Exodus 1

4 house of Pharaoh. Joseph could not leave his master’s country without permission, which he could not solicit in person because as a mourner, being unshaven (see Herodotus, bk. ii., c. 36), he could not appear before the king. See xli. 14.

17 father. Not only children of the same father, but worshippers of the same God.

22 a hundred and ten. Until the seventy-first year after his family came to Egypt, and the fifty-fourth after his father’s death. Cp. ch. xli. 46, 47 with ch. xlv. 11.

24 visit you. Neither his own alliance and prosperity in Egypt, nor the length of time which had elapsed since the promise was given, had impaired his faith.

25 took an oath. For the fulfilment of this command see refs. in next note. As Joseph remained, by position and office, an Egyptian until the day of his death, the expression of his faith and hope was so much the more striking.

26. Egypt. That his remains might be ready for removal at the proper time. This would serve to keep up among the Israelites the expectation of a return to Canaan. See Exod. xiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32.

THE title EXODUS, “going out,” was given to this book by the Greek translators, because it records the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. The Hebrew title is Shemoth, “Names,” from the opening words. It is the story of those who came into Egypt and of those who were brought out of it.

Moses is the great figure of the book. His discovery by Pharaoh’s daughter leads to his being taken to the royal palace and being trained in all the learning of the Egyptians (ii. 5, 10; cp. Acts vii. 22; Heb. xi. 24-26). Then follows his sympathy with his brethren in their slavery, his flight into Midian, and his further training there in the solitudes of the desert by communion with God, and by the hardships of the desert life, for his high office as the leader of God’s people and their great Lawgiver (ii. 11-iv. 20). His faith and courage are shown in his confronting Pharaoh (v.-x.).

The institution of the Passover is the solemn closing scene of the bondage in Egypt, an institution cherished by the Jews to this day, honoured and continued by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and prefiguring the heavenly feast of completed redemption through the Lamb that was slain (xii.; cp. Matt. xxvi. 17-29; Mark xiv. 12-22; Luke xxii. 7-20; John i. 29; Rev. v. 6, 12; vii. 14).

The flight from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the desert journeyings of the Israelites, are told in simple but thrilling language (xii. 31, 37-42, 51; xiii. 17-xix. 2). And then there is the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (xix. 3-xxxi. 18), with the rebellion of the people and the touching and self-effacing intercession of Moses on their behalf (xxxii.) and the subsequent enactment of the ceremonial laws. The closing chapters (xxxv.-xl.) describe the building of the Tabernacle, and the Divine presence manifested in and upon it, the light and protection of the people in their journeyings.

7 the land was filled. According to the promise (Gen. xlvi. 3). See xii. 37. The people were not, it appears, confined to the district of Goshen.

8 knew not. This Pharaoh is now generally understood to have been Ramses II., called “the Pharaoh of the Oppression” (so Sayce, Brugsch, Ebers). His mummy was found in 1881 at Deir el-Bahari. Two colossal statues of him are to be seen amid the ruins of Memphis, near Bedrashen, 20 miles from Cairo, and some of his hieroglyphics may be seen on Cleopatra’s Needle, now on the Thames Embankment. “The Pharaoh of the Exodus” was his son, Merenptah. See on Gen. xlvi. 34. The prophecy of Gen. xv. 13, is to be fulfilled.

11. Pithom and Raamses. Both these cities were in the district of Heliopolis (“On,” which name the Septuagint adds to the other two), near the canal which joined the Nile and the Red Sea. “Pithom” (“House of Tum,” the Sun-god worshipped at Heliopolis) was identified by Naville, in 1883, as Tel-el-Maskhutu, about 20 miles from Tel-el-Kebir, and the ruins of the treasure-houses have been found, constructed of two kinds of brick, one ordinary, the other without straw. Raamses, now Tel-el-Retabeh, 10 miles west of Pithom.

15. Hebrew midwives. Probably the chief among them, responsible for all the rest. Their names are Egyptian.

21 made them houses. That is, He “increased and prospered their families.”