“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.”
My Notes
What Does Exodus 1:16 Mean?
"If it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live." Pharaoh commands the Hebrew midwives to commit infanticide: kill the boys, spare the girls. The genocide is sex-selective — targeting male children because boys grow into warriors. Girls are allowed to live because daughters can be assimilated into Egyptian society through marriage.
The command is given to midwives — Shiphrah and Puah (verse 15) — women whose profession is bringing life into the world. Pharaoh asks them to reverse their calling: instead of helping babies live, help babies die. The perversion of the midwife's role is the perversion of the entire system: the life-givers are ordered to become death-dealers.
The midwives refuse (verse 17): they fear God more than Pharaoh. Their civil disobedience — the first recorded in Scripture — is an act of defiance rooted in reverence for God. The women who are supposed to obey the king obey God instead. And God rewards them for it (verse 21).
Reflection Questions
- 1.What would you refuse to do even if the most powerful person in your world commanded it?
- 2.Why does the Bible record the midwives' names but not Pharaoh's?
- 3.How does fear of God override fear of human authority?
- 4.What does the midwives' civil disobedience teach about the ordinary person's power to resist evil?
Devotional
Kill the boys. Spare the girls. Pharaoh gives the order. And two midwives — Shiphrah and Puah — refuse.
The command turns the midwife's calling inside out: the women whose hands deliver babies are ordered to use those same hands to kill them. The expertise in birth becomes the instrument of death. The knowledge of how babies arrive becomes the knowledge of how to prevent their survival.
Shiphrah and Puah refuse. Their civil disobedience is the Bible's first: ordinary women defying the most powerful man on earth because they fear God more than Pharaoh. No army backs them. No political movement supports them. Two midwives, doing their job, refusing to kill. And their refusal saves a generation — including, eventually, Moses.
The sex-selective genocide targets boys because boys become warriors. Pharaoh's fear is military: if the Hebrew males multiply, they could fight. The girls are spared because they can be absorbed into Egyptian culture through marriage. The genocide is strategic: eliminate the threat, assimilate the remainder.
The midwives' names are recorded — Shiphrah and Puah — while Pharaoh's name is not. The Bible preserves the names of the women who defied him and erases the name of the king who commanded them. The midwives are more important to God's record than the pharaoh.
Who is remembered: the powerful person who commanded evil or the ordinary people who refused?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And he said, when ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women,.... Deliver them of their children:
and see them…
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The Egyptians' indignation at Israel's increase, notwithstanding the many hardships they put upon them, drove them at…