Biblical Parallels Index –Shemot 1

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See the Tanakh Lab to compare the two chapters, and specifically the two lists of those who descend to Egypt, with both sharing: וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הַבָּאִים מִצְרָיְמָה,.

Shemot Rabbah² views the repetition of the list is a symbol of Hashem’s affection for Bnei Yisrael
Rashbam, R. Yitzchak Shmuel Reggio, and Shadal suggest that the Torah repeats the list 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.

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 the differences between the lists of names in Bereshit and in Shemot, and how these differences relate to the distinct themes and perspectives of the two books.

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

Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 1/0