Exodus 1:19

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Exodus 1:15-22

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 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 F11 Sepher Shorash. חיה "sie alii", כי חיות הנה "quia obstetrices ipsae", Pagninus, Montanus; so the Syriac version. says the word signifies; and so F12 μαιαι γαρ εισι , Symmachus apud... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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, Exodus 1:14 , and this at once accounts... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:1-22

The prosperity of Israel. This prosperity was not a mere appearance, nor a passing spurt of fortune. It was a deep, abiding, and significant reality. Nor was it something exaggerated in order to make an excuse for the cruelties of a suspicious tyrant. There was indeed only too much to make Pharaoh uneasy; but altogether apart from his alarms there is a plain and emphatic statement of the prosperity of Israel in Exodus 1:7 . It is a very emphatic statement indeed, summoning us m the most... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:8-22

The policy of Pharaoh. I. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE POLICY . This is indicated in Exodus 1:9 , Exodus 1:10 . It was a policy of selfish fear, proceeding upon an unconcealed regard for the supremacy of Egypt. Whatever interfered with that supremacy was to be, if possible, swept completely out of the way. Pharaoh was dealing, not with the necessities of the present, but with the possibilities of the future. He made no pretence that Israel deserved to be dealt with in this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:15-22

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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:15-22

Steps in sin. Bad men, when their designs are frustrated, and things fall out otherwise than as they wish, are far from suspecting that it is God who opposes them and brings their counsels to nought. They find fault with themselves or their advisers, and suppose that, if their end is not to be compassed in one way, it may he obtained in another. Like Balak ( Numbers 22:23 .), they would outwit God; or rather, not realising his existence, they would force fortune by a combination of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:15-22

A king's edicts. I. THE COMMAND TO THE MIDWIVES TO DESTROY THE MALES ( Exodus 1:16 ). This was a further stage in the persecution of the Hebrews. Happily the command was not obeyed. There is a limit even to the power of kings. Stronger than kings is— 1 . The power of religion. "The midwives feared God" ( Exodus 1:17 ). 2 . The force of patriotism. They were "Hebrew midwives" ( Exodus 1:15 ), and would not, even at the king's bidding, be murderers of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:18-21

God's acceptance of an imperfect obedience. The midwives had not the courage of their convictions. They did not speak out boldly,, like Daniel, and the "Three Children," and the Apostles. They did not say, "Be it known unto thee, O king, that we fear God, and will not do this thing." They cast about for an excuse, which should absolve them of the crime of disobedience, and so perhaps save them from punishment, and they found one which was no doubt partially true, but which by a ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Exodus 1:19

They are vigorous . Literally, "they are lively." In the East at the present day a large proportion of the women deliver themselves; and the services of professional accoucheurs are very rarely called in. The excuse of the midwives had thus a basis of fact to rest upon, and was only untrue because it was not the whole truth. read more

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