Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 1/0

Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 1

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List of Names

Tanakh Lab¹ demonstrates that one of the chapters most linguistically similar to Shemot 1 is Bereshit 46.  Both chapters include a list of the members of Yaakov’s family who descended to Egypt. Many question both the need for the parallel lists and how to understand the differences between them.

Tools

• See the Tanakh Lab to compare the two chapters as a whole, and specifically the two lists of those who descend to Egypt, with each starting: וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה.

Sources

Many commentators discuss the need for the parallel lists:

• Shemot Rabbah² views the repetition of the list is a symbol of Hashem’s affection for the nation of Israel
• Rashbam, R. Y"S Reggio, and Shadal suggest that repetition is necessary in order to contrast the small number of Jews who came to Egypt with the population explosion that took place subsequently.
• R"Y Bekhor Shor and Ramban view the second list as a narrative resumption. Being a new book, Sefer Shemot resumes the narrative of arrival in Egypt by briefly repeating the list.  Ramban adds that this introduction is necessary in order to properly develop the book’s theme of exile and redemption.
• R. Hirsch suggests that, since Sefer Shemot is about the beginning of the Jewish nation, it was necessary to begin the book with a list of those who comprised the foundations and origins of the nation. 

Articles

• See Individual and National Identity, by R. Aharon Lichtenstein, for analysis of the parallels and differences between the two lists of names, viewing the first as an expression of individual identities and the second as an expression of communal identity.
• See רשימת היורדים למצרים כמבוא לספר שמות, by Professor Yonatan Grossman, for analysis of why these two lists appear at the end of Bereshit and beginning of Shemot, and how a subtle difference in the order of the lists indicates the transition process from the sons of Yisrael as a family to the Children of Israel as a nation. 

Population Growth

 Makbilot BaMikra points out that the description of the Israelites’ rapid population growth (verse 7) is parallel to other cases of proliferation in Tanakh.

Tools

• See Makbilot BaMikra for a list of other verses which speak of proliferation using variations of the language of "פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ"‎.³  These terms are found in the blessings at the world’s creation, after the Flood, and in the narratives of the Patriarchs. The parallel might indicate that Shemot 1, like those previous examples, is the start of a significant new phase of history.

Articles

• See U. Simon, "יוסף משעבד את המצרים לפרעה" in בקש שלום ורדפהו, (Tel Aviv, 2002): 86-90, T. Granot, "מנהיגותו של יוסף במצרים", and D. Sabato, "ותהי הארץ לפרעה - שורשו של שעבוד מצרים", Megadim 52 (2011): 41-59. who all focus specifically on the parallel mention of proliferation of the Israelites here and in the story of Yosef's economic policies in Bereshit 47. They suggest that Yosef's favoring of his family, who proliferated while the Egyptians were struggling to survive the famine, is what led to the resentment against Israel described in Shemot 1.

Servitude in Egypt

The description of slavery described in Shemot 1 recalls the original foretelling of that slavery in the Covenant Between the Pieces in Bereshit 15.

Tools

• See Makbilot Bamikra for a list of verses where the enslavement is discussed.
• See the Tanakh Lab that the combined terms of "ענה" (afflict) and "עבד" (enslave) mentioned in Bereshit 15 "וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אֹתָם אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה", are echoed in Shemot 1:11-13.

Articles

• See Purposes of the Egyptian Bondage for exploration of the cause and divine purpose of the servitude foretold to Avraham that unfolds in the beginning of Sefer Shemot. Since this is the one instance of Biblical punishment that does not seem connected to a sin, commentators are divided in their perspective on its reason.  Some seek to associate the Egyptian slavery with a sin, while others find non-punitive purposes in the servitude. 
• See Divine Plans and Israelite Free Choice for analysis of whether the Israelites had any agency in bringing about the exile, or if it was entirely predetermined based on the revelation to Avraham in Bereshit 15. 
• See Divine Plans and Egyptian Free Choice for analysis of whether the Egyptians had any agency in bringing about the servitude of the Israelites, or if it was entirely predetermined based on the revelation to Avraham in Bereshit 15. 
• See R. David Silber’s essay Gerut, Avdut, and Innuy: The Covenantal Formula in Go Forth and Learn: A Passover Haggadah for a theory about the ways in which the prophecy of subjugation in Bereshit 15 plays out in the lives of the Patriarchs and their descendants, and the purpose of this element of the covenant. R. Silber suggests that the foretold experiences of living as strangers and being subject to servitude and oppression are meant to imbue compassion for the vulnerable in the Patriarchs and the Jewish people as a whole.  
• See The Exile in Egypt: Process or Punishment by R. Zvi Shimon for an overview of commentators’ approaches to the purpose of the servitude, and the suggestion that it was to cement the Israelites’ covenant with and sense of indebtedness to Hashem.

Fearing God

Comparing the various stories in which the term "fearing God" appears helps to shed light on the meaning of the term and the people who are so described.

Tools

• Use the advanced concordance⁴ to find the various contexts in which the concept of fearing God appears.⁵ Taken together, the verses imply that fear of God is not specific to Jewish or religious contexts.  As such, it might refer to obedience to a higher authority/God and commitment to ethical behavior rather than belief in Hashem.
• Among those described as "fearing God" are Avraham (Bereshit 22:12), Yosef (Bereshit 42:18), the Midwives (Shemot 1:17,21), and Yonah (Yonah 1:9).

Sources

• See Shadal (Shemot 2:15) and R. David Zvi Hoffman (Shemot 2:17) who explain “fear of God” in the above manner, to refer to ethical behavior rather than a recognition of Hashem.
• Shadal even uses this understanding as a support to argue that the midwives must have been "G/god-fearing" Egyptians.

Articles

• See Yirat Shamayim as an Approach to Life and as a Legacy, by R. Michael Rosensweig, for a comparison of the midwives’ actions to those of Avraham (based on the parallel verses that describe them both as fearing God, as noted above).  Avraham’s various actions in life--which sometimes seem at odds with each other--all flowed from the central principle of "fear of heaven".  Like Avraham, the midwives acted with confidence and moral fortitude in being loyal to the value of "fear of heaven" above all else.  
• See Who are the Midwives for discussion of the ethnicity and identity of the midwives and how the meaning of the phrase  "וַתִּירֶאן... אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים " might impact the question.  Commentators take a range of views on this issue, with some positing that the midwives were Jews, while others believe the Biblical text indicates they were non-Jews, and a third group suggesting that they were non-Jews who converted to Judaism.

¹ in the Lab, click on the Torah icon for a list of and links to the chapters which are most linguistically similar to the one being displayed.

² See Rashi as well.

³ See there, too, for places which speak specifically about the Israelite proliferation, including verses which do not use the language of "being fruitful and multiplying".

⁴ In the first field input "ירא" and choose adjective from the drop down menu, and then input "יראה" (noun) as the alternative first word.  In the second field, input "אֱלֹהִים". For more results, also do the search marking "ירא" as a verb.

⁵ Some of the contexts include:

• Avraham describes Gerar as being a place devoid of fear of God.
• Avraham is described as fearing God through his willingness to obey God’s command to sacrifice Yitzchak.
• Shemot 18 states that judges should be men of truth and valor, who fear God and hate profit.
• Moshe tells the people not to be afraid of God’s revelation, since His purpose was to test them so that they would have fear of God and not sin.
• Amalek is described as lacking fear of God.