Exodus 1:10
in Exodus 1Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us, and get them up out of the land.
KJV
Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
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This verse in Exodus 1
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThey join also unto our enemies - It has been conjectured that Pharaoh had probably his eye on the oppressions which Egypt had suffered under the shepherd-kings, who for a long series of years had, according to Manetho, governed the land with extreme cruelty. As the Israelites were of the same occupation, (viz., shepherds), the jealous, cruel king found it easy to attribute to them the same motives; taking it for granted that they were only waiting for a favorable opportunity to join the enemies of Egypt, and so overrun the whole land.
This site's exposition
the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful
on Exodus 1:9-10
Pharaoh says Israel is "too numerous and too powerful for us", the language of the promise in a frightened man's mouth. He fears a war in which they "leave the country", and God is about to bring that very thing about.
This site's exposition
let us deal shrewdly with them
The king fears that in a war Israel will side with Egypt's enemies and leave the country. Adam Clarke reports the suggestion that he had in mind the shepherd kings who had once ruled Egypt cruelly. He assumed the Israelite shepherds shared their aims.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply - When men deal wickedly it is common for them to imagine that they deal wisely, but the folly of sin will at last be manifested before all men.
Come on,....
Note, (1.) The growth of Israel is the grief of Egypt, and that against which the powers and policies of hell are levelled. (2.) When men deal wickedly, it is common for them to imagine that they deal wisely; but the folly of sin will, at last, be manifested before all men.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
THE children of this world are wise in their generation. Their policy may be short-sighted and their stratagems crooked, nevertheless the world admires the wisdom of their counsels, and makes light of the craftiness of their projects.
THE children of this world are wise in their generation. Their policy may be short-sighted and their stratagems crooked, nevertheless the world admires the wisdom of their counsels, and makes light of the craftiness of their projects. In their opposition to the Christian church, the men of the world might certainly have been as well able to outwit her by the variety of their manoeuvres as to overwhelm her by the force of their numbers, were it not that there is an unseen One in her midst, who is more than a match for the guile of their hearts and the might of their hosts. Looking back at the early struggles of the Hebrew race to gain a footing among the nations, it is very clear that had the contest been merely between Pharaoh and Israel, the Egyptian king could exercise power and policy enough to defeat the sons of Jacob and reduce them to serfdom; but when a new name is brought in, and the contest appears to be truly between Pharaoh and Jehovah the God of Israel, it is quite another matter, and a far different issue may be counted upon. There is one behind the curtain that takes Israel’s part. He sees through all Pharaoh’s plots. Or ever his thoughts have ripened into plans they are forestalled; fast as they are set up they are upset; for every intrigue there is a reprisal. Thus he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. The whole history of the long feud between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent illustrates the subtlety of the serpent’s seed, and the simplicity of the woman’s seed; but still more does it bring to light the infinite wisdom of him who rules the seed of the woman; and who will in the end bruise the serpent’s head, and give unto his people and the cause they have espoused a complete triumph. Whatever has been done by the enemies in rage or in recklessness, God has always met it calmly and quietly.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Any war - The Northeastern frontier was infested by the neighboring tribes, the Shasous of Egyptian monuments, and war was waged with Egypt by the confederated nations of Western Asia under the reigns of the successors of Amosis. These incursions were repulsed with extreme difficulty. In language, features, costume, and partly also in habits, the Israelites probably resembled those enemies of Egypt. Out of the land - The Pharaohs apprehended the loss of revenue and power, which would result from the withdrawal of a peaceful and industrious race.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Pharaoh and his wise counsellors. See Isaiah:11. did not see fit to slay them by the sword, for it would have been a gross treachery to smite without reason a people that had come into the land by command of a former king.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Pharaoh imposed a tribute upon the Israelite people to take men from them for the king’s projects.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָ֥בָה | havah | give ! | H3051 → | |
| נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה | nitchakemah | let us deal wisely | H2449 → | |
| ל֑וֹ | lo | to <the> it | ||
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יִרְבֶּ֗ה | yirbeh | it should increase | H7235 → | 227 times |
| וְהָיָ֞ה | vehayah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִקְרֶ֤אנָה | tikrenah | they will happen | H7122 → | 139 times |
| מִלְחָמָה֙ | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| וְנוֹסַ֤ף | venosaf | and it will be added | H3254 → | 212 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הוּא֙ | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ | soneeinu | [those who] hate us | H8130 → | 146 times |
| וְנִלְחַם־ | venilcham- | and it will fight | H3898 → | 177 times |
| בָּ֖נוּ | banu | against <the> us | ||
| וְעָלָ֥ה | vealah | and it will go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the land | H776 → | 2504 times |
הָ֥בָהgive !
havahH3051 →
נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖הlet us deal wisely
nitchakemahH2449 →
ל֑וֹto <the> it
lo
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יִרְבֶּ֗הit should increase
yirbehH7235 →227 times
וְהָיָ֞הand it will be
vehayahH1961 →3559 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תִקְרֶ֤אנָהthey will happen
tikrenahH7122 →139 times
מִלְחָמָה֙war
milchamahH4421 →320 times
וְנוֹסַ֤ףand it will be added
venosafH3254 →212 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הוּא֙it
hu'H1931 →1879 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ[those who] hate us
soneeinuH8130 →146 times
וְנִלְחַם־and it will fight
venilcham-H3898 →177 times
בָּ֖נוּagainst <the> us
banu
וְעָלָ֥הand it will go up
vealahH5927 →890 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the land
haaretzH776 →2504 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 10:2In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
it leads to
- Psalms 59:12
By the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride, in the curses and lies they utter.
- Psalms 36:11
Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
- Psalms 7:16
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Proverbs 5:22
The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Psalms 31:18
May lying lips be silenced— lips that speak with arrogance against the righteous, full of pride and contempt.
- Psalms 59:12
Through
Psalms 105:25whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.
it leads to
- Acts 7:19
He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
- Genesis 15:13
Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
- Acts 7:19
Through
Proverbs 1:11If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:18
But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- Proverbs 1:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 997: “Prosperity Under Persecution” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.