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Exodus 1

Exodus 1 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Exodus 1 opens with Israel in Egypt after Joseph's generation has passed away. The chapter shows God's people growing in number, then facing harsh oppression from a new king. It also highlights the quiet courage of two midwives who choose to honor God over royal command.

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What happens in Exodus 1?

The chapter begins by listing Jacob's family and noting that the Israelites multiplied greatly after Joseph and his generation died. A new Egyptian king, unaware of Joseph's place in the nation's history, sees Israel's growth as a threat and subjects them to hard labor. Even under oppression, the people continue to increase. Pharaoh then orders the Hebrew midwives to kill newborn boys, but they fear God and let the children live. God blesses their faithfulness, while Pharaoh escalates his violence by commanding the deaths of Israelite sons.

Exodus follows the story of Israel's rescue from slavery and journey toward covenant life with God. Chapter 1 shifts the setting from the favor Joseph found in Egypt to a new time of fear and oppression. It sets up the need for deliverance and introduces the conflict between Pharaoh's power and God's care for His people.

Themes to notice

  • Growth under pressureGod's people continue to increase even while conditions grow harder around them.
  • Fear of GodThe midwives choose obedience to God over obedience to a human ruler.
  • Oppression and deliverancePharaoh's harsh policy creates the need for the rescue that follows in the next chapters.

Questions for Exodus 1

  • What changes in Egypt lead from Israel's welcome to Israel's oppression?
  • Why does the chapter highlight the midwives' fear of God?
  • How does God's blessing on the midwives shape the rest of the chapter?

Read the full text of Exodus 1 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Exodus

Exodus 1

The Israelites Multiply in Egypt

1These 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;

Gad and Asher.

5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.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.

Oppression by a New King

8Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt.9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”11So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and flourished; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.13They worked the Israelites ruthlessly14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.21And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”

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