Puah; Puvah

pu'-a, pu'-va: (1) pu'ah: One of the Hebrew midwives whom the king of Egypt commanded to kill all male children of the Hebrews at birth. The midwives, fearing God, refused to obey, pretending that the children of the Hebrew women were usually born before they arrived. Their act is spoken of as being meritorious in the eyes of the Lord, who is said to have rewarded them by making "houses" for them (Ex 1:15-20). In the Midrash, Ex Rabba', Puah is identified with Miriam, and Shiphrah, the other midwife, with her mother Jochebed. According to another tradition Puah was a proselyte.

(2) pu'ah, in 1Ch 7:1; puwwah, in Ge 46:13; Nu 26:23; written also "Pua" the King James Version, and "Puvah" Revised Version: Second son of Issachar, ancestor of the Punites, enumerated in the desert census taken by Moses and Eleazar.

(3) pu'ah: Member of the tribe of Issachar, mentioned (Jud 10:1) as the son of Dodo and the father of Tola, the judge.

Ella Davis Isaacs