Exodus 1:21
in Exodus 1And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households.
KJV
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
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This verse in Exodus 1
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Made them houses - i. e. they married Hebrews and became mothers in Israel. The expression is proverbial. See the margin reference.
This site's exposition
God dealt well with the midwives
on Exodus 1:20-21
God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied again, so Pharaoh's second measure fails the way the first one failed. He made them houses is a Hebrew idiom for building a family, the same expression used of Rachel and Leah at Ruth 4:11 and of David at 2 Samuel 7:11, so women who refused to end Hebrew households were given households of their own. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the reward as attached to the fear of God the verse names, rather than to the answer they gave the king.
This site's exposition
because the midwives feared God
The verse repeats that the midwives feared God and names their reward, families of their own. To have a household built up was a Hebrew way of speaking of children and descendants. Albert Barnes takes it to mean that they married and became mothers in Israel, and calls the expression proverbial.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
Just as Pharaoh was drowned in those very waters in which he had drowned the infants, so too David removed Goliath's head with that very sword with which he had destroyed many. Moses divided the waters through the symbol of the cross, while David laid …
A commentator
John ChrysostomHOMILIES ON ACTS 54, AT ACTS 20:17 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
And that you may learn this—Pharaoh commanded the infants to be cast into the river. Unless the infants had been cast forth, Moses would not have been saved, he would not have been brought up in the palace. When he was safe, he was not in honor; when he was exposed, then he was in honor. But God did this, to show His riches of resource and contrivance.
As for its being written that God dealt well with the Hebrew midwives and with Rahab the harlot of Jericho, he did not deal well with them because they lied but because they were merciful to the men of God. And so it was not their deception that was rewarded but their benevolence; the benignity of their intention, not the iniquity of their invention.
Because they feared God, they built up houses. Without the fear of God, a house cannot be built. If then with the fear of God houses were built by those who had not committed sin but rather did their building at God's pleasure, we who have been captured, what must we do? Listen, sinner; we must fear God, indeed, to avoid sin; but after shipwreck there is the second plank of repentance. "When the house was being built after captivity." "When the house was being built," not "was built," for repentance is without limit.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God,....
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Note, Religion and piety are good friends to outward prosperity: the fear of God in a house will help to build it up and establish it. Dr. Lightfoot's notion of it is, That, for their piety, they were married to Israelites, and Hebrew families were built up by them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
He made them houses - Dr. Shuckford thinks that there is something wrong both in the punctuation and translation of this place, and reads the passage thus, adding the 21st to the 20th verse: “And they multiplied and waxed mighty; and this happened (ויהי vayehi) because the midwives feared God; and he (Pharaoh) made (להם lahem, masc.). them (the Israelites) houses; and commanded all his people, saying, Every son that is born, etc.” The doctor supposes that previously to this time the Israelites had no fixed dwellings, but lived in tents, and therefore had a better opportunity of concealing their children; but now Pharaoh built them houses, and obliged them to dwell in them, and caused the Egyptians to watch over them, that all the male children might be destroyed, which could not have been easily effected had the Israelites continued to live in their usual scattered manner in tents. That the houses in question were not made for the midwives, but for the Israelites in general, the Hebrew text seems pretty plainly to indicate, for the pronoun להם lahem, to them, is the masculine gender; had the midwives been meant, the feminine pronoun להן lahen would have been used. Others contend that by making them houses, not only the midwives are intended, but also that the words mark an increase of their families, and that the objection taken from the masculine pronoun is of no weight, because these pronouns are often interchanged; see 1Ki 22:17, where להם lahem is written, and in the parallel place, 2Ch 18:16, להן lahen is used. So בהם bahem, in 1Ch 10:7, is written בהן bahen, 1Sa 31:7, and in several other places. There is no doubt that God did bless the midwives, his approbation of their conduct is strictly marked; and there can be no doubt of his prospering the Israelites, for it is particularly said that the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. […]
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֕י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| יָֽרְא֥וּ | yareu | they feared | H3372 → | 315 times |
| הַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת | hamyaledot | the midwives | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וַיַּ֥עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he appointed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | for <the> them | ||
| בָּתִּֽים׃ | batim | households | H1004 → | 2046 times |
וַיְהִ֕יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
יָֽרְא֥וּthey feared
yareuH3372 →315 times
הַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖תthe midwives
hamyaledotH3205 →496 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
וַיַּ֥עַשׂand he appointed
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
לָהֶ֖םfor <the> them
lahem
בָּתִּֽים׃households
batimH1004 →2046 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 37:3Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him.
- Matthew 6:31–33
Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
- Psalms 62:8
Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge. Selah
- 1 Corinthians 15:57–58
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
- Psalms 34:9–10
Fear the LORD, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing.
- Jeremiah 17:7–8
Through
1 Samuel 2:35Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest. He will do whatever is in My heart and mind. And I will build for him an enduring house, and he will walk before…
it leads to
- 2 Samuel 7:11
and have done since the day I appointed judges over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD declares to you that He Himself will establish a house…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 2 Samuel 7:27
For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to…
- 2 Samuel 7:11
Through
Ecclesiastes 8:12Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
it leads to
- Psalms 37:11
But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.
- Psalms 37:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Exodus
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Augustine of Hippo, On Lying 15.32; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON TATIAN'S DIATESSARON 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILY 72; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON ACTS 54, AT ACTS 20:17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.