Exodus 1:1-7 Fruitful, swarmed, became numerous!

1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family:

2Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

3Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

4Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all, including Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, 7but the Israelites were fruitful and increased abundantly; they multiplied and became exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Because Joseph listened to God he was given the gifts of wisdom and administration and was lifted to high and honored office in Egypt, only second to the Pharaoh. And when Joseph died the status his family enjoyed died with him.

“The Hebrew deliberately repeats three verbs used in Genesis 1:21,22which may be translated ‘were fruitful… swarmed… became numerous’.” (Cole)

In Cole’s commentary, the word “swarmed” sticks out to me.

Envision a swarm of bees flying by you, they are too numerous to count!

I remember being at home, outside, hearing a loud buzzing noise and looking up seeing a swarm of bees flying. The sky was full of them and they were flying toward my garage! I had to run and manually close the door! I had some angry bees inside and had to quickly exit out the side door! They were too numerous to count!

What happens next? 

Stay tuned!

Blessings, David