Christian Standard Bible
Exodus 1:16
16“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.”
Exodus 1:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
- New International Version (NIV)“When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
- New King James Version (NKJV)and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
Context of Exodus 1:16
14and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them. 15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives — the first, whose name was Shiphrah, and the second, whose name was Puah — “When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.” 17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this and let the boys live?”
Read all of Exodus 1Exodus 1:16 word by word
וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙ אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִיּ֔וֹת וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָאָבְנָ֑יִם אִם־בֵּ֥ן הוּא֙ וַהֲמִתֶּ֣ן אֹת֔וֹ וְאִם־בַּ֥ת הִ֖יא וָחָֽיָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And he saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- When ye do the office of a midwifeיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
- to the Hebrew womenעִבְרִי‛ibrîy · HebrewH5680
- and seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
- upon the stoolsאֹבֶן'ôben · wheelH70
- a sonבֵּןbên · son: childH1121
- then ye shall killמוּתmûth · to dieH4191
- a daughterבַּתbath · daughterH1323
- then she shall liveחָיַיchâyay · to liveH2425
Cross-references for Exodus 1:16
- Exodus 1:22Pharaoh then commanded all his people, “You must throw every son born to the Hebrews into the Nile, but let every daughter live.”
- Matthew 21:38“But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’
- Revelation 12:4Its tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. And the dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she did give birth it might devour her child.
Commentaries on Exodus 1:16
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Upon the stools - האבנים על al haobnayim . This is a difficult word, and occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible but in Jeremiah 18:3, where we translate it the potter's wheels. As אכי signifies a stone, the obnayim has been supposed to signify a stone trough, in which they received and washed the infant as soon as born. Jarchi, in his book of Hebrew roots, gives a very different interpretation of it; he derives it from בן ben, a son, or בנים banim…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Upon the stools - Literally, “two stones.” The word denotes a special seat, such as is represented on monuments of the 18th Dynasty, and is still used by Egyptian midwives.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-22Verses 15-22 The Egyptians tried to destroy Israel by the murder of their children. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent, against the Seed of the woman, makes men forget all pity. It is plain that the Hebrews were now under an uncommon blessing. And we see that the services done for God's Israel are often repaid in kind. Pharaoh gave orders to drown all the male children of the Hebrews. The enemy who, by Pharaoh, attempted to destroy the church…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live: This command called for killing only the male children. It would not remove the Hebrews as a source of forced labor. When the girls grew up, they could marry male slaves from other ethnic groups. In this way, the Hebrews would lose their unity as a people. At the same time, Egypt would still keep a large supply of slaves.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. if it be a son, then ye shall kill him--Opinions are divided, however, what was the method of destruction which the king did recommend. Some think that the "stools" were low seats on which these obstetric practitioners sat by the bedside of the Hebrew women; and that, as they might easily discover the sex, so, whenever a boy appeared, they were to strangle it, unknown to its parents; while others are of opinion that the "stools" were stone troughs, by…Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 1:16
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Exodus 1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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