Exodus Chapter 2, Verse 23
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23: And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt
died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the
bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by
reason of the bondage.
23: And in those days after a length of time, the king of Egypt died; and the children of Israel groaned because of their tasks, and cried, and their cry because of their tasks went up to God.
Ex 2:23ff form the introduction to the next chapter. The cruel oppression of the Israelites in Egypt continued without intermission or amelioration. "In those many days the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the service" (i.e., their hard slave labour). The "many days" are the years of oppression, or the time between the birth of Moses and the birth of his children in Midian. The king of Egypt who died, was in any case the king mentioned in Ex 2:15; but whether he was one and the same with the "new king" (Ex 1:8), or a successor of his, cannot be decided. If the former were the case, we should have to assume, with Baumgarten, that the death of the king took place not very long after Moses' flight, seeing that he was an old man at the time of Moses' birth, and had a grown-up daughter. But the greater part of the "many days" would then fall in his successor's reign, which is obviously opposed to the meaning of the words, "It came to pass in those many days, that the king of Egypt died." For this reason the other supposition, that the king mentioned here is a successor of the one mentioned in Ex 1:8, has far greater probability. At the same time, all that can be determined from a comparison of Ex 7:7 is, that the Egyptian oppression lasted more than 80 years. This allusion to the complaints of the Israelites, in connection with the notice of the king's death, seems to imply that they hoped for some amelioration of their lot from the change of government; and that when they were disappointed, and groaned the more bitterly in consequence, they cried to God for help and deliverance. This is evident from the remark, "Their cry came up unto God," and is stated distinctly in Deut 26:7.
