The first chapter of Exodus acts as a link between the narrative in Genesis and the account of the exodus itself. It tells us of the change of regime and national political climate through which the people of Israel became the objects of fear and superstition. This fear and superstition led to oppression and to genocidal statutes being enacted against them. In this situation we find that some Hebrew women-midwives-loved God more than they feared Pharaoh and acted in faith to save the male children that the edicts were designed to destroy. It is this brief description that sets the scene for the subsequent narrative of the life and ministry of Moses and the events that follow.

Brief though this introduction is we find a number of important elements to be present. Firstly we are met with a defined covenant community. The list of households in Exodus 1:1-7 indicates direct continuity with the ending of Genesis, despite the centuries that have passed in between, and also defines the covenant community over and against its setting. It is this group of families who are to be the object of God's jealous action. Moreover, this group stands in direct relationship to Abraham to whom the initial covenant promises were made, including the promise of many descendants and their possession of the land of Canaan after a sojourn of 430 years in Egypt. It is this covenant community, so defined and described, who are about to experience the fulfillment of God's ancient promises. The echoes of Genesis language (Ex. 1:7, 12 cf. Gen. 1:26f) are intensified by the repetitive phraseology and the use of ‘swarmed' or ‘increased greatly', a verb only used in reference to human beings here and in the blessing upon Noah (see Durham, Exodus, p. 4). Israel is thus pictured as the true inheritors of the creational/national blessing of God, the maker of heaven and earth.

Secondly, we are introduced to the figure of Pharaoh the king of Egypt (Ex. 1:8), ‘Pharaoh' being his proper title (cf. ‘Caesar' in later Roman history). The Pharaoh here is sometimes called the ‘Pharaoh of the oppression', recognizing the fact that it would not be until another eighty years or more had passed that the exodus itself would take place, after Moses' long sojourn in Midian. The Pharaoh of the oppression is often identified as Seti I, with the Pharaoh at the time of the exodus being his son Ramses II. Though this identification is common, it is not the only possible fit, nor does it finally matter for the nature and meaning of the event of God's deliverance.

The title ‘Pharaoh' may indicate the king's divine status (containing the name of the sun god, Ra) but most likely comes from a word related to the concept of ‘household' i.e. suggesting Pharaoh as the great House of Egypt. Whatever the exact meaning of the title, it is clear from ancient Egyptian history that the Pharaoh was understood to be a divine figure. ‘To the Egyptian the king was the centre of all existence because he was an entity both human and divine. He was the link between this world and the other....As son of Re [= Ra] the king was the sun-god's living image on earth' (Manfred Lurker, An Illustrated History of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Egypt, p. 75). The Pharaoh was the head of Egypt, and embodied in himself the identity of the nation. His was a spiritual headship embodied in kingship, a religio-politico unity of inseparable action. The Pharaoh was entrusted with the defeat of Egypt's enemies (he is often pictured as a mighty bull trampling Egypt's enemies under his hooves, or as a warrior holding his enemies by the hair, about to smite them with his battle club); secured earthly and cosmic order; acted as the link between the spiritual and material worlds; ruled in such a way as to honour the god Ma'at (the custodian of truth, justice and harmony), thus preserving the stability of Egypt and guarding against chaos; and guaranteed the unity of the nation (as symbolized in his dual crown, uniting Upper and Lower Egypt). His spiritual power was his regal power, and vice versa.

This does not mean that Pharaoh was the only god. He was the only incarnate god, but the realm of ancient Egypt was entirely polytheistic. No civil, political, or social aspect of life was without its magical/religious meaning. Magic, spiritual symbolism, religion, and images related to these things formed the entire thought world of the nation. In this setting the statement that the Lord delivered his people from the gods of Egypt (Ex. 12:12) takes on new meaning. Every aspect of Egyptian life was infused with spiritual powers, and so the deliverance had to be a great spiritual work. This is no less so for us today (see Eph. 2:1ff.!), but in ancient Egypt the visibility of the spiritual conflict was beyond question.

Thirdly, we are introduced to the Nile. This was not merely a river, but the River of Egypt. Osiris, one of the best known gods of the Egyptian pantheon was both a fertility figure (images of the Pharaoh holding a crook and flail indicate his link with Osiris, whose implements these were) and lord of the underworld. He had a special link with the Nile, and was lord of its waters. Its periods of low flow followed by annual inundation (on which Egypt was wholly reliant) matched the concept of death and regeneration with which Osiris was associated. Clay images of Osiris were sometimes impregnated with grain seeds, buried and watered, so that the new life that sprouted from his form was seen to be due to his power. Egyptian religious symbols and mythologies defy any logical order-and to those of us accustomed to western logical thought the relationships between the gods quickly becomes unfathomable-but is clear that the Pharaoh was understood to be the incarnation of Osiris' son Horus, who, on his death, ascended to be one with Osiris and a new incarnation took place.