“In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land. Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.” So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?” “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.” So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.””
Exodus 1:6-22 NLT
There is an interesting aspect of scripture, only highlighted a few times, that is present in this chapter. That, of course, is the deceit of the Hebrew midwives. Exodus is the book where we are first introduced to the concept of God’s laws and the presence of the Ten Commandments. One of these commandments is the commandment not to lie. Yet, on full display, we see that Puah and Shiphrah lied outright to their king. Not only this, but their action was seen as a righteous act. It would then be forgivable for one to think that there are degrees of lying, ranging from appropriate to inappropriate. However a plain reading of scripture doesn’t necessarily support this. Perhaps we can further understand this difficult passage in the context of intent rather than behavior. The passage says it multiple times. Their behavior was because they feared God. They sought to respect him more than the Pharaoh. Any action done in this context, whether lying, theft or killing, seems to have an appropriate place in human behavior. This seems unconscionable, but given the context of infanticide, it is much more understandable. There are lines that humans shouldn’t cross in general, but when crossed, they must be crossed out of fear for God at best.
Deception of Midwives: Puah and Shiphrah lied to Pharaoh, highlighting the complexities of lying in scripture.
Justification of Deception: Their actions, driven by fear of God, are portrayed as righteous, suggesting potential degrees of lying.
Contextual Understanding: The passage emphasizes the importance of intent over behavior, particularly in the context of the midwives’ fear of God.
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