NOTES for Exo 1:1-22
The position of Jacob's descendants in Egypt changed rather soon after Joseph's death. The sacred writer connects these changes with a new pharaoh, who already "did not know Joseph" (v. 8). And the issue here, of course, is not only the change of power as such. Apparently, very soon after Joseph and his generation passed from life, when Jacob's descendants had grown numerous and settled throughout the Nile Delta (vv. 6-7), a new dynasty came to power in Egypt, no longer Semitic but Egyptian in origin, for which the Semitic tribes of the delta were not a support but a hindrance. In addition, the Semites living there became hostages of their geopolitical position: they were in the rear of the Eastern Corps of the Egyptian army, which covered the delta region from the Sinai side and protected the strategic coastal road linking the central regions of Egypt with the cities of northern and central Palestine, which at that time were under Egyptian rule. And the threat came from the Semitic tribes of the Sinai Peninsula, the closest ethnic relatives of the delta tribes. It is not surprising that in such a situation the authorities seriously feared an uprising in the rear of the Eastern Corps in the event of war (v. 10). Moreover, if we speak not of Egypt as a whole but of the delta region, the Semites evidently considerably outnumbered the Egyptians (v. 9). Such local superiority was explained, apparently, both by a higher birth rate than the Egyptian average (v. 12) and by the fact that the Egyptians themselves were not very eager to settle in the delta region. Clearly, at this time the Semites of the delta, including Jacob's descendants, began to be drawn into public works, in which the whole peasant population of the country traditionally took part (vv. 11-14), and which to Hebrews unaccustomed to such occupations must have appeared to be real slave labor. Still, judging by the fact that their birth rate did not fall as a result (v. 12), the material living conditions of Jacob's descendants in Egypt were not too harsh. In this situation the Egyptian authorities began to take measures unprecedented in Egyptian history to reduce the birth rate and decrease the number of males (vv. 15-22). And what, it would appear, can an ordinary person do in such a situation, without authority and without the ability to influence the decisions made by those in power? Not so little, as the experience of the midwives mentioned in the story showed (vv. 15-19). Of course, such an act requires resolve, and it appears when faithfulness to God in a person's life stands higher than fear of the authorities (v. 17). One could think that the midwives' resolve did not change the position of their fellow tribesmen (v. 22), so that they only exposed themselves to risk in vain. But for God, the choice made by a person in one situation or another is no less important than its outcome, because the person's destiny in God's eternity depends precisely on the choice made. And God does not abandon those who choose His path (v. 21). Historical conflicts in which people have to take part remain in history, while their participants take a step into the Kingdom of God. Or do not take it, departing into darkness.