Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh issues a royal decree to his entire population, ordering the death of every newborn Hebrew boy while permitting Hebrew girls to survive. This command follows the midwives' refusal to comply with his earlier orders and the continued multiplication of the Israelites.
The words — וַ/יְצַ֣ו (va/y.Tzav) literally renders "and he commanded," marking the formalization of the royal edict. כָּל־הַ/בֵּ֣ן הַ/יִּלּ֗וֹד (kol-ha./ben ha./yi.Lod) translates as "every son the born," stressing the exhaustive and impersonal scope of the killing order.
The thread — Stephen later summarizes this policy in Acts 7:19, describing how rulers exploited the people and forced them to abandon infants. The same initial instruction appears in Exodus 1:16, where Pharaoh first directs the midwives to kill Hebrew boys at birth.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to see how state power attempts to dictate the boundaries of life and family. It demands acknowledgment that political decrees cannot erase the reality of human survival or the moral weight of ordering violence against the vulnerable.
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 Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:19 He exploited our people and oppressed our fathers, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.
- Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
- 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.”
- Psalms 105:25 whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.
- Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
- Revelation 16:4 And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and springs of water, and they turned to blood.
- Genesis 41:1 After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,
- Exodus 7:19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and all the reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.”
- Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger is like a flood, but who can withstand jealousy?