The Midwives Who Feared God

Read aloud

Pharaoh gives Shiphrah and Puah a command that would make them participants in killing Hebrew sons. The king speaks to two midwives because he wants violence to enter the ordinary work of helping women give birth. His power reaches into the birthstools and tries to make new life answer to his fear.

The midwives do not obey him. The passage gives their reason in a few words: they feared God. When Pharaoh asks why the boys are still alive, they tell him that Hebrew women give birth before a midwife arrives. The text then says God was good to them, the people multiplied, and God gave the midwives families of their own because they feared Him.

The passage does not turn the midwives into people without risk. They are living under a king who has already commanded death. It also does not tell us to admire every detail of their explanation as a general rule for speech. It shows that their fear of God is stronger than their obedience to a murderous command.

Pharaoh responds by widening the order. He tells all his people to throw every Hebrew son into the Nile while allowing daughters to live. When a ruler's first plan fails, the threat becomes public and more violent. The midwives' refusal has not ended the danger, but it has protected children and exposed the difference between royal power and God's authority.

Scripture remembers Shiphrah and Puah by name. The king who ordered the deaths is left unnamed. His command carried terrible power, but it could not make killing these children right before God.