Exodus 1 · Verse 7

Exodus 1:7

And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Exodus 1:7, King James Version

Exodus 1:7 in other translations

BSBbut the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
WEBThe children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
ASVAnd the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
YLTand the sons of Israel have been fruitful, and they teem, and multiply, and are very very mighty, and the land is filled with them.
DARBYAnd the children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and multiplied, and became exceeding strong; and the land was full of them.
BBEAnd the children of Israel were fertile, increasing very greatly in numbers and in power; and the land was full of them.
WebsterAnd the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and became exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

What does Exodus 1:7 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. children of Israel were fruitful--They were living in a land where, according to the testimony of an ancient author, mothers produced three and four sometimes at a birth; and a modern writer declares "the females in Egypt, as well among the human race as among animals, surpass all others in fruitfulness." To this natural circumstance must be added the fulfilment of the promise made to Abraham.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 7 The children of Israel were fruitful - פרו paru, a general term, signifying that they were like healthy trees, bringing forth an abundance of fruit. And increased - ישרץ yishretsu, they increased like fishes, as the original word implies. See Gen 1:20 (note), and the note there. Abundantly - ירבו yirbu, they multiplied; this is a separate term, and should not have been used as an adverb by our translators. And waxed exceeding mighty - ויעצמו במאד מאד vaiyaatsmu bimod meod, and they became strong beyond measure - superlatively, superlatively - so that the land (Goshen) was filled with them. This astonishing increase was, under the providence of God, chiefly owing to two causes: 1. The Hebrew women were exceedingly fruitful, suffered very little in parturition, and probably often brought forth twins. 2. There appear to have been no premature deaths among them. Thus in about two hundred and fifteen years they were multiplied to upwards of 600,000, independently of old men, women, and children.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 1:1-7

The men-children destroyed. (15-22) Verses 1-7 During more than 200 years, while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived at liberty, the Hebrews increased slowly; only about seventy persons went down into Egypt. There, in about the same number of years, though under cruel bondage, they became a large nation. This wonderful increase was according to the promise long before made unto the fathers. Though the performance of…

Read the full comment on Exodus 1:1-7 →

Exodus 1:7 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבְנֵ֣יu.ve.Neiand [the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
פָּר֧וּpa.Ruthey were fruitfulH6509
וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּvai.yish.re.Tzuand they swarmedH8317
וַיִּרְבּ֥וּvai.yir.Buand they multipliedH7235
וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּvai.ya.'atz.Muand they became mightyH6105
בִּמְאֹ֣דbim.'Odwith muchnessH3966
מְאֹ֑דme.'OdmuchnessH3966
וַתִּמָּלֵ֥אva.ti.ma.Le'and it was filledH4390
הָאָ֖רֶץha.'A.retzthe landH776
אֹתָֽם\׃\ \פ'o.Tamwith themH854

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 1:7

  • Genesis 46:3

    And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:

  • Deuteronomy 26:5

    And thou shalt speak and say before the Lord thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

  • Genesis 1:28

    And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

  • Genesis 35:11

    And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;

  • Genesis 9:1

    And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

  • Genesis 47:27

    And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, and multiplied exceedingly.

  • Genesis 12:2

    And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

  • Nehemiah 9:23

    Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

  • Genesis 48:4

    And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

  • Deuteronomy 10:22

    Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the Lord thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

  • Genesis 28:3-4

    And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

  • Genesis 13:16

    And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
fruitful.
12:37; Ge 1:20,28; 9:1; 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:4-6,16; 22:17; 26:4
Ge 28:3,4,14; 35:11; 46:3; 47:27; 48:4,16; De 10:22; 26:5; Ne 9:23
Ps 105:24; Ac 7:17,18

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 1:6

    And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

  • Exodus 1:7

    And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

  • Exodus 1:8

    Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

Read all of Exodus 1

Exodus 1:7 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y los hijos de Israel crecieron, y multiplicaron, y fueron aumentados y corroborados en extremo; y llenóse la tierra de ellos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et les fils d’Israël fructifièrent et foisonnèrent, et multiplièrent, et devinrent extrêmement forts; et le pays en fut rempli.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die Kinder Israel waren fruchtbar und wimmelten und mehrten sich und wurden sehr, sehr stark, und das Land wurde voll von ihnen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
filii Israël creverunt, et quasi germinantes multiplicati sunt: ac roborati nimis, impleverunt terram.