"U'benei yisrael paru ve'yishretzu ve'yarbu ve'yaatzumu bi'meod meod ve'timaleh ha'aretz otam"  - "And the Children of Israel were fruitful, teemed, increased, and became strong-- very, very much so; and the land became filled with them" (Exodus 1:7).

The words " ve'yishretzu"-  and they teemed-- is usually used to describe insects or fish-- creatures that teem upon the land. This is to show that G-d caused the Jewish people to multiply in an extraordinary manner. Jewish women would give birth to sextuplets, their multiple births similar to those of insects, fish, and scorpians which produce offspring at an exceptional rate (The Midrash Says). 

Alternatively, we can see in the Egyptian's reference to the Children of Israel common anti-Semitic rhetoric. The Egyptians viewed the Jewish people as vermin-- as less than human, dirty creatures who teemed like insects upon the land. This verbiage is strikingly familiar from the propaganda of the Nazis, who dehumanized the Jews, portraying them as rats and other disgusting creatures. 


haggadah Section: -- Exodus Story