Shemot

The Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them.

1:7

They produced children as a tree produces fruit…the Israelite wives gave birth to twins and even more. I myself have seen the quadruplets that a woman gave birth to. Physicians tell us that a woman can have as many as seven fetuses in her womb at one time. They did not die in proportion to that of a large nation. They had strong bones. The land of Goshen (was filled with them), also known as the land of Rameses.

Ibn Ezra (12^th Century)

They were so numerous that Goshen became too confining – and the land was filled with them. Thus it was that they lost the advantage of being few in number.

Malbim (19^th Century)

Wherever it was possible to purchase a home, there the Israelites appeared. They wished to be like the Egyptians. They preferred not to be different.

Ha’emek Hadavar (19^th Century)

Early in the book of Exodus, the Torah records this trend toward assimilation. Despite the fact that Jacob’s family was originally designated to live in the region of Goshen, we read how “the children of Israel were fruitful, swarmed like vermin, and multiplied, waxed exceedingly mighty and the land was filled with them.” The word “land” suggests the entire land, not just Goshen. And the Midrash is quick to pick up on the textual ints implicit in the phrase “swarmed like vermin,” explaining that the Israelites’ movement included gambling casinos and houses of idolatry and ill repute. The Jews become more like the Egyptian than the Egyptians.

Shlomo Riskin (contemporary)

After the last of the original 70 migrants had died, their whole lifestyle became more like that of creeping insects, creatures headed for destruction. They ran through their lives in a headlong rush towards the abyss. This is why when (a new king arose, he did not remember Joseph.)…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.

Sforno (15^th Century)

Concentrating on responsibility for one’s own predicaments creates an emotional world in which inner growth becomes imaginable. In adopting this view of Israelite suffering, therefore, Sforno opens up difficult kings of understanding. He invites us to reflect on the ways in which slavery, persecution, alienation – even when they are functions of a divine “edict” are generated by human beings, in the freedom of their own narrative. And – in the same vein – on the meanings of redemption, exodus, freedom.

Aviva Zornberg (Contemporary)