Exodus 1:15-21

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• The midwives refused to kill the baby Israelite boys. God blessed the midwives because of this.

Details

• The midwives are told to kill the baby Israelite boys. They do not do so.

• When questioned about their negligence, they claim that the Israelite women are strong and give birth before the midwives arrive.

• God blesses the midwives with families, because they feared him.

Did God Bless Them for Lying?

• The text does not use the word "lie." It could have been a truthful statement on their part. The Egyptian king apparently accepted their statement as true.

• Even if they did lie (which Scripture doesn't claim), the text says that their fear of God that was the reason God blessed them. That is the only reason given.

Scripture

Exodus 1:15-21 – God's blessing on those who oppose infanticide: The midwives.

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
Exo 1:15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, Exo 1:16 and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."	The command to kill all the boy babies.
Exo 1:17 But the midwives feared God, and didn't do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.	Fear God more than the king. Values Civil Disobedience Murder of Infants and the Unborn
Exo 1:18 The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and have saved the boys alive?" Exo 1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and give birth before the midwife comes to them."	Their response to the king. Was it a lie? (Opinions vary. If the Hebrew women were more vigorous, as the midwives claimed, they could have deliberately delayed getting there, in order to give time for the babies to be born. ) Regardless, God blessed them because they feared him, not because of lying (if that is indeed what they did).
Exo 1:20 God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. Exo 1:21 It happened, because the midwives feared God, that he gave them families.	God blessed the midwives because they feared God.

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.