Chapter 1
Joseph and his brothers die in Egypt as time passes, but their descendants multiply. The new Pharaoh fears their numbers. The more he oppresses and enslaves them, the more they multiply. The Egyptians are ruthless towards the Hebrews.
2021 - Vs 5 says there were 70 persons in Egypt. I believe in another place MSB ties this 70 to the 70 nations established after the flood by Noah's descendants. Or maybe it was to the so-called Table of nations, or maybe those are one and the same. In any case, here again we see 70. Many believe the Sanhedrin was also 70 persons, continuing this significant numerological trend.
2021 - 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves [Exo 1:13 ESV] This is the summary sentence for the strategy adopted by Thutmose III to try and keep the people of Israel in check - to control their population - by working them to death. His great fear was that if Egypt was invaded by external enemies, the slaves would rise up internally at the same time, aiding those external enemies in overthrowing Egypt from both within and without. This was a very real fear with the population of Israel as intense as it was. I do not know just what all of the remaining iconic structures in Egypt were built during the reign of Thutmose III, but I would expect them to be very extensive and widespread, and built with the blood of the young men of Israel. Surely the slavery in the US - which was never designed for population control by working people literally to death - hold no candle to what went on with Israel in the land of Egypt, in a time where the concept of slavery was not even questioned. No, this was not mere slavery. This was slavery intended to kill and that at a rate faster than they could multiply.
Pharaoh orders that all the sons be thrown into the Nile, but the daughters will live.
2021 - These verses: 15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 "When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live." [Exo 1:15-16 ESV] So only two midwives were given this order? Has to be more than two. MSB note says the two mentioned were likely the leading representatives of their profession, and certainly not the only two. I good example of what is not said being pretty important.
2021 - What does this verse mean? 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. [Exo 1:21 ESV] But...midwives were generally older women with experience with labor and delivery. Too old for child-bearing themselves. Unless...perhaps midwifing is what widowed - but not necessarily old - women did to support themselves. Perhaps barren women also did this to ease their grief at having not children of their own? Culturally, this might have been appropriate and expected. In either of these cases, God would be blessing those who obeyed his orders above Pharoah's.
When questioned, the midwives say that the sons live because Hebrew women just "pop out kids" and go back to worth, and never even call for a midwife. So this strategy of Pharoah's, like any other that directly opposes God's plans, fails utterly. So Pharoah's strategy escalates to something even more diabolical. We see this in vs 22:
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live." [Exo 1:22 ESV] Depending on midwives for population control is insufficient. Pharaoh now calls on anyone and everyone in his kingdom to murder any Hebrew male baby they encounter. There is no age limit on this that I can see, unless it is implied by "son that is born". Obviously, there would be no repercussions to any Egyptian for killing any Hebrew male. Already they were being worked to death. Now open season has been declared on them as if they are game to be hunted for sport.