Exodus 1
26 Mar 2026 - Theology
A Kingdom in Egypt
Remembering and forgetting are important road signs in the Torah. Good things happen when God and human beings remember promises and vows. But bad things happen when people forget promises and vows. The Pharaoh in Joseph’s time remembered, and he lived up to all of the promises he made to Joseph. In this portion we read about a new king (or new Pharaoh) who forgot Joseph and forgot all the promises made to Joseph. Bad things began to happen.
A Tale of Two Kingdoms
In The Torah: Portion by Portion, Rabbi Seymour Rossel writes “All Egyptians ‘belonged’ to Pharaoh - everyone was Pharaoh’s servant.” How did this happen?
We see how this happened back in Genesis 47. This chapter describes the seven years of famine in Egypt (as prophecied to Pharaoh by Joseph in Genesis 41). Joseph was made second in command of Egypt by Pharaoh, and was placed in charge of the land of Egypt to manage the food supply.
Joseph first sold grain that was stockpiled to the Egyptian people in exchange for money (Genesis 47:14). Once the people’s money was depleted, Joseph sold grain to the people in exchange for cattle (47:15-17). Once the Egyptian people had no more cattle, they offered up their bodies and their lands to Joseph, and said they would be servants to Pharaoh in exchange for more grain so that they would not die of starvation (47:18-25).
Only the priests (or princes) did not become servants to Pharaoh. Joseph did not buy their land, for the priests ate of the portion assigned to them by Pharaoh.
Despite the Egyptian people being servants to Pharaoh, the new Pharaoh put the Israelite people into slavery because he did not want their tribe to get larger. He was afraid that the Israelites would side with the enemies of Egypt in a war (Exodus 1:9-11).
In this way, the Israelites transitioned from favored guests to state-owned property. This sets the stage for the rest of the Book of Exodus, which is framed as a transfer of “ownership” - the Israelites stop being “servants of Pharaoh” and become “servants of God”.
Romans 6:16 - “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?”
In Romans 6:16-22, Paul explains that you are a slave to whatever you obey. He creates a direct parallel to the Exodus narrative:
- The Old State (Egypt/Sin) - Paul describes being “slaves to sin.” In this state, “sin” is the “Pharaoh”, a cruel master that owns your actions and leads to death
- The New State (God/Righteousness) - Once “set free” from the state of sin, you don’t become an independent agent; you become “slaves to God” (Romans 6:22)
In this way is the Exodus of the Israelite people a picture of redemption. Later in Exodus, God tells Pharaoh, “Let my people go, that they may serve Me” (Exodus 7:16). Paul mirrors this: the point of being “freed” from the state of sin isn’t to do whatever you want, but to finally be able to serve the right Master, which Paul argues leads to life and holiness rather than exhaustion and death.
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The BEMA Podcast, Episode 18: A Tale of Two Kingdoms
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)