What are the israelites doing as the book of exodus begins?

Answer 1

Answer #1:

They are serving as slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt (Exodus ch.1).

Answer #2:

Examining the text of Exodus ch.1 in somewhat finer detail . . .

-- The first statement in Exodus that describes an event relevant to them

after their migration to Egypt is: "Joseph, all his brothers, and their entire

generation, died."

-- The next one is: "The children of Israel were fruitful, and they teemed,

increased, and became strong ... very much so."

That's what the Israelites were doing.

It's then that the king of Egypt goes off the deep end, and instead of merely

living privately with his personal demons, he goes public with them, in words

that the Jews have heard from so many other bellicose tyrants since then.

Let me paraphrase the next few verses from Exodus:

"Look at these Jews. They're all around us, they're stronger than we are, and

there are more of them than there are of us. Folks, we've got us a real problem

brewing, and we'd better start doing something about it. Now, I know that

they've been here for 200 years and never gave anybody any trouble, but that

doesn't mean a thing, because I'm telling you, I know how those people really

are, and the minute we get into a war with anybody, THEY'RE going over to

the other side. I guarantee it."

And then, he caps it off with a preposterous complaint that almost matches

"The food here is terrible, and the portions are so small!" for inanity. Pharaoh says

"And folks, that's not even the worst part ! After they join our enemies, the next

thing they'll do is LEAVE US !"

And that leads directly to the creeping, progressive restrictions, forced labor with

increasing demands and deteriorating working conditions, state-sanctioned

executions of the newborn males, and finally, utter slavery, with all the

negative connotations of that English word.