The KJV Holy Bible

 

Exodus Chapter One

 

1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.

2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,

3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,

4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.

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

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

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

9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:

10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:

14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.

20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

22 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.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Exodus: The Material Bondage and the Awakening of the Spiritual Will

"Exodus Chapter One marks the critical Alchemical transition from Involution—the descent of the Pure Spirit into matter—to Evolution, the Supreme struggle of the Awakened Soul to break free from the heavy gravity of the physical plane. It establishes 'Egypt' as the dense, biological matrix and introduces the tyrannical rule of the Lower Ego (Pharaoh). This chapter is the Ultimate Esoteric Allegory of the Spiritual faculties becoming trapped within the mundane demands of physical survival, setting the necessary friction for the inevitable rebellion and liberation of the Divine Spark."

 

 

Verses 1-7: The Incarnation and Expansion of the Spiritual Faculties - "Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt... And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." 

In the Hermetic tradition, "Egypt" is not merely a geographical location; it is the Ultimate Symbol for the physical body and the realm of sensory limitation. The "Israelites" symbolize the Divine Sparks, the Higher Spiritual faculties, and the Illuminated Thoughts that have incarnated within this physical vessel. These verses detail the underlying strength of the Divine within the human Temple. Despite descending into the dense matrix of matter, the Spiritual faculties are rapidly multiplying and gaining strength, preparing the Internal landscape for a Massive, Inevitable Shift in Consciousness.

 

 

Verses 8-11: The Rise of the Lower Ego and the Yoke of Materiality - "Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we... Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities..." 

Joseph represented the previous state of Spiritual Insight that once guided the Mind. The "New King" is the personification of the Lower Ego—the carnal, survival-driven Intellect. The ego Recognizes that the rising Spiritual Faculties (the Israelites) are becoming Mightier than its material desires. Terrified of losing its Absolute Sovereign control over the human being, the lower ego violently suppresses the Spiritual Awakening. It forces the Divine faculties into "hard bondage," an Allegory of the Soul becoming entirely enslaved by the heavy, repetitive demands of the physical world. The Spiritual Mind is forced to labor purely for the maintenance and glorification of the material body (building treasure cities for Pharaoh).

 

 

Verses 15-16: The Subjugation of Polarity and the Suppression of the Will - "And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives... And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women... if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live." 

Pharaoh’s decree is a Profound Alchemical cipher regarding Polarity. In Esoteric Symbolism, the masculine Force (the Son) is the Active, Electric, Conscious Will—the Dynamic Spark of rebellion and Spiritual logic. The feminine Force (the Daughter) is the Receptive, Magnetic, Subconscious Matrix. The ego (Pharaoh) seeks to systematically destroy the Active Spiritual Will before it can mature and challenge its throne, while keeping the receptive Emotional nature alive so it can continue to be manipulated and completely subjugated to physical, earthly desires.

 

 

Verses 17-21: The Protective Subconscious and the Preservation of the Spark - "But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive... Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty." 

The midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, represent the Deep, Intuitive, Protective Forces of the Subconscious that revere Universal Law (fearing God) over the dictates of the lower ego (Pharaoh). By flatly refusing to destroy the Active Spiritual Will, these Internal Faculties ensure that the Divine Spark survives the heavy oppression of the material plane. This Internal act of defiance sets the exact Energetic and Psychological conditions necessary for the eventual birth of the great Liberator (Moses), allowing the Spiritual strength of the Adept to continue multiplying in secret.

 

 

Verse 22: The Drowning in the Astral Waters - "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." 

Having failed to destroy the Spiritual Will at birth, the ego issues a final, desperate decree: cast the Active Masculine Principle into the river (the Nile). Esoterically, Water Represents the Astral Plane—the turbulent, chaotic realm of human Emotions and Passions. The ego attempts to drown the emerging Spiritual Intellect in a flood of base, earthly emotions, hoping to overwhelm the Divine Spark before it can eventually rise to establish its sovereignty.