vocabulary words, concepts and doctrines are also provided.

Outline of Chapter 1:

Introduction

         vv.     1–7           The Interim History of Jacob’s People in Egypt Between Genesis and Exodus

         vv.     8–14         The Pharaoh of Egypt Enslaves the Sons of Israel

         vv.    15–22         Pharaoh’s Edict to the Jewish Midwives

Chapter Summary

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         Preface               Quotations

         Introduction         Fundamental Questions About Exodus 1

         Introduction         The Prequel of Exodus 1

         Introduction         The Principals of Exodus 1

         Introduction         The Places of Exodus 1

         Introduction         Timeline for Exodus 1

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 1

         Introduction         Outlines of Exodus 1 (Various Commentators)

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Exodus 1 from the Summarized Bible

         Introduction         The Big Picture (Exodus 1–4A)

         Introduction         Outline of Exodus 1

         Introduction         Paragraph Divisions of Modern Translation for Exodus 1

         Introduction         Changes—additions and subtractions (for Exodus 1)

         v.       5              Acts 7:14 and the number of people moving to Egypt

         v.       5              The 12 Sons of Jacob (a chart)

         v.       7              The Term Hebrew

         v.       7              The Doctrine of Antisemitism

         v.       9              A Review of Exodus 1:7–8

         v.      11              Israel In Egypt, 1867 (oil on canvas) by Sir Edward John Poynter

         v.      14              A Review of Exodus 1:6–13

         v.      15              Chiasmos of Exodus 1:15–22 (by Hajime Murai)

         v.      21              The Midwives Feared God (a graphic)

         Summary            A Set of Summary Doctrines and Commentary

         Summary            Why Exodus 1 is in the Word of God

         Summary            What We Learn from Exodus 1

         Summary            Jesus Christ in Exodus 1

         Summary            Shmoop Summary of Exodus 1

         Summary            B. H. Carroll Summarizes Exodus

         Summary            Edersheim Summarizes Exodus 1

         Addendum          The Ancestors of Abraham (a chart)

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Exodus 1

         Addendum          Doctrinal Teachers Who Have Taught Exodus 1

         Addendum          Word Cloud from a Reasonably Literal Paraphrase of Exodus 1

         Addendum          Word Cloud from Exegesis of Exodus 1

——————————

An Introduction to Exodus 1

I ntroduction: The book of Exodus picks up 200–300 years after the death of Joseph and follows seamlessly the history of Israel in Egypt for another century or so. This chapter begins somewhere between 1650–1550 b.c. The Exodus took place between 1550–1440 b.c.

At some point in time, Joseph as a part of Egyptian history, which history has been lost to the Egyptians entirely. Whatever happened, whether the Hyksos dynasty followed Joseph by 50–100 years, destroying most of the records of all recent rulers, or whether this was just lost to that time period, we do not know, but there comes a point where the Egyptians recognized that they had a substantial non-Egyptian population residing in the midst of Egypt, growing incredibly fast. One of Pharaoh's solutions is to enslave the entire Jewish population. When this does not stem the tide of Jewish birth, this Pharaoh or another unofficially orders the midwives to kill the children of the Israelites. When this does not have the achieved result expected, Pharaoh then issues an official decree, demanding the death of all male Jewish babies.

Genesis leaves Joseph, the Prime Minister of Egypt (placed and promoted there by God), in a coffin. Joseph first came to Egypt as a slave, sold into slavery by his older brothers. Through a series of unusual events, he became the second-highest official in Egypt.

He had brought with him to Egypt, under God's direction, his brothers.

Exodus 1

The NET Bible: Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the Lord God, but calling for faith every step of the way.

In this first chapter, we will have the sons of Jacob listed, which ties us to the final chapters of Genesis. We have the sons of Jacob growing and increasing in number, but later being made slaves to Egypt because of their large population. However, they continued to grow so spectacularly that one pharaoh ordered the killing of all the sons of Israel as they are born. It is quite remarkable that the names of the midwives who saved many of these male children will be recorded in Scripture; and the name of the pharaoh who ordered this is lost to history. At this time, historians make guesses as to his identify, but it is quite difficult to match the pharaoh’s from the history of Egypt to the pharaoh’s spoken of in Exodus.

Timeline for Exodus 1

Whereas, many chapters and sections of Genesis could be organized into chiasmi, I have not found the same to be true in the book of Exodus (even though there are still commentators who are able to find chiasmi throughout the book). I think the reason for this is, a chiasmos makes a long passage of Scripture easier to memorize. Even though it is clear that the book of Exodus will be in written form (at some point); the average person would not have had a copy of this book (or of any other). To learn and preserve truth, a person would have to memorize a sacred book.

Whereas, I found Joseph’s vocabulary of the final chapters of Genesis quite easy, Moses occasionally has a more complex sentence structure, which is much more difficult to translate.

——————————

The Interim History of Jacob's People in Egypt Between Genesis and Exodus

The book of Exodus begins with a conjunction. It is a continuation of the previous Genesis. This conjunction means that it does not stand by itself. Exodus lists the sons of Jacob, also called Israel:

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac (= Aramaic) and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

I will only list the translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls if it exists and if it is different from the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. From http://www.becomingjewish.org/texts/targum/onkelos_Exodus.html and first published in 1862.

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And these [are] names of sons of Israel, the ones coming Egypt-ward; with Jacob, a man and his house had come: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum (Onkelos)                                     THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS

ON

THE BOOK OF SHEMOTH,

OR

EXODUS

[In the Pentateuch the first chapter of Exodus begins the Thirteenth Section of the Law with the initial SHEMOTH, or Names.]

AND these are the names of the sons of Israel who came into Mizraim with Jakob; (each) man with the men of his house they came in: Reuben, Shimeon, Levi and Jehudah, Issakar, Zebulon and Benyamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Translation for Onkelos and Pseudo-Jonathan by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. (1862).

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)                      THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM

ON

THE BOOK SHEMOTH,

OF

EXODUS.

Section of the Law XIII. Title Shemoth

AND these are the names of the sons of Israel who went into Mizraim with Jakob, each with the men of his house entered in: Reuben, Shimeon, Levi, and Jehudah; Issakar, Zebulon, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Jerusalem targum                  .

Revised Douay-Rheims         .

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) These are the names of the children of Israel, that went into Egypt with Jacob: they went in, every man with his household:

Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda,

Issachar, Zabulon, and Benjamin,

Dan, and Nephtali, Gad and Aser.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        Now these are the names of the sons of Yisrael, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Ya'aqub): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Yudah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benyamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    THESE are the names of the children of Israel, who came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Septuagint (Greek)                EXODUS. EGYPT: The oppression. Ex.1.1-22 (Pithom) -

These are the names of the sons of Israel that came into Egypt together with Jacob their father; they came in each with their whole family.

Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judas,

Issachar, Zabulon, Benjamin,

Dan and Nephthalim, Gad and Aser.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             .

Easy English                          The sons of Israel went to Egypt with Jacob. Each one went with his family. Here are their names:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. Joseph was already in Egypt. The Easy English Bible includes a portion of v. 5 in v. 4.

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  Jacob’s Family in Egypt

When Jacob (Israel) went to Egypt, his sons and their families went with him. Here are the names of those sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. Another son, Joseph, was already in Egypt. So Jacob’s whole family was with him in Egypt—70 descendants in all. V. 5 is included for context (The ERV switches the two phrases in v. 5 around; and the context explains why).

God’s Word™                         Israel Comes to Egypt

These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who came with him to Egypt with their families: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The Israelites Are Treated Cruelly in Egypt

The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him, each with his family, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

International Children’s B.     Jacob’s Family in Egypt

1When Jacob, also called Israel, went to Egypt, he took his sons. And each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, 3Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, 4Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

The Message                         .

NIRV                                      The Israelites Become Slaves in Egypt

Here are the names of Israel’s children who went to Egypt with Jacob. Each one went with his family. Jacob’s sons were

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,

Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin,

Dan, Naphtali,

Gad and Asher.

New Simplified Bible              .

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           .

Contemporary English V.       When Jacob went to Egypt, his son Joseph was already there. So Jacob took his eleven other sons and their families. They were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

The Living Bible                     .

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             Jacob’s Family Grows Strong

When Jacob went to Egypt, he took his sons, and each son took his own family with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

New Life Version                    .

New Living Translation           The Israelites in Egypt

These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          These are the names of the Sons of IsraEl that came to Egypt with their father Jacob and their families: ReuBen, SimeOn, Levi, Judah, IshSachar, ZebuLun, BenJamin, Dan, NaphTali, Gad, and Asher.

Beck’s American Translation .

International Standard V        The Israelis Prosper in Egypt

These are the names of the Israelis [Lit. the sons of Israel and so throughout the book] who entered Egypt with Jacob, each one having come with his family [Or household]: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issacar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Here are the names of Israel’s sons; these were the men who betook themselves to Egypt, each with his family, when Jacob went there; Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Zabulon and Benjamin, Dan and Nephthali, Gad and Aser.

Translation for Translators                        The Escape from Egypt (Exodus)

1

The Egyptians caused the Israeli people to suffer greatly

The sons of Jacob who went to Egypt with him along with their families were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Awful Scroll Bible                   The names of the sons of Isra-el coming to Egypt, each one's house, who have came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Ben-jamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Conservapedia                       These are the names of the sons of Israel who went into Egypt, every man and his household ["Household" referring to both the family, the servants, the livestock, etc. In this case the word sons in "sons of Israel" is not capitalized, since this is one of the rare instances in which the phrase is used as a reference to the literal sons of Jacob rather than the entire nation of Israel.] who came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                The Names of the Twelve Patriarchs

THESE are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Mitzeraim. The Chief Jacob, and his family with him :— Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah ; Issakar, Zebulon, and Benjamin ; Dan and Naphthali ; Gad and Asher ;...

HCSB                                     Israel Oppressed in Egypt

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his family:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Lexham English Bible            Israel and Oppression in Egypt

And these [are] the names of the sons of Israel who came [to] Egypt; with Jacob, they each came with his {family} [Literally "house"]: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

NIV, ©2011                             The Israelites Oppressed

These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Tree of Life Version                Parashat Shemot

Oppression in Egypt

Now these are the names of Bnei-Yisrael who came into Egypt with Jacob, each man with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  The Hebrews increase in Egypt

Here are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issa char, Zebulun and Ben jamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

New American Bible (2011)   Jacob’s Descendants in Egypt.

These are the names of the sons of Israel* who, accompanied by their households, entered into Egypt with Jacob:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.

Sons of Israel: here literally the first-generation sons of Jacob/Israel. Cf. v. 5. However, beginning with v. 7 the same Hebrew phrase refers to Jacob’s more remote descendants; hence, from there on, it is ordinarily rendered “the Israelites.”

Households: the family in its fullest sense, including wives, children and servants.

[1:2] Jacob’s sons are listed here according to their respective mothers. Cf. Gn 29:31; 30:20; 35:16–26.

New Jerusalem Bible             .

New RSV                               .

Revised English Bible            The Israelites in Egypt

THESE are the names of the sons of Israel who, along with their households, accompanied Jacob to Egypt: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           Parashah 13: Sh’mot (Names) 1:1–6:1

These are the names of the sons of Isra’el who came into Egypt with Ya‘akov; each man came with his household: Re’uven, Shim‘on, Levi, Y’hudah, Yissakhar, Z’vulun, Binyamin, Dan, Naftali, Gad and Asher.

exeGeses companion Bible   And these are the names of the sons of Yisra El,

coming into Misrayim;

every man and his household coming with Yaaqov:

Reu Ben, Shimon, Levi and Yah Hudah,

Yissachar, Zebulun and Ben Yamin,

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Hebraic Transliteration           .

Kaplan Translation                 Israel's Growth

These are the names of Israel's sons who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. The Kaplan Translation, particularly in Exodus through Deuteronomy, takes note of historic rabbinic opinions.

Natural Israelite Bible             .

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Now these are the Shemot Bnei Yisroel, which came into Mitzrayim; every ish and his bais came with Ya’akov:

Reuven, Simeon, Levi, and Yehudah,

Yissakhar, Zevulun, and Binyamin,

Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Restored Names Version       .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Amplified Bible                Israel Multiplies in Egypt

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

The Expanded Bible              Jacob’s Family Grows Strong

When Jacob went to Egypt, he took his sons, and ·each son took his own family [L …their households] with him. These are the names of the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Kretzmann’s Commentary    Verses 1-7

The Rapid Growth of the People

Now these are the names of the children of Israel which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

NET Bible®                             Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

These [Heb “now these” or “and these.”] are the names of the sons of Israel4 who entered Egypt – each man with his household [Heb “a man and his house.”] entered with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote. Language footnotes will be placed in the Hebrew exegesis. Some footnotes will quoted elsewhere in this document.

The Voice                               These are the names of Israel’s sons—the ones who traveled from Canaan and entered into Egypt with Jacob during the great famine. Each of these men arrived in Egypt with his family:

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans....and these are the titles of the sons of Yisra'el ^{[He turns El aside]}, the ones coming unto Mits'rayim ^{[Two straits]} (with) "Ya'aqov ^{[He restrains]}, (each) and his house |had| come, Re'uven ^{[See a son]}, Shimon ^[Hearer], Lewi ^{[My joining]}, and Yehudah [Thanksgiving], Yis'sas'kar ^{[He hires]}, "Zevulun [Resident], and Binyamin ^{[Son of the right hand]}, Dan ^[Moderator], and "Naphtali ^{[My wrestling]}, "Gad ^[Fortune] and Asher ^[Happy],...

Concordant Literal Version    .

A Conservative Version         .

Context Group Version          Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Darby Translation                  .

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      Israel Increases Greatly in Egypt

These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

King James 2000 Version      .

Niobi Study Bible                   Israel's Suffering in Egypt
Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Modern English Version         Israel Oppressed

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, which came into Egypt (each man and his household came with Jacob): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

NASB                                     Israel Multiplies in Egypt

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

New European Version          The Israelites Are Abused

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

New King James Version       Israel’s Suffering in Egypt

Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans..

Young's Literal Translation     And these are the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt with Jacob; a man and his household have they come; Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

The gist of this passage:     The 11 sons who came with Jacob into Egypt are listed, according to their mothers.

Translation: These are the names of the sons of Israel,...

There is a big gap of time between Gen. 50 and Ex. 1. We get a very brief history of what happened during this time, which most commentators judge to be around 400 years.

Jacob was their father. Jesus Christ renamed him Israel in Gen. 32:28.

The NET Bible: The expression יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).

The writer of Exodus (who is probably Moses—I don’t think there is any serious dispute about this) goes back to the final chapters of Genesis, covers this history very superficially, yet tying the book of Genesis to the book of Exodus.

By this point in time, Genesis is recognized as the Word of God. It is seen as authoritative. We, in this time, have a very specific understanding as to what that means exactly. How the people of that era understood the book of Genesis, is best described as being authoritative, from God, even though they clearly understood that this book was written by their ancestors.

I subscribe to the theory that a number of authors wrote the book of Genesis, that is was probably passed from generation to generation through memorization (along with the book of Job), and that specific men, not only assumed custody of the text, but added to it (for instance, Joseph probably wrote Gen. 37–50, which the exceptions of Gen. 38 and the end of Gen. 50 where his death is recorded). I am certain that Moses had a copy of this text (probably in written form—or he may have committed it to writing); but I see no reason to believe that Moses edited anything out or anything in.

Translation: ...the ones who came to Egypt—...

Although the rest of the text is with Jacob, the pausal form of the word Egypt suggests that with Jacob belongs with the next phrase and have therefore placed it there.

Joseph had been taken to Egypt by force as a young slave (at about age 17); and over a period of perhaps 20 or so years, he rose up to a position of great power in Egypt, where he became second in command. Moses will suggest that he knows about this, but will not go into any detail in this introductory chapter.

Joseph predicted, based upon the Pharaoh’s dreams, that Egypt would enjoy 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. This famine spread throughout the land of Canaan. Joseph oversaw the gathering of the grain into silos during the years of prosperity to be used in the years of famine.

Jacob, who believes that his son Joseph was killed many years previous, still is the head of his family of 11 remaining sons. A time comes when they are hungry, and Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to purchase some grain. Long story short, Joseph will bring Jacob and his sons all to Egypt and they will find out who is and Jacob and his sons and their families will live in Egypt for the next 400 years.

Translation: ...each man and his household came [to Egypt] with Jacob:...

The sons of Jacob for the most part now had families. They had wives and they had children.

The NET Bible: Since this [a man and his house] serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

Translation: ...Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;...

The Hebrew text organizes these men into 3 groups. Leah first had 4 sons—bam, bam, bam—and then stopped bearing children for a period of time. The first 4 sons are Reuben, the firstborn; Simeon and Levi (who killed the men of Shechem) and Judah, from whom the Lord would come.

The sons are named in the same order as they are found in Gen. 35:22b-26. However, they are grouped differently. Whereas the author of that portion of Genesis (Joseph or Jacob) may have grouped them strictly as to their mother, the author of Exodus, Moses, groups them slightly differently. Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah are grouped together, all of whom are sons of Leah, who eventually (after the time of Moses) settled in the southern portion of the land of Canaan (with the exception of the tribe of Levi, who was scattered amongst the other tribes, as the Jews are scattered today throughout the world). We will learn more about these four tribes than the others in the remainder of the Law.

If you will recall, Judah, the 4^th born, supplanted Reuben as the leader.

Simeon’s household was brought to Egypt by Jacob; but Simeon was already in Egypt, in jail, waiting for the brothers to bring Benjamin to Egypt. This was a ruse by Joseph, who was the prime minister of Egypt, and in charge to doling out grain to those who paid. He chose not to reveal himself to his brothers at first, but accused them of being spies. When they mentioned the youngest brother, Benjamin, then Joseph required them to bring Benjamin to him to prove that they were not spies. The idea here was, he did not have to reveal himself to his brothers if he chose not to; but this would allow him to come face to face with his full brother again (who was very young when Joseph was sold into slavery).

As we discussed in the book of Genesis, Joseph did not plot evil against his brothers, nor was he still carrying a grudge. He was simply determining whether or not he should reveal himself to them. You can forgive someone for doing wrong to you; but the end result is not that you will become best buddies. You might never see them again.

Translation: ...Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;...

Leah had two sons by means of his personal servant; and then she had two more sons of her own, whom she named Issachar and Zebulun. Benjamin is Rachel’s son (Rachel is Leah’s sister); and Rachel died when giving birth to Benjamin. Benjamin and Joseph are full brothers. Joseph is not named because he was already in Egypt.

Issachar and Zebulun were born to Leah later in life after Jacob sired children through Leah and Rachel's personal servants, Bilhah and Zilpah. Leah later seduced her husband Jacob and bore him three more children.

Benjamin was the last child born to Jacob through Rachel when Rachel died in childbirth (Joseph was the first). Dan and Naphtali were Bilhah's children, and Gad and Asher were Zilpah's.

Translation: ...Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Dan and Naphtali are the sons of Rachel’s personal servant girl, Bilhah. Rachel did not have any children at first, so she decided to have children by means of her slave girl. They were born before the other slave girl’s children.

Gad and Asher were the two children born to Leah’s person servant, Zipah. Leah named them.

Even though these 4 sons were claimed by Rachel and by Leah, they are actually the sons of their maids, and therefore are half-brothers to the other sons named.

Exodus 1:1–4 These are the names of the sons of Israel, the ones who came to Egypt—each man and his household came [to Egypt] with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Exodus 1:1–4 These are the names of the sons of Israel (Jacob), those who came to Egypt with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher. (Kukis paraphrase)

What we find here in vv. 1–4 is not a list of all the sons of Jacob nor is it a list of the tribes of Israel. It is a list of those who went with Jacob to Egypt, bringing their own families with them. That is why there are 11 men named, and Joseph’s name is left out, as Joseph was already living in Egypt. Joseph had sent for them all.

The sons are named according to their birth mother and birth order. Leah had 4 sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah); then there was a time interval, during which, she gave her personal servant to Jacob to impregnate. Then she had two more sons (Issachar, Zebulun). Her six sons are named first. You may recall that Jacob had been tricked into marrying Leah, the older sister.

Leah’s sister, Rachel, had two sons. Joseph was already there in Egypt, so his name is not given in this list. She died when giving birth to Benjamin. Benjamin was brought to Egypt with his father; so his name is listed next. Rachel is the sister that Jacob loved.

Rachel did not, at first, have any children. In desperation, she gave her personal maid to Jacob and she produced two sons for Jacob: Dan and Naphtali (the idea is similar to our concept of a surrogate mother today).

Seeing this, Leah gave her personal maid to Jacob, and produced two sons by her: Gad and Asher.

The sons are grouped by their mothers, but with Joseph being left out.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so is every soul of ones coming from a thigh of Jacob seventy a soul; and Joseph was in Egypt.

Dead Sea Scrolls                   .

Targum of Onkelos                And all the souls that came forth from the thigh of Jakob were seventy souls, with Joseph who was in Mizraim.

Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan)   And the number of all the souls coming from the thigh of Jakob, seventy souls, with Joseph and his sons, who were in Mizraim.

Douay-Rheims 1899 (Amer.) And all the souls that came out of Jacob's thigh, were seventy: but Joseph was in Egypt.

Aramaic ESV of Peshitta        All the souls who came out of Ya'aqub's body were seventy souls, and Yoseph was in Egypt already.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And all the persons that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy persons; for Joseph was in Egypt already.

Septuagint (Greek)                But Joseph was in Egypt. And all the souls born of Jacob were seventy-five.

Significant differences: 

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

Bible in Basic English             All the offspring of Jacob were seventy persons: and Joseph had come to Egypt before them.

Easy English                          .

Easy-to-Read Version–2006  .

God’s Word™                         .

Good News Bible (TEV)         The total number of these people directly descended from Jacob was seventy. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.

The Message                         Seventy persons in all generated by Jacob’s seed. Joseph was already in Egypt.

NIRV                                      The total number of Jacob’s children and grandchildren was 70. Joseph was already in Egypt.

New Simplified Bible              These are the names of the sons of Israel who came with their families and with Jacob to Egypt: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali and Gad and Asher. Joseph was already in Egypt. The total number of Jacob’s descendants was seventy. Vv. 1–4 are included for context.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           .

Contemporary English V.       Altogether, Jacob had seventy children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who went with him.

The Living Bible                     So the total number who went with him was seventy (for Joseph was already there).

New Berkeley Version           .

New Century Version             There was a total of seventy people who were descendants of Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.

New Life Version                    There were seventy people in Jacob's family. But Joseph was already in Egypt.

New Living Translation           .

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then [there was] JoSeph [who lived] in Egypt; so altogether, there were seventy-five of these people who [descended] from Jacob.

Beck’s American Translation .

International Standard V        All those who descended from [Lit. came out of the loins of] Jacob totaled 75 persons [So with DSS and LXX. MT reads 70]. Now Joseph was already [The Heb. lacks already] in Egypt.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       There were seventy souls altogether that came from Jacob’s stock, but of these, Joseph was in Egypt already.

Translation for Translators     Altogether there were 70 people who went with Jacob. That included his sons, his grandsons, and two great-grandsons. His son Joseph was already in Egypt.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Awful Scroll Bible                   The breathers that are to be coming out of the loins of Jacob, seventy breathers; while Joseph is to be with the Egyptians.

Ferrar-Fenton Bible                ...all the persons proceeding from the loins of Jacob, were seventy individuals ; Joseph was already in Mitzeraim.

Lexham English Bible            And {all those who descended from Jacob} [Literally "every soul/individual/life, the ones going out from the loins of Jacob"] were seventy individuals [Or "souls," "lives"], and Joseph was in Egypt. And Joseph died and all of his brothers and all of that generation.

Tree of Life Version                The souls that came out of the line of Jacob numbered 70 in all, while Joseph was already in Egypt.

Wikipedia Bible Project          And were the total of souls going on Jacob's heels seventy souls. And Joseph was in Egypt.

Catholic Bibles (those having the imprimatur):

Christian Community (1988)  These descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; apart from these, Joseph was already in Egypt.

New American Bible (2011)   The total number of Jacob’s direct descendants* was seventy.a Joseph was already in Egypt.

Direct descendants: lit., “persons coming from Jacob’s loins”; hence, wives of Jacob’s sons and servants are not included. Cf. Gn 46:26. Seventy: Gn 46:26, along with the Septuagint for the verse, agrees on a total of sixty-six coming down to Egypt with Jacob, but in v. 27 the Hebrew text adds the two sons born to Joseph in Egypt and presupposes Jacob himself and Joseph for a total of seventy; the Septuagint adds “nine sons” born to Joseph to get a total of seventy-five. This is the figure the Septuagint and 4QExa have here in Ex 1:5.

New Jerusalem Bible             In all, the descendants of Jacob numbered seventy persons. Joseph was in Egypt already.

New RSV                               .

Revised English Bible            .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Complete Jewish Bible           All told, there were seventy descendants of Ya‘akov; Yosef was already in Egypt.

exeGeses companion Bible   And all the souls

coming from the flank of Yaaqov are seventy souls:

as for Yoseph, he is in Misrayim.

Hebraic Roots Version           And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy-five souls, Joseph being in Egypt.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               The total number of persons that were of Jacob’s issue came to seventy, Joseph being already in Egypt.

Kaplan Translation                 The [original] number of Jacob's direct descendants [Literally, 'souls emanating from Jacob's thigh.' See Genesis 46:26; note on Genesis 24:2.], including Joseph who was in Egypt, was seventy [See Genesis 46:27.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And all the nefesh that came out of the loins of Ya’akov were seventy nefesh; for Yosef was in Mitzrayim already.

The Scriptures 1998              And all those who were descendants of Yaʽaqo were seventy beings, as Yosĕph was already in Mitsrayim.

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

The Expanded Bible              There was a total of seventy people who ·were descendants [^Lcame out of the loins/thigh] of Jacob [Gen. 46:26–27]. Jacob’s son Joseph was already in Egypt.

Kretzmann’s Commentary    And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; for Joseph was in Egypt already. The order is: the sons of Leah, the son of Rachel, the sons of Rachel's handmaid, the sons of Leah's handmaid. As in Gen. 46:27, seventy souls are mentioned as the forefathers of the children of Israel, it being expressly stated that the sons came, each with his family, with his wife and children. The small number serves as a fine contrast over against the immense multitude that is spoken of at the time of the Exodus.

NET Bible®                             All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered seventy. But Joseph was already in Egypt [Heb “and Joseph was in Egypt”], and in time Joseph and his brothers and all that generation died. V. 6 is included for context.

The Voice                               At that time, Jacob had 70 children and grandchildren. All of them came to Egypt, except for Joseph; he was already there.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans....and (it) (came to pass), all the beings going out of the midsection of "Ya'aqov ^{He restrains}" were / beings and "Yoseph ^Adding" |had| existed in "Mits'rayim ^{Two straits}",...

Concordant Literal Version    All the souls having come forth from the thigh of Jacob had become seventy souls. As for Joseph, he was in Egypt.

A Conservative Version         .

Context Group Version          And Joseph was in Egypt. And all the lives that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy-five lives.

Darby Translation                  .

Emphasized Bible                  .

English Standard Version      All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt.

Modern English Version         All the people who came from the seed of Jacob were seventy people, but Joseph was in Egypt already.

Modern KJV                           .

NASB                                     All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.

New European Version          .

New King James Version       .

Brenner’s Mechanical Trans..

Stuart Wolf                             .

World English Bible                All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.

Young's Literal Translation     And all the persons coming out of the thigh of Jacob are seventy persons; as to Joseph, he was in Egypt.

The gist of this passage:     Altogether, 70 people from Jacob’s loins came to Egypt.

Translation: [There] were 70 souls coming from the loins of Jacob [who moved to Egypt];...

I took some liberties here with the text. Twice the word soul occurs, and both times, it is in the singular. More literally, this first portion of v. 5a should read And so is every soul of ones coming from a thigh of Jacob seventy a soul... Obviously, this is pretty wordy and somewhat confusing. However, the gist of this verse is, 70 people moved to Egypt along with Jacob.

Wives become a part of the family that they marry into. They were not genetically related to Jacob; but they marry into his family. 70 in total would be all who were from Jacob’s loins and Jacob himself.

The NET Bible: Gen 46 describes in more detail Jacob’s coming to Egypt with his family. The Greek text of Exod 1:5 and of Gen 46:27 and two Qumran manuscripts, have the number as seventy-five, counting the people a little differently. E. H. Merrill in conjunction with F. Delitzsch notes that the list in Gen 46 of those who entered Egypt includes Hezron and Hamul, who did so in potentia, since they were born after the family entered Egypt. Joseph’s sons are also included, though they too were born in Egypt. “The list must not be pressed too literally” (E. H. Merrill, Kingdom of Priests, 49).

For the number 75 rather than 70, see Norman Geisler and William Nix; A General Introduction to the Bible; Chicago; Moody Press, ©1968, p. 262. Consider my examination first, and then look back and take from there.

The Septuagint has 75 persons; but 70 appears to be the correct number. Deut. 10:22 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven. (ESV)

The people were totaled up back in Gen. 46:26–27 All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own descendants, not including Jacob's sons' wives, were sixty-six persons in all. And the sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. (ESV) Joseph, his two sons and Jacob all add up to 70. Unlike the note from NET Bible above, we may press this list literally.

The numbering of the people was thoroughly examined in Genesis 46 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). It is somewhat tedious and really does not need to be repeated here.

Translation: ...Joseph was [already] in Egypt.

Joseph was already married and he had two sons. In a New Testament passage, there was 75 Jews in all living in Egypt. This would be the 70 who moved there with Jacob, Jacob, Joseph, Joseph’s wife and two children, which is 75 in all.

Exodus 1:5 [There] were 70 souls coming from the loins of Jacob [who moved to Egypt]; Joseph was [already] in Egypt. (Kukis mostly literal translation)

Stephen, in a sermon, before he was martyred, said, “And Joseph sent and summoned Jacob his father and all his kindred, seventy-five persons in all.” (Acts 7:14; ESV) This has some interesting spiritual implications. Stephen (possibly filled with the Holy Spirit), is teaching, and he would have learned from the Greek Septuagint (a translation made from the Hebrew into Greek, the common language of that area. In the Greek, the number is 75 (this is the LXX reading in Gen. 46:27 Ex. 1:5; interestingly enough, Deut. 10:22 reads 70 in the Greek and Hebrew both). So, Stephen is giving a sermon where the number he gives is not exact, and it is probably based upon the Septuagint which he and the other disciples would have used (although many of the disciples probably spoke Greek and Aramaic—which is not dramatically different from Hebrew) Given that their audiences often included gentiles and that they were probably brought up with Greek as their communication language, their knowledge of the Scripture would primarily have come from the Greek Old Testament (there was no New Testament at this time). Their reference to the Hebrew Bible would have been when among only other Jews specifically and probably in the synagogues. Their use of the Hebrew Old Testament would be analogous to my use of the KJV—I rarely refer to it and use it specifically in two circumstances (when quoting Kretzmann or for looking up a specific Hebrew word).

Now, apart from the number 75, which is a detail, what Stephen said was a dramatic sermon, contrasting the messages from God to them and how they as a people were often negative toward His words. Acts 7:51–54 "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. (ESV) This was all his audience could take; they stoned Stephen to death at this point.