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Exodus 1:22
ESV Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, "Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live."
NIV Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."
NASB Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born, you are to throw into the Nile, but every daughter, you are to keep alive.'
CSB Pharaoh then commanded all his people: "You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live."
NLT Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: 'Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.'
KJV And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
NKJV So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”

What does Exodus 1:22 mean?

Pharaoh's first command regarding infanticide was limited to the midwives (Exodus 1:16). That failed to work, so he expands his command to all Egyptians. Every newborn Israeli son was to be thrown into the Nile River. This was a mass genocide of all infant Jewish males. The only other place the Bible notes a similar act was following the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. King Herod sought to kill the baby Jesus to remove any threat of another king. He commanded the death of all male children two years and younger in the city (Matthew 2:16–18).

Ironically, this very command from Pharaoh will frame the life of the man who eventually leads Israel out of slavery. One of the boys born to a Hebrew family will be hidden in a basket in the Nile and found by the Pharaoh's own daughter. This child, raised with the benefits and support of Pharaoh's own household, is Moses: the man chosen by God to lead Israel's exodus from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 2:1–10).

This is one of many ways Jesus reflects the life of Moses. Both were born during a time in which the Jews were under oppression. Both miraculously escaped death as an infant. Both lived as immigrants in a land not their own. Both had a public ministry that brought people from bondage to freedom. In many ways, Jesus represented a new exodus; He is the one greater than Moses (Hebrews 3).
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