Exodus 1:19

_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._ The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. It might be that the simple and active habits of the former rendered the labours of maternity much easier to them than among the Egyptian women, who lived in a more artificial and luxurious style, and were delicate and feeble; and, in point of fact, easy labour is the normal experience of the wives of the nomadic Arabs (Burckhardt, 'Travels among the Bedouin Arabs'). But the answer of the midwives was probably a mere pretext, though believed by Pharaoh....

15-22 The Egyptians tried to destroy Israel by the murder of their children. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent, against the Seed of the woman, makes men forget all pity. It is plain that the Hebrews were now under an uncommon blessing. And we see that the services done for God's Israel are often repaid in kind. Pharaoh gave orders to drown all the male children of the Hebrews. The enemy who, by Pharaoh, attempted to destroy the church in this its infant state, is busy to stifle the rise of serious reflections in the heart of man. Let those who would escape, be afraid of sinning, and cry directly and fervently to the Lord for assistance....

Verse Exodus 1:19. _THE HEBREW WOMEN ARE NOT AS THE EGYPTIAN WOMEN_] This is a simple statement of what general experience shows to be a fact, viz., that women, who during the whole of their pregnancy are accustomed to hard labour, especially in the open air, have comparatively little pain in _parturition_. At this time the whole Hebrew nation, _men_ and _women_, were in a state of _slavery_, and were obliged to work _in mortar and brick, and all manner of_ _service_ IN THE FIELD, Exodus 1:14, and this at once accounts for the ease and speediness of their travail. With the strictest truth the midwives might say, _The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian_ _women_: the _latter_ fare delicately, are not inured to labour, and are kept shut up at home, therefore they h...

EXPOSITION EXODUS 1:15-2 Some time—say five or six years—having elapsed and the Pharaoh's first plan having manifestly failed, it was necessary for him either to give up his purpose, or to devise something else. Persevering and tenacious, he preferred the latter course. He bethought himself that a stop might be put to the multiplication of the Israelites by means of infanticide on a large scale. Infanticide was no doubt a crime in Egypt, as in most countries except Rome; but the royal command would legitimate almost any action, since the king was recognised as a god; and the wrongs of a foreign and subject race would not sensibly move the Egyptian people, or be likely to provoke remonstrance. On looking about for suitable instruments to carry out his design, it struck the monarch that something, at any rate, might be done by means of the midwives who at

AND THE MIDWIVES SAID UNTO PHARAOH, BECAUSE THE HEBREW WOMEN ARE NOT AS THE EGYPTIAN WOMEN,.... Not so tender, weak, and feeble, nor so ignorant of midwifery, and needed not the assistance of midwives, as the Egyptian women: FOR THEY [ARE] LIVELY; or midwives themselves, as Kimchi k says the word signifies; and so l Symmachus translates the words, "for they are midwives"; or are skilful in the art of midwifery, as Jarchi interprets it; and so the, Vulgate Latin version is, "for they have knowledge of midwifery"; and so could help themselves; or, "for they are as beasts" m, as animals which need not, nor have the assistance of any in bringing forth their young; and so Jarchi observes, that their Rabbins n explain it, they are like to the beasts of the field, who have no need of a midwife; or they were so lively, hale, and strong, as our version, and others, and their infants also, throug...

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. ISRAEL'S DELIVERANCE OUT OF THE HANDS OF THE EGYPTIANS 1. The House of Bondage CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The names of the children of Israel; their increase (Exodus 1:1)_ 2. The new king and his policy (Exodus 1:8) 3. The continued increase (Exodus 1:12) 4. Their hard bondage (Exodus 1:13) 5. The midwives commanded (Exodus 1:15) 6. Their disobedience and God's reward (Exodus 1:17) 7. Pharaoh's charg

EXODUS 1:15 E ( EXODUS 1:20 B J). ATTEMPT TO DESTROY MALE CHILDREN. From another source we learn of two more ineffectual measures to restrict population. The two midwives, whose names tradition loved to recall for their heroism (while careless about the Pharaoh's name!), were, according to Josephus, Egyptian. Though commentators differ, the tone of the passage confirms that view, which requires the rendering, the midwives of the Hebrew women (lit. those women who help the Hebrew women to bring forth). Humanity and natural religion (they feared God, _cf._ Genesis 20:11; Genesis 42:18) outweighed the royal command. The proce

AND THE MIDWIVES SAID UNTO PHARAOH— Fully satisfied that it was better to obey GOD than man, the midwives disobeyed this unjust command; and vindicated themselves to Pharaoh, when accused by him, for so doing. I see no sufficient reason to suppose, that there was the least prevarication in the midwives: for is it not natural to believe, that the same Divine Providence which so miraculously interposed for the multiplication of Israel, might grant an easy deliverance to the Hebrew women, and cause them to dispense with the assistance of midwives? So that, upon this supposition, the midwives not only delivered the truth, but delivered it with great magnanimity, avowing the protection which God gave to their nation: and accordingly we find their proceeding approved and rewarded; _for God dealt well with them,_ Exodus 1:20....

THE TEXT OF EXODUS TRANSLATION 1 Now these are the names of the sons of Is-ra-el, who came into E-gypt (every man and his household came with Jacob): (2) Reu-ben, Sim-e-on, Le-vi, and Ju-dah, (3) Is-sa-char, Zeb-u-Iun, and Ben-ja-min, (4) Dan and Naph-ta-li, Gad and Asher. (5) And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: and Joseph was in E-gypt already. (6) And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. (7) And the children of Is-ra-el were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. (8) Now there arose a new king over E-gypt, who knew not Joseph. (9) And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Is-ra-el are more and mightier than we: (10) come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any...

OPPRESSION OF THE ISRAELITES 5. Seventy souls] Jacob himself is included in the number: cp. Genesis 46:8. Of the seventy, sixty-eight were males. If to the direct descendants of Jacob we add the wives of his sons and grandsons, and the husbands of his daughters and grand-daughters, and all their servants with their families, it appears that the total number of those who entered Egypt was very considerable, several hundreds if not thousands. This fact, as well as the acknowlodged prolificness of the Hebrew nation, serves to account for their rapid increase in Egypt. At the time of the exodus they must have numbered about three millions: see on Exodus 12:37....