Exodus 1:16

“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah to inspect newborn Hebrew boys on birthstones and execute them while allowing girls to live. This directive occurs immediately after his initial address to the midwives and immediately before their stated refusal to obey.

The words — The phrase בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן (be.ya.lled.khen) literally renders "when you assist as midwife," and הָאָבְנָיִם (ha.a.vena.yim) denotes "the stones" functioning as birthstools. These terms specify a physical inspection method rather than a general royal policy.

The thread — The command expands into Pharaoh's broader decree in Exodus 1:22 to cast every Hebrew son into the Nile, while the pattern of targeting male heirs recurs in Matthew 21:38 and Revelation 12:4.

Why it lands — The text records a precise state order to eliminate male infants and the midwives' subsequent decision to let them live. It requires the reader to separate the factual mechanism of the decree from the moral boundary established when human authority meets divine fear.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙be./ya.led./Khenwhen/ assist as midwife/ you אֶת־'et-<obj.>הָֽעִבְרִיּ֔וֹתha./'iv.ri.Yotthe/ Hebrew [women]וּרְאִיתֶ֖ןu./re.'i.Tenand/ you will look עַל־'al-at הָאָבְנָ֑יִםha./'a.ve.Na.yimthe/ stones אִם־'im-if בֵּ֥ןben[is] a son הוּא֙hu'he וַהֲמִתֶּ֣ןva./ha.mi.Tenand/ you will kill אֹת֔וֹ'o.T/o<obj.>/ him וְאִם־ve./'im-and/ if בַּ֥תbat[is] a daughter הִ֖יאhi'she וָחָֽיָה׃va./Cha.yahand/ she will live

King James Version

And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.

Cross-references

Exodus 1:22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
Matthew 21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’
Revelation 12:4 His tail swept a third of the stars from the sky, hurling them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, ready to devour her child as soon as she gave birth.