The verse names Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin among the sons of Israel who went down into Egypt with their father, listing only the heads of the tribes and showing that Israel was already divided into twelve tribes. It stands at the opening of the oppression in Egypt, bridging the time when the family was comfortable and prosperous and settled there and the time when they had grown mightier than the Egyptians in bitter bondage. It belongs to the time after Joseph's death and under a new dynasty, when the Egyptians forgot his service and turned against the Hebrews with harsh cruelty and made them despised slaves. Even when they seemed forgotten by God under great trial, God continued to prosper them by increasing their number and preserving their lives and making them a nation under His providence. Their deliverance from that bondage began the history of their becoming a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship.
Historical Setting and Names
Exodus 1:3 belongs to the first, mainly historical division of Exodus, chapters 1-18, and to its opening section, chapters 1-4, which begins with the oppression of Israel in Egypt and relates the birth and upbringing of Moses until he is called to be the deliverer of his people. It stands at the bridge between Genesis, where the family of Israel closes comfortable and prosperous and pleasantly settled in Egypt, and Exodus, where they have grown more and mightier than the Egyptians in bitter bondage and oppression. It begins the history told in chapters 1 to 18 of their great deliverance and of their becoming a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship, in the book called going out for Israel's departure from Egypt.
The verse names Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin among the sons of Israel and descendants of Jacob and Abraham who went down into Egypt. They were then a small people living there and receiving supplies from Egypt's granaries, and their family history leads into the account of Israel's descent to Egypt and God's preservation of the people. The list gives only the heads of the tribes who went down with their father, not all who went, showing that Israel was divided into twelve tribes.
The verse belongs to the account of Jacob's family in Egypt after Joseph's death and under a new Egyptian dynasty, when the Egyptians forgot Joseph's service and turned against the Hebrews. Their brief prosperity and comfort ended in a change from prosperity to cruel oppression, long and terrible. They were treated as despised slaves with harsh cruelty added to ingratitude, and were made slaves so they would not leave Egypt for Canaan.
Egyptian inscriptions and records mentioning Israel corroborate the Pentateuch's record concerning Joseph and the exodus, in which Exodus 1:3 is included. The naming of the children of Israel in Exodus 1:1-7 establishes that Israel was present in Egypt, and the Egyptian records provide historical confirmation of the biblical account.
Providence, Deliverance, and Witness
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin are named among the sons of Israel whose family history leads into the account of Israel's descent into Egypt and God's preservation of the people there. They stand in the record of the making of a nation under God's providence over His people, belonging to the account of Israel's bondage in Egypt when they seemed forgotten by God. The chapter records their entry under a new Egyptian dynasty, where as Israelites they were treated as despised slaves even as God continued to prosper them. Under great trial the Lord's hand was especially manifested in increasing their number and preserving their lives.
That oppression shows Egypt persecuting God's chosen people despite the evidence of God's wisdom, goodness, and power. The family that came into Egypt became the people of God in Egypt whose newborn sons were condemned to immediate death by the tyrannical law of the king at the time of Moses' birth. Moses was saved from it as the special object of providential care through loving God-fearing parents, the ark of bulrushes, adoption by the king's daughter, and early instruction by his faithful mother.
Abraham's descendants went to Egypt and became associated with its heathen worship, forgetting the significance of the early offerings and losing much of their knowledge of God and Christ. Their deliverance from bondage was followed by a need to be taught again the principles of the atonement, through which they could know God and be reconciled to Him. The bondage in Egypt belongs to the whole Old Testament canon that Jesus learned in childhood as part of His deeply religious education in the Holy Scriptures begun in the home. According to the instruction in Deuteronomy 6, likely at His mother's knee in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, He received it with childish receptivity as revelation of God's will. He saw in it the bondage that led to the great deliverance, the opening of the Red Sea and the Jordan, the Ten Words spoken from the cloud-covered mountain amid thunder and lightning, the organization and order of Israel's camp, and the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night leading God's host to victory.
The verse names Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin among the sons of Israel who went down into Egypt with their father, listing only the heads of the tribes and showing that Israel was already divided into twelve tribes. It stands at the opening of the oppression in Egypt, bridging the time when the family was comfortable and prosperous and settled there and the time when they had grown mightier than the Egyptians in bitter bondage. It belongs to the time after Joseph's death and under a new dynasty, when the Egyptians forgot his service and turned against the Hebrews with harsh cruelty and made them despised slaves. Even when they seemed forgotten by God under great trial, God continued to prosper them by increasing their number and preserving their lives and making them a nation under His providence. Their deliverance from that bondage began the history of their becoming a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship.
Historical Setting and Names
Exodus 1:3 belongs to the first, mainly historical division of Exodus, chapters 1-18, and to its opening section, chapters 1-4, which begins with the oppression of Israel in Egypt and relates the birth and upbringing of Moses until he is called to be the deliverer of his people. It stands at the bridge between Genesis, where the family of Israel closes comfortable and prosperous and pleasantly settled in Egypt, and Exodus, where they have grown more and mightier than the Egyptians in bitter bondage and oppression. It begins the history told in chapters 1 to 18 of their great deliverance and of their becoming a nation with thorough organization, efficient leadership, a complete code of laws, and an established form of worship, in the book called going out for Israel's departure from Egypt.
The verse names Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin among the sons of Israel and descendants of Jacob and Abraham who went down into Egypt. They were then a small people living there and receiving supplies from Egypt's granaries, and their family history leads into the account of Israel's descent to Egypt and God's preservation of the people. The list gives only the heads of the tribes who went down with their father, not all who went, showing that Israel was divided into twelve tribes.
The verse belongs to the account of Jacob's family in Egypt after Joseph's death and under a new Egyptian dynasty, when the Egyptians forgot Joseph's service and turned against the Hebrews. Their brief prosperity and comfort ended in a change from prosperity to cruel oppression, long and terrible. They were treated as despised slaves with harsh cruelty added to ingratitude, and were made slaves so they would not leave Egypt for Canaan.
Egyptian inscriptions and records mentioning Israel corroborate the Pentateuch's record concerning Joseph and the exodus, in which Exodus 1:3 is included. The naming of the children of Israel in Exodus 1:1-7 establishes that Israel was present in Egypt, and the Egyptian records provide historical confirmation of the biblical account.
Providence, Deliverance, and Witness
Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin are named among the sons of Israel whose family history leads into the account of Israel's descent into Egypt and God's preservation of the people there. They stand in the record of the making of a nation under God's providence over His people, belonging to the account of Israel's bondage in Egypt when they seemed forgotten by God. The chapter records their entry under a new Egyptian dynasty, where as Israelites they were treated as despised slaves even as God continued to prosper them. Under great trial the Lord's hand was especially manifested in increasing their number and preserving their lives.
That oppression shows Egypt persecuting God's chosen people despite the evidence of God's wisdom, goodness, and power. The family that came into Egypt became the people of God in Egypt whose newborn sons were condemned to immediate death by the tyrannical law of the king at the time of Moses' birth. Moses was saved from it as the special object of providential care through loving God-fearing parents, the ark of bulrushes, adoption by the king's daughter, and early instruction by his faithful mother.
Abraham's descendants went to Egypt and became associated with its heathen worship, forgetting the significance of the early offerings and losing much of their knowledge of God and Christ. Their deliverance from bondage was followed by a need to be taught again the principles of the atonement, through which they could know God and be reconciled to Him. The bondage in Egypt belongs to the whole Old Testament canon that Jesus learned in childhood as part of His deeply religious education in the Holy Scriptures begun in the home. According to the instruction in Deuteronomy 6, likely at His mother's knee in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, He received it with childish receptivity as revelation of God's will. He saw in it the bondage that led to the great deliverance, the opening of the Red Sea and the Jordan, the Ten Words spoken from the cloud-covered mountain amid thunder and lightning, the organization and order of Israel's camp, and the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night leading God's host to victory.