What does Exodus 1:1 mean?

The first seven verses of Exodus describe the rapid growth of the sons of Jacob during their time in Egypt. It begins with a review of Jacob's twelve sons. These "sons of Israel" were mentioned four times in Genesis prior to this verse (Genesis 42:5; 45:21; 46:5; 50:25), each time in reference to Jacob's sons. In Exodus, the phrase "sons of Israel" will expand to encompass the entire nation of Israel. As explained in the book of Genesis, these men went to Egypt to buy food during a famine at the request of their aged father Jacob. On their second journey to Egypt, Joseph, the younger brother whom they had sold into slavery and who was now second only to Pharaoh, revealed himself. At Pharaoh's request, Jacob and his sons and their households moved to Egypt and settled in the land of Goshen.

The next verses describe the eleven sons of Jacob who moved to Egypt (Exodus 1:2–4), Joseph's family (Exodus 1:5), and the death of that generation (Exodus 1:6). Yet their death will not be the end of Israel. Instead, it will become the start of an entire nation (Exodus 1:7). God fulfills His promise to Abraham to turn his descendants into a nation of people He would bless (Genesis 12:1–3).