Exodus 1:9
New International Version
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.

New Living Translation
He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are.

English Standard Version
And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

Berean Standard Bible
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.

King James Bible
And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

New King James Version
And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;

New American Standard Bible
And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us.

NASB 1995
He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

NASB 1977
And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Amplified Bible
He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are too many and too mighty for us [they greatly outnumber us].

Christian Standard Bible
He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and powerful than we are.

American Standard Version
And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and are mightier than we:

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he said to his nation, Behold, the race of the children of Israel is a great multitude, and is stronger than we:

Contemporary English Version
and he told the Egyptians: There are too many of those Israelites in our country, and they are becoming more powerful than we are.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he said to his people: Behold the people of the children of Israel are numerous and stronger than we.

English Revised Version
And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He said to his people, "There are too many Israelites, and they are stronger than we are.

Good News Translation
He said to his people, "These Israelites are so numerous and strong that they are a threat to us.

International Standard Version
He told his people, "Look, the Israeli people are more numerous and more powerful than we are.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he said unto his people: 'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us;

Literal Standard Version
and he says to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel [are] more numerous and mighty than we.

Majority Standard Bible
“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us.

New American Bible
He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are!

NET Bible
He said to his people, "Look at the Israelite people, more numerous and stronger than we are!

New Revised Standard Version
He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we.

New Heart English Bible
He said to his people, "Look, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

World English Bible
He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith unto his people, 'Lo, the people of the sons of Israel is more numerous and mighty than we;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Oppression by a New King
8Then a new king, who did not know Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9“Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become too numerous and too powerful for us. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”…

Cross References
Genesis 26:16
Then Abimelech said to Isaac, "Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us."

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.

Exodus 5:5
Pharaoh also said, "Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you would be stopping them from their labor."

Psalm 105:24
And the LORD made His people very fruitful, more numerous than their foes,

Psalm 105:25
whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.


Treasury of Scripture

And he said to his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

the people.

Numbers 22:4,5
And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time…

Job 5:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.

Psalm 105:24,25
And he increased his people greatly; and made them stronger than their enemies…

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Exodus 1
1. The children of Israel, after Joseph's death, increase.
8. The more they are oppressed by a new king, the more they multiply.
15. The godliness of the midwives in saving the male children alive.
22. Pharaoh commands the male children to be cast into the river














(9) He said unto his people.--It is not intended to represent the Egyptian monarch as summoning a popular assembly, and addressing it. "His people." Is antithetical to "the people of the children of Israel," and simply marks that those whom he addressed were of his own nation. No doubt they were his nobles, or, at any rate, his courtiers.

More and mightier than we.--Heb., great and mighty in comparison with us. The more to impress his counsellors, and gain their consent to his designs, the king exaggerates. Ancient Egypt must have had a population of seven or eight millions, which would imply nearly two millions of adult males, whereas the adult male Israelites, near a century later, were no more than six hundred thousand (Exodus 12:37). Wicked men do not scruple at misrepresentation when they have an end to gain.

Verse 9 - And he said unto his people, Behold, the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Literally, "great and strong in comparison with us." Actual numerical superiority is not, perhaps, meant; yet the expression is no doubt an exaggerated one, beyond the truth - the sort of exaggeration in which unprincipled persons indulge when they would justify themselves for taking an extreme and unusual course.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Look,”
הִנֵּ֗ה (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

he said
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

his people,
עַמּ֑וֹ (‘am·mōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 5971: A people, a tribe, troops, attendants, a flock

“the Israelites
בְּנֵ֣י (bə·nê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

[have become] too numerous
רַ֥ב (raḇ)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 7227: Much, many, great

and too powerful
וְעָצ֖וּם (wə·‘ā·ṣūm)
Conjunctive waw | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 6099: Powerful, numerous

for us.
מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ (mim·men·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of


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OT Law: Exodus 1:9 He said to his people Behold (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 1:8
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