Exodus 1:15
New International Version
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

New Living Translation
Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah:

English Standard Version
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

King James Bible
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:

New King James Version
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;

New American Standard Bible
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;

NASB 1995
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;

NASB 1977
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;

Legacy Standard Bible
Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;

Amplified Bible
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah (beauty) and the other named Puah (splendor),

Christian Standard Bible
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah—

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, “

American Standard Version
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:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And the King of Egypt said to the Hebrew Midwives, the name of one of whom was Pua, and the name of another, Shupra:

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And the king of the Egyptians spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews; the name of the one was, Sepphora; and the name of the second, Phua.

Contemporary English Version
Finally, the king called in Shiphrah and Puah, the two women who helped the Hebrew mothers when they gave birth.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews: of whom one was called Sephora, the other Phua,

English Revised Version
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:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then the king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

Good News Translation
Then the king of Egypt spoke to Shiphrah and Puah, the two midwives who helped the Hebrew women.

International Standard Version
Later, the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah;

Literal Standard Version
And the king of Egypt speaks to the midwives, the Hebrewesses (of whom the name of the first [is] Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah),

Majority Standard Bible
Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,

New American Bible
The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah and the other Puah,

NET Bible
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

New Revised Standard Version
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah,

New Heart English Bible
The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,

Webster's Bible Translation
And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives (of which the name of one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:)

World English Bible
The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah,

Young's Literal Translation
And the king of Egypt speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one is Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah),

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Oppression by a New King
14and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh. 15Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live.”…

Cross References
Exodus 1:14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.

Exodus 1:16
"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live."

Jonah 1:9
"I am a Hebrew," replied Jonah. "I worship the LORD, the God of the heavens, who made the sea and the dry land."


Treasury of Scripture

And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:

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Egypt Hebrew Help Midwives Names Puah Pu'ah Second Speaketh Time Women
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Egypt Hebrew Help Midwives Names Puah Pu'ah Second Speaketh Time Women
Exodus 1
1. The children of Israel, after Joseph's death, increase.
8. The more they are oppressed by a new king, the more they multiply.
15. The godliness of the midwives in saving the male children alive.
22. Pharaoh commands the male children to be cast into the river














(15) The Hebrew midwives.--Or the midwives of the Hebrew women (???? ?????? ??? ???????, LXX.). The Hebrew construction admits of either rendering. In favour of the midwives being Egyptians is the consideration that the Pharaoh would scarcely have expected Hebrew women to help him in the extirpation of the Hebrew race (Kalisch); against it is the Semitic character of the names--Shiphrah, "beautiful;" Puah, "one who cries out;" and also the likelihood that a numerous and peculiar people, like the Hebrews, would have accoucheurs of their own race.

Verses 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 almost any action, since the king was recognised as a god; and the wrongs of a foreign and subject race would not sensibly move the Egyptian people, or be likely to provoke remonstrance. On looking about for suitable instruments to carry out his design, it struck the monarch that something, at any rate, might be done by means of the midwives who attended the Hebrew women in their confinements. It has been supposed that the two mentioned, Shiphrah and Puah, might be the only midwives employed by the Israelites (Canon Cook and others), and no doubt in the East a small number suffice for a large population: but what impression could the monarch expect to make on a population of from one to two millions of souls by engaging the services of two persons only, who could not possibly attend more than about one in fifty of the births? The midwives mentioned must therefore be regarded as "superintendents," chiefs of the guild or faculty, who were expected to give their orders to the rest. (So Kalisch, Knobel, Aben Ezra, etc.) It was no doubt well known that midwives were not always called in; but the king supposed that they were employed sufficiently often for the execution of his orders to produce an important result. And the narrative implies that he had not miscalculated. It was the disobedience of the midwives (ver. 17) that frustrated the king's intention, not any inherent weakness in his plan. The midwives, while professing the intention of carrying out the orders given them, in reality killed none of the infants; and, when taxed by the Pharaoh with disobedience, made an untrue excuse (ver. 19). Thus the king's second plan failed as completely as his first - "the people" still "multiplied and waxed very mighty" (ver. 20). Foiled a second time, the wicked king threw off all reserve and all attempt at concealment. If the midwives will not stain their hands with murder at his secret command, he will make the order a general and public one. "All his people" shall be commanded to put their hand to the business, and to assist in the massacre of the innocents - it shall he the duty of every loyal subject to cast into the waters of the Nile any Hebrew male child of whose birth he has cognisance. The object is a national one-to secure the public safety (see ver. 10): the whole nation may well be called upon to aid in carrying it out. Verse 15. - The Hebrew midwives. It is questioned whether the midwives were really Hebrew women, and not rather Egyptian women, whose special business it was to attend the Hebrew women in their labours. Kalisch translates, "the women who served as midwives to the Hebrews," and assumes that they were Egyptians. (So also Canon Cook.) But the names are apparently Semitic, Shiphrah being "elegant, beautiful," and Puah, "one who cries out." And the most natural rendering of the Hebrew text is that of A. V.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then the king
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Egypt
מִצְרַ֔יִם (miṣ·ra·yim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa

said
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to the Hebrew
הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת (hā·‘iḇ·rî·yōṯ)
Article | Noun - proper - feminine plural
Strong's 5680: Hebrews -- perhaps descendant of Eber, also another name for an Israelite

midwives,
לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת (lam·yal·lə·ḏōṯ)
Preposition-l, Article | Verb - Piel - Participle - feminine plural
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

whose
אֲשֶׁ֨ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

names were
שֵׁ֤ם (šêm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8034: A name

Shiphrah
שִׁפְרָ֔ה (šip̄·rāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 8236: Shiphrah -- 'fairness', a Hebrew midwife

and
הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית (haš·šê·nîṯ)
Article | Number - ordinal feminine singular
Strong's 8145: Second (an ordinal number)

Puah,
פּוּעָֽה׃ (pū·‘āh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6326: Puah -- an Israelite midwife


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OT Law: Exodus 1:15 The king of Egypt spoke to (Exo. Ex)
Exodus 1:14
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