Bible Strands
Exodus 1:19
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The midwives answer Pharaoh directly after he confronts them for allowing Hebrew baby boys to survive. Their statement occurs during a tense interrogation about their defiance of his infanticide decree.
The words — The text uses כִּי (ki, "for") and לֹא (lo', "not") to frame a comparative claim, while הַ/מְיַלְּדֹת (ha/m.ya.le.Dot, "the midwives") identifies the speakers. These terms anchor the midwives' verbal defense in a direct contrast between Hebrew and Egyptian women.
The thread — This pattern of strategic speech to protect the vulnerable recurs when Rahab conceals the spies (Joshua 2:4), when a woman hides a well to mislead pursuers (2 Samuel 17:19), and when David claims a secret mission to avoid danger (1 Samuel 21:2). Each account shows individuals using tactical statements to shield those under threat from hostile authority.
Why it lands — The passage requires readers to recognize that obedience to divine protection can demand tactical resistance against unjust human commands. It asks the reader to evaluate how speech functions as a shield when institutional power demands complicity in violence.
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
King James Version
And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
Cross-references
- Joshua 2:4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.
- 2 Samuel 17:19 Then the man’s wife took a covering, spread it over the mouth of the well, and scattered grain over it so nobody would know a thing.
- 1 Samuel 21:2 “The king has given me a mission,” David replied. “He told me no one is to know about the mission on which I am sending you. And I have directed my young men to meet me at a certain place.