Kommentar zu Schemot 1:7

That there women did not miscarry and did not die when they were young.

פרו, the number of pregnancies;

פרו וישרצו, after the last of the original 70 migrants had died, their whole lifestyle became more like that of creeping insects, creatures headed for destruction. This is why when ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף, although there can be no question that in the annals of Egyptian history the 80 year reign of Joseph and his legislation saving Egypt from the famine was duly recorded, as well as how he legislated that the whole land would belong to Pharaoh and the farmers would become his tenants, it did not occur to anyone to associate the Hebrews of his time with the family of Joseph who had been so highly esteemed. The idea that the present day Hebrews deserved special consideration on account of their illustrious forbears did not occur to anyone observing the way these Hebrews behaved at that time.

ובני ישראל פרו, “and the Children of Israel were fruitful;” in spite of the fact that the Egyptians oppressed them in order to limit their natural increase. Not only did they keep increasing in numbers, but they increased disproportionately, as do vermin.

They bore six children at one time. The Re”m writes that in Shemos Rabbah (1:8) the number of births at one time is derived from the six words in the verse [ פרו . . . מאד ]. But I would say Rashi is following a view in Yalkut Shimoni that compare them to the largest rodent; the rat gives birth to six at one time.” We see that Rashi is follows this view because he derives the number of births at one time from the word וישרצו . [This word is a variation of the word שרץ , “rodent”]. Since the common phrase “were fruitful and multiplied” is interrupted by “and prolific,” which is unusual, certainly the reason for this interruption is because “fruitful” implies one offspring, whereas “multiplied” implies many offspring, as Rashi explained in Parshas Bereishis (1:22). Thus, “prolific” interrupts the phrase “fruitful and multiplied” to teach that the number of offspring born at one time was like that of the largest rodent. (Nachalas Yaakov. See further in Gur Aryeh.)

V.7. Von diesem Geschlechte wird uns nichts weiter erzählt, als dass sie sich bereits außerordentlich vermehrt hatten. וישרצו, den niederen Tieren ähnlich, je kleiner das Tier, um so zahlreicher sind die einzelnen Geburten. Zwillinge, Drillinge bei Menschen sind jedoch in der Regel schwächer und häufig nicht lebensfähig, so dass durch solche Geburten eigentlich keine Vermehrung oder doch nur durch schwächliche Nachkommenschaft erzielt wird. Hier aber folgt der Zusatz: וירבו ויעצמו, ihre zahlreichen Geburten waren aber lebensfähig und stark. וירבו: die Eltern vervielfältigten sich physisch und geistig in den Kindern; ויעצמו, das verstärkte אסם: Schatz, Sammlung von Kräften, sie trügen eine Fülle geistiger und leiblicher Kräfte in sich, so dass sie in der Tat eine imposante Macht darstellten.

'ובני ישראל וגו, and the children of Israel multiplied etc.” according to Sh’mot Rabbah 1,8 this is a hint that Jewish women gave birth to sixtuplets, [or according to a different interpretation of that Midrash, that they became pregnant in much more frequent cycles so that they gave birth six times within a nine month period. Ed.] The six words in the verse all relating to multiplying are understood as a hint of this. If you were to think that many of these infants did not survive, the Torah writes: “they multiplied,” i.e. they all grew up normally.

ובני ישראל פרו וישרצו. “in the interval, the Israelites had been fruitful, and become prolific;” this confirms that G-d’s promise to Yaakov that his family while in Egypt would become numerous and develop into a nation had been fulfilled. (Genesis 46,3)

וישרצו AND THEY INCREASED ABUNDANTLY (more lit., they swarmed, a word used of the prolificness of reptiles) — they bore six children at one birth (the six words from פרו to מאד suggest or imply the number six) (Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 5).

וירבו, “they multiplied,” they did not die in the manner other people die, i.e. leaving replacements for themselves, but they left behind far more than that.

ותמלא הארץ, nicht Ägypten, sondern die Provinz Goschen, die ihnen Josef um so lieber angewiesen hatte, weil sie ein entlegener Landstrich war und die Iwrim ihrem Geiste und ihrer Beschäftigung nach den Ägyptern zuwider waren.

ותמלא הארץ אותם, and the land became full of them.” The word אותם here must be understood as if the Torah had written: מהם, “filled with them.” Seeing that the root of the word אותם is את, “with,” this is not strange at all. Compare Leviticus: 22,28, אותו ואת בנו, “it and its young.” We also find the word את on occasion as meaning: “from,” as in Exodus9,29, when Moses says: כצאתי את העיר, meaning: “when I go out from the city.” Another example would be: חלה את רגליו, “being sick from his feet and up.” (Kings I 15,23.)

וירבו, the number of births. All the infants born grew up healthy, there were no deaths of children as could normally be expected.

ויעצמו, “they became powerful;” they were all physically exceptionally strong specimens, in spite of the fact that most were born as twins.

ויעצמו, they did not even die in early adulthood, but they were all healthy specimens. במאד מאד, until the whole country became full of them, ותמלא הארץ אותם. The Torah describes a perception of fullness, much as Ezekiel 10,4 describing והחצר מלאה את נוגה כבוד ה', “the inner courtyard was filled with the glow of the Glory of Hashem.” This was a perception, not something tangible. Similarly, Isaiah 6,1 ושוליו מלאים את ההיכל, “and its skirts filled the Sanctuary.”

במאד מאד, “very greatly indeed.” They had reached their full physical potential.