Tree of Life Version
Exodus 1:20
20So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous.
Exodus 1:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
- New International Version (NIV)So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.
- English Standard Version (ESV)So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
Context of Exodus 1:20
18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this—let the boys live?” 19The midwives told Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They are like animals, and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, growing very numerous. 21Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. 22But Pharaoh charged all his people saying, “You are to cast every son that is born into the river, but let every daughter live.”
Read all of Exodus 1Exodus 1:20 word by word
וַיֵּ֥יטֶב אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֑ת וַיִּ֧רֶב הָעָ֛ם וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ מְאֹֽד׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Exodus 1:20
- Psalms 41:1For the music director: a psalm of David.
- Psalms 61:5Let me dwell in Your tent forever. Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
- Psalms 85:9Let me hear what God Adonai will say. For He will speak shalom to His people, and to His kedoshim— but let them not turn back to folly.
- Psalms 103:11For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy for those who fear Him.
- Psalms 111:5He gives food to those who fear Him. He remembers His covenant forever.
- Psalms 145:19He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him. He will hear their cry and save them.
- Proverbs 11:18The wicked earn deceptive wages, but a sower of righteousness reaps a true reward.
- Proverbs 19:17One who is kind to the poor lends to Adonai, and Adonai will reward him for his good deed.
- Ecclesiastes 8:12Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes and prolong his days, yet I know that it will be well for those who fear God, for those who revere Him.
- Isaiah 3:10Say to the righteous, he will be well, eating the fruit of their deeds.
- Matthew 10:42And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, amen I tell you, he shall never lose his reward.”
- Matthew 25:40“And answering, the King will say to them, ‘Amen, I tell you, whatever you did to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
- Luke 1:50And His mercy is from generation to generation to the ones who fear Him.
- Hebrews 6:10For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you showed for His name, in having served and continuing to serve the kedoshim.
- Exodus 1:7Yet Bnei-Yisrael were fruitful, increased abundantly, multiplied and grew extremely numerous—so the land was filled with them.
Commentaries on Exodus 1:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty - This shows an especial providence and blessing of God; for though in all cases where females are kept to hard labor they have comparatively easy and safe travail, yet in a state of slavery the increase is generally very small, as the children die for want of proper nursing, the women, through their labor, being obliged to neglect their offspring; so that in the…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. 20-21He gave them families: For most of history, children have had the worthy goal of growing up to raise a family. God graciously granted the universal wish of these women who served him courageously and faithfully.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 20-2120-21. God dealt well with the midwives--This represents God as rewarding them for telling a lie. This difficulty is wholly removed by a more correct translation. To "make" or "build up a house" in Hebrew idiom, means to have a numerous progeny. The passage then should be rendered thus: "God protected the midwives, and the people waxed very mighty; and because the midwives feared, the Hebrews grew and prospered."Read the comment
Topics related to Exodus 1:20
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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