Exodus 1:9-10

1:9 He said ¹  to his people, “Look at ²  the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are! 1:10 Come, let’s deal wisely ³  with them. Otherwise ⁴  they will continue to multiply, ⁵  and if ⁶  a war breaks out, they will ally themselves with ⁷  our enemies and fight against us and leave ⁸  the country.”

Exodus 1:12

1:12 But the more the Egyptians ⁹  oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. ¹⁰  As a result the Egyptians loathed ¹¹  the Israelites,

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¹ tn Heb “and he said.”

² 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.

³ 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.

sn Pharaoh’s speech invites evaluation. How wise did his plans prove to be?

⁴ 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).

⁵ 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.”

⁶ tn The words וְהָיָה כִּי (vÿhayah ki) introduce a conditional clause – “if” (see GKC 335 §112.y).

⁷ tn Heb “and [lest] he [Israel] also be joined to.”

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn The imperfect tenses in this verse are customary uses, expressing continual action in past time (see GKC 315 §107.e). For other examples of כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) with כֵּן (ken) expressing a comparison (“just as…so”) see Gen 41:13; Judg 1:7; Isa 31:4.

sn Nothing in the oppression caused this, of course. Rather, the blessing of God (Gen 12:1-3) was on Israel in spite of the efforts of Egypt to hinder it. According to Gen 15 God had foretold that there would be this period of oppression (עָנָה [’anah] in Gen 15:13). In other words, God had decreed and predicted both their becoming a great nation and the oppression to show that he could fulfill his promise to Abraham in spite of the bondage.

¹¹ tn Heb “they felt a loathing before/because of”; the referent (the Egyptians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.