Bible Strands
Exodus 1:7
but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the demographic expansion of the Israelites at the precise moment between the death of Joseph’s generation and the rise of a new Egyptian ruler.
The words — פָּר֧וּ (pa.Ru) means "they were fruitful," and וַֽ/יִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ (va/i.yish.re.Tzu) translates "they swarmed," both verbs tracking a rapid increase in population.
The thread — This numerical growth fulfills the mandate in Genesis 1:28, echoes the patriarchal promise in Genesis 46:3, and mirrors the historical recitation in Deuteronomy 26:5.
Why it lands — The verse establishes a factual baseline of overwhelming numbers that directly triggers the political crisis in the following chapter, forcing the reader to recognize the impending conflict as a structural consequence of that growth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Cross-references
- Genesis 46:3 “I am God,” He said, “the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.
- Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”
- Deuteronomy 26:5 and you are to declare before the LORD your God, “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt few in number and lived there and became a great nation, mighty and numerous.
- Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- Genesis 35:11 And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
- Genesis 47:27 Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.
- Genesis 12:2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
- Genesis 28:3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Genesis 48:4 and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’
- Deuteronomy 10:22 Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.