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Exodus 1

The bridge from Genesis: seventy of Jacob's household have become a nation, Joseph and his whole generation die, and a new king who never knew Joseph reads their numbers as a threat. Forced labor on Pithom and Raamses follows, then the order to kill newborn boys. Watch how fear drives the policy — the harder the Egyptians press, the more Israel multiplies, which only deepens their dread. The chapter names ordinary resisters before it names any deliverer.

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Exodus 1 (WEB)

1
Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt (every man and his household came with Jacob):
2
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4
Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5
All the souls who came out of Jacob’s body were seventy souls, and Joseph was in Egypt already.
6
Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.
7
The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who didn’t know Joseph.
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He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
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Come, let’s deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it happen that when any war breaks out, they also join themselves to our enemies and fight against us, and escape out of the land.”
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Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built storage cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses.
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But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel.
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The Egyptians ruthlessly made the children of Israel serve,
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and they made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and in brick, and in all kinds of service in the field, all their service, in which they ruthlessly made them serve.
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The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,
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and he said, “When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
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But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
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The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”
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The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”
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God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
21
Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
22
Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

Éxodo 1 (RV1909)

1
ESTOS son los nombres de los hijos de Israel, que entraron en Egipto con Jacob; cada uno entró con su familia.
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Rubén, Simeón, Leví y Judá;
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Issachâr, Zabulón y Benjamín;
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Dan y Nephtalí, Gad y Aser.
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Y todas las almas de los que salieron del muslo de Jacob, fueron setenta. Y José estaba en Egipto.
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Y murió José, y todos sus hermanos, y toda aquella generación.
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Y los hijos de Israel crecieron, y multiplicaron, y fueron aumentados y corroborados en extremo; y llenóse la tierra de ellos.
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Levantóse entretanto un nuevo rey sobre Egipto, que no conocía á José; el cual dijo á su pueblo:
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He aquí, el pueblo de los hijos de Israel es mayor y más fuerte que nosotros:
10
Ahora, pues, seamos sabios para con él, porque no se multiplique, y acontezca que viniendo guerra, él también se junte con nuestros enemigos, y pelee contra nosotros, y se vaya de la tierra.
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Entonces pusieron sobre él comisarios de tributos que los molestasen con sus cargas; y edificaron á Faraón las ciudades de los bastimentos, Phithom y Raamses.
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Empero cuanto más los oprimían, tanto más se multiplicaban y crecían: así que estaban ellos fastidiados de los hijos de Israel.
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Y los Egipcios hicieron servir á los hijos de Israel con dureza:
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Y amargaron su vida con dura servidumbre, en hacer barro y ladrillo, y en toda labor del campo, y en todo su servicio, al cual los obligaban con rigorismo.
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Y habló el rey de Egipto á las parteras de las Hebreas, una de las cuales se llamaba Siphra, y otra Phúa, y díjoles:
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Cuando parteareis á las Hebreas, y mirareis los asientos, si fuere hijo, matadlo; y si fuere hija, entonces viva.
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Mas las parteras temieron á Dios, y no hicieron como les mandó el rey de Egipto, sino que reservaban la vida á los niños.
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Y el rey de Egipto hizo llamar á las parteras, y díjoles: Por qué habéis hecho esto, que habéis reservado la vida á los niños?
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Y las parteras respondieron á Faraón: Porque las mujeres Hebreas no son como las Egipcias: porque son robustas, y paren antes que la partera venga á ellas.
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Y Dios hizo bien á las parteras: y el pueblo se multiplicó, y se corroboraron en gran manera.
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Y por haber las parteras temido á Dios, él les hizo casas.
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Entonces Faraón mandó á todo su pueblo, diciendo: Echad en el río todo hijo que naciere, y á toda hija reservad la vida.

The midwives who outwit Pharaoh

Shiphrah and Puah are the first to refuse the king, and the narrative gives them names while leaving the most powerful man in Egypt anonymous. They fear God rather than the throne and quietly let the boys live.

Their excuse to Pharaoh — that Hebrew women give birth before a midwife arrives — buys time, and God gives them households of their own. The escalation to drowning in the river (v. 22) sets up the basket of chapter 2.

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