How Egyptian Midwives Teach Us the Value of Motherhood
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- Updated May 02, 2023
“Because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.” Exodus 1:17 NLT
The day my first daughter was born, nothing went as planned. All the natural courses my body was supposed to take in preparation for birth weren’t happening naturally. The painful reality of welcoming my daughter into the world in a way I hadn’t prepared for fell heavy on my heart, but I trusted my obstetrician. Weeks later, I wrote to thank my doctor and the maternity nurses for encouraging me through a process I had not prepared for. My gratefulness for them, as I held a healthy baby girl in my arms, soothed my ache to do things my way. In ancient times and modern home births, the sweet souls trained to help bring new life into the world were called midwives. One Biblical story struck my heart as Mother’s Day approaches this year: the midwives who preface the story of Moses.
The Midwife’s Duty
“The 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.’” Exodus 1:15-16 NLT
The English dictionary defines a midwife as “a person trained to assist women in childbirth.” The Hebrew word for midwife is yalad, meaning to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail. According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “such attendances were probably then, as they usually are now, the older female relatives and friends of the mother.” In modern-day society, midwives may still be friends or relatives, but we also refer to them as obstetricians. These medical professionals specialize in caring for newborn babies and their mothers, including assisting in birth.
Translated from the original language of Hebrew, the Old Testament was written in, Shiphrah’s name means fair, and Puah’s name means splendid. “During the Egyptian bondage, there were two midwives who attended the Hebrew women; from their names, they were probably Hebrews, certainly they were not Egyptians,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explained, “Shiphrah being the one who dressed the infant, Puah, the one who whispered to it.” The Zondervan KJV Commentary explains, “These two women were the midwife overseers and not the sole midwives for the entire Israelite population. Their names are Hebrew, so there is no reason to question that they were Hebrews.”
Faith Over Fear
“But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.” Exodus 1:17 NLT
A second definition of midwives in the English Dictionary intrigued me. It says, “a person or thing that produces or aids in producing something new or different.” One of the baby boys rescued from Pharaoh’s attempted genocide was Moses. God made a way through the impact of the midwives’ obedience to make way for Moses, who eventually led his people out of bondage in Egypt and towards the Promised Land. Something new and different, indeed. “The defiant actions of the Hebrew midwives show that they feared God more than they feared the king of Egypt,” The ESV Global Study Bible explained, “Their actions introduce a central theme of the book of Exodus: Israel is called to fear God above any other ruler, nation, or circumstance.” When our lives are guided by the heart of God, new and different becomes our way of life. Jesus was always part of God’s plan to save us from the deadly consequences of sin. Through Christ, we are new and different, marching on toward eternity with Him.
Consequence of Obedience
“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.’” Exodus 1:18-19 NLT
Let’s not be foolishly encouraged to embrace dishonesty as we read the testimony of these midwives but motivated to endure hard things for the ultimate glory of God. “Regardless of how vigorous the Hebrew women were in childbirth, this statement is in effect a lie,” John Piper explained, “It is meant to lead Pharaoh to believe a falsehood, namely, that the midwives were doing their best to obey him but just couldn’t get there in time to make the death look like a stillbirth.” Motherhood isn’t always black and white. I remember many times when my children were younger, being tempted to withhold the whole truth from their innocent hearts. Whether or not we act in good faith is in the Lord’s hands alone. We all fall short of the glory of God. Perfection isn’t the goal. A genuine relationship that our children are privy to witness is.
The Reward of Motherhood
“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.” Exodus 1:20 NLT
The Apostle John concluded his gospel account promising we wouldn’t have enough time to read all the miracles not included in the Bible …even if they had enough time to record them. I wish I knew more about the midwives of Egypt, especially why they didn’t already have families when the Lord blessed their obedience with that very thing. “Their reverence for life reflected a reverence for God,” the Expositor’s Bible Commentary explained, “Thus God gave them ‘families.’ By allowing the Lord to make a way for life through their lives, they were rewarded with motherhood. “The faithfulness of God’s people in time of persecution is seen regularly to be rewarded in Scripture and became an example for the people of God in future generations,” the New International Encyclopedia of Bible Characters says, “God’s power in overcoming all that Egyptians could throw at his people was recalled in later generations in Psalms of praise and prayer.” The lives of Shiphrah and Puah made an impact on the history of their people. Women didn’t have the stature to be mentioned in a historical account, yet God included them in His. Psalm 105:24-27 sings of the moments in history which would follow the brave intervention of these two women, who perhaps understood what it meant to be mothers before they were blessed with their biological children:
“And the LORD multiplied the people of Israel
until they became too mighty for their enemies.
Then he turned the Egyptians against the Israelites,
and they plotted against the LORD’s servants.
But the LORD sent his servant Moses,
along with Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed miraculous signs among the Egyptians,
and wonders in the land of Ham.” NLT
Conclusion
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
Mother’s Day reminds me of the day my daughters were born, and the people in the room in those first moments of their lives remain in a special place in my heart. It all points back to Jesus. God places people in our lives purposefully, from when we take our first breaths to the last moments before we meet Him in heaven forever. The Apostle John wrote: “For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17 NLT) Every life documented in Scripture has layers of meaning in our modern-day lives. Their stories are intimately linked to our lives, providing the wisdom we need to follow the will of God in our everyday lives. Mothers have a difficult task, raising other precious lives to find the Lord and follow His will for their lives. It’s a precious mix of letting go and holding on. When I visit my obstetrician and his nurse every year, I always show updated photos of my daughters …the ones they helped bring into this world under their care. All the people in our lives point to the One in whose image we are created.
Additional Resources:
- The ESV Global Study Bible®, ESV Bible® Copyright © 2012 by Crossway. All rights reserved.
- Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): Old Testament. ©2004.
- Zondervan KJV Commentary. Copyright © 2010 by Zondervan.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Oleh_Slobodeniuk
