The Bible tells the story of the two courageous midwives Shiphrah and Puah. Their story is recorded in the book of Exodus. These two midwives were ordered by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew boys. But they didn’t. They courageously resisted the order of the mighty ruler of the Egyptian empire. By their brave actions they saved the lives of many Hebrew boys. God rewarded them for their brave act of resisting Pharaoh’s command.
The Israelites in Egypt
At the end of the Bible book of Genesis it is told how Joseph’s family went to Egypt. Joseph was sold to Egypt by his brothers. There Joseph’s dreams came true. He became viceroy and his brothers knelt before him when they went to him to buy food. To secure the family, Jacob’s entire clan moved to Israel. Years passed and the descendants of Israel expanded. From a well-organized family it became a large nation. Egypt’s leader, Pharaoh, saw this as a risk. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are greater and more numerous than we. Now let us deal with them wisely, lest they multiply and join our adversaries when we come to war, and fight against us, and go out of the land” (Exodus 1:9-10). The Israelites were forced into forced labor. They became Pharaoh’s slaves and were ordered to build the store cities of Pitom and Raamses.
The story of Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus 1
Unfortunately, the heavy slave service did not have the desired result for the pharaoh. “But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, and they became afraid of the children of Israel” (Exodus 1:12). The Egyptians became afraid of the Israelites. Then Pharaoh made a horrible decision. He wanted the midwives to kill the Israelite boys immediately after they were born.
Moreover, the king commanded the Hebrew midwives named Shiphrah and Puah, saying, “When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, pay close attention to the sex of the child. If it is a boy, kill him; if it’s a girl, she can live.’ But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but they left the little boys alive. So the king summoned the midwives. ‘What does this mean?’ he asked them. ,Why are you letting the boys live?, The midwives answered Pharaoh, ,The Hebrew women are different from the Egyptians: they are so strong that they have given birth to their child before the midwife arrives., God blessed the work of the midwives, so that the nation expanded greatly. And because the midwives feared God, he also bore offspring to them. (Exodus 1:15-21
A foolish order from Pharaoh
The rabbis claim that Pharaoh decided to kill the boys on the advice of his counselors. This was not wise advice, the rabbis say. Killing the girls would have been more effective. If there are no women, where will men get women? One woman cannot marry two men, but one man can marry ten or a hundred women! King Solomon is recorded as having a thousand wives (1 Kings 11:3). They were foolish advisors who gave Pharaoh this advice. The rabbis connect this folly with a text from Isaiah: ‘The princes of Zoan are merely foolish, the wisest counselors of Pharaoh are foolish counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, ‘I am a wise man, a son of ancient kings?’ Where are they then, your wise ones? I pray thee, let them make it known to you, that you may know what the Lord of hosts has determined against Egypt” (Isaiah 19:11) (Ex. Rabbah, loc. Cit.).
The meaning of the names of the midwives Shiphrah and Pua
The two midwives who appear in the story are mentioned by name. That’s special. The name of the pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, remains unmentioned. The names of the midwives matter. By their actions they saved the lives of many little boys. Their name should not be forgotten. The name of the first midwife mentioned is Sifra. The name Sifra means beauty. The name Pua means brilliance.
Hebrew midwives
The New Bible Translation calls Shiphrah and Puah Hebrew midwives. That means they are Israeli midwives. In the original language this is not so clear, because in addition to the translation ‘Hebrew midwives’ one could also translate ‘midwives for the Hebrew women’. The last option, ‘midwives for the Hebrew women’, makes a bit more sense. Pharaoh could expect more cooperation from Egyptian midwives working for the Israelites than from Hebrew midwives. It is a horrible task for all midwives, but even more so for Hebrew midwives because it concerns boys from their own people. Hebrew midwives would have been more likely to resist this gruesome task.
The number of midwives
The Israelites were a fertile people at that time. It says that they were exceedingly numerous, and that all the land of Egypt was filled with them (Exodus 1:7). The question then arises whether these two midwives are enough to help so many women during childbirth. Most commentaries offer a simple answer. There were in fact many more midwives. Some estimates are as high as 500. Shiphrah and Puah were the midwives in charge of the other midwives, and therefore it was they to whom Pharaoh spoke.
Or just two midwives?
The rabbinic scholar Rashi assumes that two midwives are sufficient for the entire Hebrew people. He only speaks of Shiphrah and Puah. According to him, the Hebrew women no longer needed midwives at all. He bases this on what the midwives replied to Pharaoh when he accused him of letting the little boys live: ‘The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptians; they are strong: before a midwife comes to her, they have already given birth” (Exodus 1: 19). Rashi assumes that this was not a fabricated excuse by the midwives, as the pharaoh could have easily verified their claim.
The Hebrew women are strong
Shiphrah and Puah defend themselves against Pharaoh’s accusation that they let the boys live by saying that the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptians; they are strong: before a midwife comes to her, they have already given birth (Exodus 1: 19). ‘They are strong’ is sometimes translated by other translators to ‘They are strong as animals’. Shiphrah and Puah told Pharaoh that the Hebrew women are strong as animals. They do not need any human help in bearing children. The Israelite people, through God’s blessing, are a powerful people that grows against oppression. The midwives have little to add to this. Pharaoh accepts their defense.
Shiphrah and Puah are rewarded by God
The history in Exodus tells that God rewarded the midwives because they feared Him: “And God did good unto the midwives; the people multiplied and became very numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave every one of them an family” (Exodus 1:20-21). Proverbs 31 verse 30 fits in seamlessly with this: ‘a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised’. Women sometimes became midwives because they could not have children of their own. God rewards their courageous actions. These two midwives each have their own family.
Civil disobedience
The English Chief Rabbi Emeritus Jonathan Sacks (1948) praises these two midwives for their civil disobedience. They bravely go against Pharaoh’s orders. An assignment that is nothing less than a ‘crime against humanity’. There are crimes where the statement ,I was following an order, is not a valid defense. Pharaoh’s command was such an order. Sifra and Pua go against it. They are two heroines, examples of humanity.