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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
midwives	הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ ham.ya.le.Dot	H3205	to bear young · definite article + verb, piel active participle, feminine plural absolute
said	וַתֹּאמַ֤רְןָ va.to.Mar.na	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine plural
Pharaoh	פַּרְעֹ֔ה par.'Oh	H6547	Paroh · noun, masculine singular absolute
Hebrew	הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת ha.'iv.ri.Yot	H5680	an Eberite (i.e. Hebrew) or descendant of Eber · definite article + noun, gentilic feminine plural absolute
women	כַנָּשִׁ֛ים kha.na.Shim	H802	a woman · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
women	הַמִּצְרִיֹּ֖ת ha.mitz.ri.Yot	H4713	a Mitsrite · definite article + noun, gentilic feminine plural absolute
lively	חָי֣וֹת cha.Yot	H2422	vigorous · adjective, feminine plural absolute
delivered	הַמְיַלֶּ֖דֶת ham.ya.Le.det	H3205	to bear young · definite article + verb, piel active participle, feminine singular absolute
ere	בְּטֶ֨רֶם be.Te.rem	H2962	properly · preposition + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
midwives	וְיָלָֽדוּ ve.ya.La.du	H3205	to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person common plural
in	תָּב֧וֹא ta.Vo'	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular

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

Joshua 2:4-24 And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were:
2 Samuel 17:19-20 And the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.
1 Samuel 21:2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the bus…

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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:17

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 1:19

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 labor, 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, Exo 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 labor, and are kept sh…

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John Gill on Exodus 1:19

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, th…

The Church Fathers

Indeed, in regard to other Hebrew women you find it written that the Hebrew women give birth before the midwives arrive. This is so because the souls of the just do not wait upon branches of learning arranged according to kinds of knowledge, nor do they require assistance in parturition, but they bring forth their offspring spontaneously and anticipate the expected time.
— Ambrose of Milan, FLIGHT FROM THE WORLD 8.47

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…
Hebrew — A name applied to the Israelites in Scripture only by one who is a foreigner (Gen. 39:14, 17; 41:12, etc.), or by the Israelites when they speak of themselves to foreigners (40:15; Ex. 1:19), or when…
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).

Exodus 1:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:17

Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:19

John Gill on Exodus 1:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Exodus 1:19

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:15–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:17

Adam Clarke on Exodus 1:19

John Gill on Exodus 1:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Exodus 1:15–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Exodus 1:18-19

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Exodus 1:19

Rashi on Exodus 1:19