Exodus 1:15
in Exodus 1Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
KJV
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:
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This verse in Exodus 1
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Hebrew midwifes - Or “midwives of the Hebrew women.” This measure at once attested the inefficacy of the former measures, and was the direct cause of the event which issued in the deliverance of Israel, namely, the exposure of Moses. The women bear Egyptian names, and were probably Egyptians.
This site's exposition
spake to the Hebrew midwives
on Exodus 1:15-16
Two midwives are given names, Shiphrah and Puah, and the king who summons them is not, which is how the chapter distributes weight. Whether they were Hebrew women or Egyptian women who attended the Hebrews has been argued from the phrase itself and from the names, and the older commentators divide over it. The word rendered stools occurs in one other place in the Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah 18:3, where it is the potter's wheels, and Adam Clarke takes it for a birthing stone or trough. Pharaoh's second measure moves from work to birth, and it asks women to kill the children they are called in to deliver.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The two midwives he tampered with in order hereunto are here named; and perhaps, at this time, which was above eighty years before their going out of Egypt, those two might suffice for all the Hebrew women, at least so many of them as lay near the court, as it is plain by ch. ii.
And the king spake to the Hebrew midwives - The two chief of them. They are called Hebrew midwives, probably not because they were themselves Hebrews; for sure Pharaoh could never expect they should be so barbarous to those of their own nation, but because they were generally made use of by the Hebrews, and being Egyptians he hoped to prevail with them.
And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives,.... It is difficult to say who these midwives were, whether Egyptian or Hebrew women.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives--Two only were spoken to--either they were the heads of a large corporation [LABORDE], or, by tampering with these two, the king designed to terrify the rest into secret compliance with his wishes [CALVIN].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Hebrew midwives - Shiphrah and Puah, who are here mentioned, were probably certain chiefs, under whom all the rest acted, and by whom they were instructed in the obstetric art. Aben Ezra supposes there could not have been fewer than five hundred midwives among the Hebrew women at this time, but that very few were requisite see proved on Exo 1:19 (note).
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת | lamyaledot | to the midwives | H3205 → | 496 times |
| הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת | haivriyot | <the> Hebrew | H5680 → | 34 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| שֵׁ֤ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הָֽאַחַת֙ | haachat | the one | H259 → | 971 times |
| שִׁפְרָ֔ה | shifrah | [was] Shiphrah | H8236 → | |
| וְשֵׁ֥ם | veshem | and [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית | hashenit | the second | H8145 → | 156 times |
| פּוּעָֽה׃ | puah | [was] Puah | H6326 → |
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖תto the midwives
lamyaledotH3205 →496 times
הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת<the> Hebrew
haivriyotH5680 →34 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
שֵׁ֤ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
הָֽאַחַת֙the one
haachatH259 →971 times
שִׁפְרָ֔ה[was] Shiphrah
shifrahH8236 →
וְשֵׁ֥םand [the] name of
veshemH8034 →864 times
הַשֵּׁנִ֖יתthe second
hashenitH8145 →156 times
פּוּעָֽה׃[was] Puah
puahH6326 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
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Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.