1:8 Then a new king, 5 who did not know about 6 Joseph, came to power 7 over Egypt. 1:9 He said 8 to his people, “Look at 9 the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are! 1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely 10 with them. Otherwise 11 they will continue to multiply, 12 and if 13 a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with 14 our enemies and fight against us and leave 15 the country.”
105:24 The Lord 16 made his people very fruitful,
and made them 17 more numerous than their 18 enemies.
1 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
2 tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”
3 tn The disjunctive vav marks a contrast with the note about the deaths of the first generation.
4 tn Using מְאֹד (mÿ’od) twice intensifies the idea of their becoming strong (see GKC 431-32 §133.k).
5 sn It would be difficult to identify who this “new king” might be, since the chronology of ancient Israel and Egypt is continually debated. Scholars who take the numbers in the Bible more or less at face value would place the time of Jacob’s going down to Egypt in about 1876
6 tn The relative clause comes last in the verse in Hebrew. It simply clarifies that the new king had no knowledge about Joseph. It also introduces a major theme in the early portion of Exodus, as a later Pharaoh will claim not to know who Yahweh is. The
7 tn Heb “arose.”
8 tn Heb “and he said.”
9 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) introduces the foundational clause for the exhortation to follow by drawing the listeners’ attention to the Israelites. In other words, the exhortation that follows is based on this observation. The connection could be rendered “since, because,” or the like.
10 tn The verb is the Hitpael cohortative of חָכַם (khakam, “to be wise”). This verb has the idea of acting shrewdly, dealing wisely. The basic idea in the word group is that of skill. So a skillful decision is required to prevent the Israelites from multiplying any more.
11 tn The word פֶּן (pen) expresses fear or precaution and can also be translated “lest” or “else” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 75-76, §461).
12 tn The verb can be translated simply “will multiply,” but since Pharaoh has already indicated that he is aware they were doing that, the nuance here must mean to multiply all the more, or to continue to multiply. Cf. NIV “will become even more numerous.”
13 tn The words וְהָיָה כִּי (vÿhayah ki) introduce a conditional clause – “if” (see GKC 335 §112.y).
14 tn Heb “and [lest] he [Israel] also be joined to.”
15 tn Heb “and go up from.” All the verbs coming after the particle פֶּן (pen, “otherwise, lest” in v. 10) have the same force and are therefore parallel. These are the fears of the Egyptians. This explains why a shrewd policy of population control was required. They wanted to keep Israel enslaved; they did not want them to become too numerous and escape.
16 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
17 tn Heb “him,” referring to “his people.”
18 tn Heb “his,” referring to “his people.”