Exodus 1:7

1:7 The Israelites, ¹  however, ²  were fruitful, increased greatly, multiplied, and became extremely strong, ³  so that the land was filled with them.

Exodus 1:1

Blessing during Bondage in Egypt

1:1 ⁴ These ⁵  are the names ⁶  of the sons of Israel ⁷  who entered Egypt – each man with his household ⁸  entered with Jacob:

Exodus 4:20

4:20 Then Moses took ⁹  his wife and sons ¹⁰  and put them on a donkey and headed back ¹¹  to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

Isaiah 49:19-22

49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;

it is desolate and devastated. ¹² 

But now you will be too small to hold your residents,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ¹³ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ¹⁴ 

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ¹⁵ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ¹⁶ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Jeremiah 30:19-20

30:19 Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving ¹⁷ 

and the sounds of laughter and merriment.

I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. ¹⁸ 

I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised.

30:20 The descendants of Jacob will enjoy their former privileges.

Their community will be reestablished in my favor ¹⁹ 

and I will punish all who try to oppress them.

Jeremiah 33:22

33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ²⁰ 

Ezekiel 36:10-11

36:10 I will multiply your people ²¹  – the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities will be populated and the ruins rebuilt. 36:11 I will increase the number of people and animals on you; they will increase and be fruitful. ²²  I will cause you to be inhabited as in ancient times, and will do more good for you than at the beginning of your history. ²³  Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:37-38

36:37 “This is what the sovereign Lord says: I will allow the house of Israel to ask me to do this for them: ²⁴  I will multiply their people like sheep. ²⁵  36:38 Like the sheep for offerings, like the sheep of Jerusalem ²⁶  during her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

Hosea 1:10

The Restoration of Israel

1:10 (2:1) ²⁷  However, ²⁸  in the future the number of the people ²⁹  of Israel will be like the sand of the sea which can be neither measured nor numbered. Although ³⁰  it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it will be said to them, “You are ³¹  children ³²  of the living God!”

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the sons of Israel.”

[1:7]  ² tn The disjunctive vav marks a contrast with the note about the deaths of the first generation.

[1:7]  ³ tn Using מְאֹד (mÿ’od) twice intensifies the idea of their becoming strong (see GKC 431-32 §133.k).

[1:1]  ⁴ sn Chapter 1 introduces the theme of bondage in Egypt and shows the intensifying opposition to the fulfillment of promises given earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first seven verses announce the theme of Israel’s prosperity in Egypt. The second section (vv. 8-14) reports continued prosperity in the face of deliberate opposition. The third section (vv. 15-21) explains the prosperity as divine favor in spite of Pharaoh’s covert attempts at controlling the population. The final verse records a culmination in the developing tyranny and provides a transition to the next section – Pharaoh commands the open murder of the males. The power of God is revealed in the chapter as the people flourish under the forces of evil. However, by the turn of affairs at the end of the chapter, the reader is left with a question about the power of God – “What can God do?” This is good Hebrew narrative, moving the reader through tension after tension to reveal the sovereign power and majesty of the Lord God, but calling for faith every step of the way. See also D. W. Wicke, “The Literary Structure of Exodus 1:2–2:10,” JSOT 24 (1982): 99-107.

[1:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “now these” or “and these.” The vav (ו) disjunctive marks a new beginning in the narrative begun in Genesis.

[1:1]  ⁶ sn The name of the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible is שְׁמוֹת (shÿmot), the word for “Names,” drawn from the beginning of the book. The inclusion of the names at this point forms a literary connection to the book of Genesis. It indicates that the Israelites living in bondage had retained a knowledge of their ancestry, and with it, a knowledge of God’s promise.

[1:1]  ⁷ tn The expression בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (bÿne yisra’el, “sons of Israel”) in most places refers to the nation as a whole and can be translated “Israelites,” although traditionally it has been rendered “the children of Israel” or “the sons of Israel.” Here it refers primarily to the individual sons of the patriarch Israel, for they are named. But the expression is probably also intended to indicate that they are the Israelites (cf. Gen 29:1, “eastern people,” or “easterners,” lit., “sons of the east”).

[1:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “a man and his house.” Since this serves to explain “the sons of Israel,” it has the distributive sense. So while the “sons of Israel” refers to the actual sons of the patriarch, the expression includes their families (cf. NIV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[4:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “And Moses took.”

[4:20]  ¹⁰ sn Only Gershom has been mentioned so far. The other son’s name will be explained in chapter 18. The explanation of Gershom’s name was important to Moses’ sojourn in Midian. The explanation of the name Eliezer fits better in the later chapter (18:2-4).

[4:20]  ¹¹ tn The verb would literally be rendered “and returned”; however, the narrative will record other happenings before he arrived in Egypt, so an ingressive nuance fits here – he began to return, or started back.

[49:19]  ¹² tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.

[49:20]  ¹³ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[49:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ¹⁶ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[30:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Out of them will come thanksgiving and a sound of those who are playful.”

[30:19]  ¹⁸ sn Compare Jer 29:6.

[30:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his children will be as in former times and his congregation/community will be established before me.” “His children” refers to “Jacob” who has been referred to in v. 18 in the phrase “I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob.” “His children” are thus the restored exiles. Some commentaries see the reference here to the restoration of numbers in accordance with the previous verse. However, the last line of this verse and the reference to the ruler in the following verse suggests rather restoration of the religious and political institutions to their former state. For the use of the word translated “community” (עֵדָה, ’edah) to refer to a political congregation as well as its normal use to refer to a religious one see 1 Kgs 12:20. For the idea of “in my favor” (i.e., under the eye and regard of) for the Hebrew phrase used here (לְפָנַי, lÿfanay) see BDB 817 s.v. פָּנֶה II.4.a(b).

[33:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[36:10]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will multiply on you human(s).”

[36:11]  ²² sn These verbs occur together in Gen 1:22, 28; 9:1.

[36:11]  ²³ tn Heb “your beginning.”

[36:37]  ²⁴ tn The Niphal verb may have a tolerative function here, “Again (for) this I will allow myself to be sought by the house of Israel to act for them.” Or it may be reflexive: “I will reveal myself to the house of Israel by doing this also.”

[36:37]  ²⁵ sn Heb “I will multiply them like sheep, human(s).”

[36:38]  ²⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:10]  ²⁷ sn Beginning with 1:10, the verse numbers through 2:23 in the English Bible differ by two from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 1:10 ET = 2:1 HT, 1:11 ET = 2:2 HT, 2:1 ET = 2:3 HT, etc., through 2:23 ET = 2:25 HT. Beginning with 3:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.

[1:10]  ²⁸ tn The vav prefixed to וְהָיָה (véhaya) functions in an adversative sense: “however” (see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 71, §432).

[1:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “sons” (so NASB); KJV, ASV “the children”; NAB, NIV “the Israelites.”

[1:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “in the place” (בִּמְקוֹם, bimqom). BDB 880 s.v. מָקוֹם 7.b suggests that בִּמְקוֹם (preposition בְּ, bet, + noun מָקוֹם, maqom) is an idiom carrying a concessive sense: “instead of” (e.g., Isa 33:21; Hos 2:1). However, HALOT suggests that it functions in a locative sense: “in the same place” (HALOT 626 s.v. מָקוֹם 2b; e.g., 1 Kgs 21:19; Isa 33:21; Hos 2:1).

[1:10]  ³¹ tn The predicate nominative, “You are…,” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:10]  ³² tn Heb “sons” (so KJV, NASB, NIV).