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Proper 16 (Sunday between August 21 – August 27) 998

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Theological Perspective

Rebecca Blair Young

As the opening act of the exodus, this passage provides potent portents of what is to

come for Israel as a people chosen for a special relationship with God. The seven preceding

verses have retold the passing of Joseph and his generation from the end of Genesis. Whereas

Genesis told the story of God’s relationship with the family of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and

Joseph, the Exodus narrative shifts to the story of how Israel becomes a nation. It begins with

a vivid picture of a nation growing rapidly, indicating God’s favor toward Israel by blessing it

with fecundity. Israel’s fruitfulness becomes even clearer in the story of the two God-fearing

women, Shiphrah and Puah, and their clever way of saving the lives of the Hebrews’ infant

sons. Their success stands in stark contrast to the later story of the pagan Egyptians’

devastation by plague, brought to a brutal climax with the death of their sons. Finally, in a

further demonstration of Israel’s ingenuity, the baby Moses floats his way into the heart of

the Pharaoh’s daughter, preserving his life in order that through him one day Israel will be set

free.

The Israelite population was growing rapidly and therefore posed a threat to the new

king, who is introduced in v. 8. This king did not acknowledge or possibly did not care to

know Joseph, which is a surprising attitude toward someone with close ties to Egypt and its

previous Pharaoh. Joseph had saved Egypt from famine (Gen. 47:17). Pharaoh had

acknowledged Joseph as a bearer of the spirit of God (Gen. 41:38), granting him land (Gen.

47:20) and status second only to Pharaoh over Egypt (Gen. 41:41). From the Hebrew
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perspective, the king’s unawareness of Joseph’s significance reflects his weakness as a king

unacquainted with his own people’s history. Israel’s strength lies in their intimate knowledge

and frequent retelling of their heritage. Furthermore, in refusing to acknowledge Joseph as

someone to be dealt with on an equal footing, the king rejects Joseph’s God. For the

Israelites, these failings predict a unavoidable trouncing for Egypt by Israel and its God.

Even in his willful ignorance, the king adds to Exodus’s emphasis on the rapidly

expanding nation of Israel. While in the king’s eyes, Joseph and his family are forgotten, the

people of Israel as a community have become a major focus of his attention. In vv. 1-7, the

author states that the entire population of Israelites living in Egypt are the descendants of

Jacob, then makes the rather surprising claim that the Israelites now outnumber the

Egyptians. Yet by putting the claim on the lips of the king in v. 9, it becomes clear that this

was the common perception of the Hebrews if not the reality. It is difficult to argue with

what one’s enemies claim, since they have no reason to praise and many reasons to slander.

By painting a vivid picture of the king’s panic (vv. 9-10) and of the Egyptians’ dread (v. 12)

about Israel’s potential threat and capacity to thrive under duress, the author proves that Israel

was a force to be reckoned with before they left Egypt, and were thought of as such by those

in the highest stations of society.

Another party that received personal attention from the king were the midwives,

Shiphrah and Puah. Nowhere in these passages does the king send a messenger or issue a

decree for the midwives to follow. He always speaks directly to them. During their initial

conversation it becomes clear that the midwives served Egyptians as well as Hebrews during

labor. The king specifies that they were only to kill the male children “when you act as

midwives to the Hebrew woman” (v. 16), i.e., not when they act as midwives to the

Egyptians. This face-to-face conversation with the king, in addition to the fact that they serve
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the ruling class as well as the slaves, indicates that the midwives had an important role. The

king could easily have prohibited them from being midwives, but these midwives are much in

demand. In an additional form of esteem for the midwives, the author states that they worship

the Israelite God (v. 17). With God’s help Shiphrah and Puah are the bringers of life for the

entire community, the oppressors as well as the oppressed. Their success is another portent of

Israel’s future role as deliverer of the world.

When the Israelites continue to give birth to boys, the king summons back the

midwives to learn why. He respects the work of the midwives enough to let them explain

what is happening without immediately condemning them for disobeying him. With great

aplomb they manage to deceive him. Their success shows not only that Israel is a threat to

Egypt in numbers and might but in intelligence and cunning as well. The Pharaoh accepts the

testimony of the midwives, does not punish them and instead turns to the Egyptian people for

assistance in destroying the Hebrew boys, leaving the midwives to continue in their important

role of birthing new life.

In the midst of this astounding story comes the birth of Israel’s deliverer, Moses. His

dramatic entrance in the world reinforces the idea of Israel being a people set apart. By using

clever, well-planned tactics the mother and sister gain the baby boy’s admission into the royal

household, guaranteeing Moses a place well-connected to the Pharaoh that will serve him

well in Egypt’s future defeat. Precisely at a point where male children are sent to their deaths

to avoid an uprising by the Israelites and their departure from Egypt, the very person who

will lead the uprising and departure is the one who escapes that fate and is placed in safety at

the Pharaoh’s side. God’s plan to rescue the Israelites does not happen in spite of the

Pharaoh’s best efforts but in direct contradiction to them. The harder the Pharaoh works to

destroy them, the more brilliantly they subvert and defy his intentions, with God’s help.