Exodus 1:15–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Exodus 1:15–22
Midwives Resist a Genocidal Order
A secret order, two named midwives
Pharaoh speaks to Hebrew midwives and names them: Shiphrah and Puah. The command is to kill boys at birth and let girls live. This is not harsh labor anymore. It is a plan to destroy a people by destroying their sons.
They fear God more than the king
The midwives do not do what the king commanded. They save the boys alive. When Pharaoh demands an explanation, they answer that Hebrew women give birth before the midwife arrives. The narrator's verdict is not a debate about their wording. It is that they feared God, God dealt well with them, the people kept multiplying, and God gave the midwives households.
Failed secrecy becomes a public drowning decree
Pharaoh then charges all his people: every son is to be thrown into the river; daughters may live. What began as an instruction to two women is now a population-wide killing policy. The Nile, Egypt's life-water, is turned into an instrument of death.
How this should shape us
When an order requires harming the vulnerable, loyalty to God may mean refusing it and protecting those it targets. Do not make the midwives' courage a license for every deception, and do not treat later public violence as if the secret policy had been harmless.
Teach it back
Explain Exodus 1:15–22 in your own words. Include both movements, its place in Exodus, one historical or compositional uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one conclusion the complete context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: Shiphrah and Puah fear God rather than obey a command to kill Hebrew boys; Pharaoh then expands his murderous policy from secret order to public decree. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exodus 1:15–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 1:15–22
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 1:15–22
Supports: Book movement, historicity and archaeology limits, literary plurality, final-form reading, and Exodus's place in Torah.
Yale Bible Study, Exodus Introduction study guide, pp. 1–6: 'Exodus and the Patriarchs,' 'The Historicity of the Exodus,' 'The Sources in Exodus,' and 'The Book of Exodus'
Supports: Oppression, Moses traditions, name revelation, commission, source-critical alternatives, and narrative transition to rescue.
Yale Bible Study, 'The Burning Bush,' complete study guide pp. 1–5, sections on Exodus 1–6, oppression, Moses, divine-name disclosures, call, and source differences; applied to Exodus 1:15–22
Supports: Debt service, sale of daughters, gender inequality, release, family consequences, comparative law, and the continuing coercion of slavery.
Sweeney, 'The Hebrew Slave: Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy,' complete article sections comparing Exodus 21:2–11, Deuteronomy 15, Leviticus 25, female slavery, service duration, and ancient legal collections; applied to Exodus 1:15–22
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 1:15–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 1:15–22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 1:15–22
Open source ↗open university course study guide
Exodus Introduction Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Book movement, historicity and archaeology limits, literary plurality, final-form reading, and Exodus's place in Torah.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Exodus Introduction study guide, pp. 1–6: 'Exodus and the Patriarchs,' 'The Historicity of the Exodus,' 'The Sources in Exodus,' and 'The Book of Exodus'
Open source ↗open university course study guide
The Burning Bush Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Oppression, Moses traditions, name revelation, commission, source-critical alternatives, and narrative transition to rescue.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'The Burning Bush,' complete study guide pp. 1–5, sections on Exodus 1–6, oppression, Moses, divine-name disclosures, call, and source differences; applied to Exodus 1:15–22
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly open comparative law study
The Hebrew Slave: Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy
Marvin A. Sweeney
TheTorah.com, 2014
Supports: Debt service, sale of daughters, gender inequality, release, family consequences, comparative law, and the continuing coercion of slavery.
Exact location: Sweeney, 'The Hebrew Slave: Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy,' complete article sections comparing Exodus 21:2–11, Deuteronomy 15, Leviticus 25, female slavery, service duration, and ancient legal collections; applied to Exodus 1:15–22
Open source ↗