to bear young · definite article + verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
feared
וַתִּירֶ֤אןָva.ti.Re.na
H3372
to fear · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
God
הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔יםha.'E.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
did
עָשׂ֔וּ'a.Su
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
king
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Egypt
מִצְרָ֑יִםmitz.Ra.yim
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
commanded
דִּבֶּ֥רdi.Ber
H1696
perhaps properly · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
saved
וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָva.te.chai.Yei.na
H2421
to live · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
children
הַיְלָדִֽיםhay.la.Dim
H3206
something born · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
alive
חָיָהchâyâh
H2421
to live
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Exodus 1:21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in…
Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him…
Acts 4:18-20 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:15–end
The Egyptians' indignation at Israel's increase, notwithstanding the many hardships they put upon them, drove them at length to the most barbarous and inhuman methods of suppressing them, by the murder of their children. It was strange that they did not rather pick quarrels with the grown men, against whom they might perhaps find some occasion: to be thus bloody towards the infants, whom all must own to be innocents, was a sin which they had to cloak for. Note, 1. There is more cruelty in the corrupt heart of man than one would imagine, Rom 3:15, Rom 3:16. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent against the seed of the woman divests men of humanity itself, and makes them forget all pit…
But the midwives feared God--Their faith inspired them with such courage as to risk their lives, by disobeying the mandate of a cruel tyrant; but it was blended with weakness, which made them shrink from speaking the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:17
The midwives feared God - Because they knew that God had forbidden murder of every kind; for though the law was not yet given, Exo 20:13, being Hebrews they must have known that God had from the beginning declared, Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, Gen 9:6. Therefore they saved the male children of all to whose assistance they were called. See Clarke's note on Exo 1:19.
John Gill on Exodus 1:17
But the midwives feared God,.... And therefore durst not take away the life of an human creature, which was contrary to the express law of God, Genesis 9:6,
and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them; knowing it was right to obey God rather than man, though ever so great, or in so exalted a station:
but saved the men children alive; did not use any violence with them, by stifling them in the birth. The scheme was so barbarous and shocking, especially to the tender sex, to whom it was proposed, and so devoid of humanity, that one would think it should never enter into the heart of man.
The Church Fathers
Many lies indeed seem to be for someone's safety or advantage, spoken not in malice but in kindness: such was that of those midwives in Exodus, who gave a false report to Pharaoh, to the end that the infants of the children of Israel might not be slain. But even these are praised not for the fact but for the disposition shown; since those who only lie in this way will attain in time to a freedom from all lying.
On the midwives' lie, by which they deceived Pharaoh and kept him from killing the Israelite males when they were born: The midwives said that Hebrew women did not give birth as Egyptian women did. It is usual to ask whether such lies have been approved by divine authority. Scripture says that God favored the midwives. It is unclear whether God, in his mercy, pardoned the lie or judged that the lie itself deserved a reward. For the midwives did one thing by letting the infant boys live and another by lying to Pharaoh. In letting them live they performed a work of mercy; but they used that lie for their own ends, to keep Pharaoh from harming the infants. This act could be the occasion not for praise but for pardon. It does not seem to me that the authority to lie has been given to those of whom it is said, "And a lie has not been found in their mouths." For if the lives of certain people, being far below the level of the saints' lives, include these sins of lying, these people are living in accord with their natural abilities, especially if they do not yet know that they should expect heavenly gifts but busy themselves with earthly things. As for those who live in such a way that their conversation, as the apostle says, is in heaven, I do not think that they should regulate the style of their speech, insofar as it affects speaking the truth and avoiding falsehood, on the example of the midwives. But we should consider this question more carefully, on account of the other examples that are found in Scripture.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Exodus — The great deliverance wrought for the children of Isreal when they were brought out of the land of Egypt with “a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm” (Ex 12:51; Deut. 26:8; Ps 114; 136), about…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Lie — An intentional violation of the truth. Lies are emphatically condemned in Scripture (John 8:44; 1 Tim. 1:9, 10; Rev. 21:27; 22:15). Mention is made of the lies told by good men, as by Abraham (Gen.…
Pharaoh — The official title borne by the Egyptian kings down to the time when that country was conquered by the Greeks. (See EGYPT.) The name is a compound, as some think, of the words Ra, the “sun” or…
Puah — Splendid. (1.) One of the two midwives who feared God, and refused to kill the Hebrew male children at their birth (Ex. 1:15-21). (2.) A descendant of Issachar (Judg. 10:1).
Shiphrah — Beauty, one of the Egyptian midwives (Ex. 1:15).
Egypt · History of Israel in: Male children destroyed — History of Israel in: Male children destroyed
Midwifery · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Oppression · .Of Israelites, by Egyptians — .Of Israelites, by Egyptians
Usurpation · .Of Pharaoh, making bondservants of the Israelites — .Of Pharaoh, making bondservants of the Israelites
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Exodus 1:15–end
Exodus 1:15-22
15. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives; (of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah;)
15. Dixit etiam Pharao rex Aegypti ad obstetrices Hebraeas, quarum unius nomen erat Sephera, alterius Puah.
16. 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.
16. Sic dixit, Quando adjuvabitis ad partum Hebraeas, et videbitis in illis quod sit masculus, interficite eum: si autem sit foemina, vivat.
17. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children…
But the midwives feared God (ha-Elohim, the personal, true God), and did not execute the king's command.
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 1:17
The midwives . . . refused to obey the mighty Egyptian king because they feared God more than they feared Pharaoh (1:21). Fear of the Lord (reverent awe of him as the almighty Creator and Judge) is the foundation of true knowledge and of wisdom (Prov 1:7; 9:10). The Lord is a friend to those who fear him (Ps 25:14). The midwives understood that the Lord has more power than any human being.
Rashi on Exodus 1:17
ותחיין את הילדים This may mean THEY MAINTAINED THE CHILDREN IN LIFE — they provided them with food (Sotah 11b). The Targum renders ותחיין the first time it occurs (i. e. in this verse) by וקימא (which means, “and they — the women — preserved the babes”). and the second time (Exodus 1:18) by וקימתן (which means, “and ye women have preserved etc.”) The Targum is able to distinguish between the two meanings of this word, but this cannot be done in Hebrew because in the Hebrew language in the case of fem. plur. this word and similar forms (ending in נָה or ןָ) are used in the sense of “they did something” (3rd person) and in the sense of “ye did something” (2nd person). For example: (Exodus 2:19…
