Keluaran 1:19

1:19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew ¹  women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women ²  are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” ³ 

Keluaran 10:11

10:11 No! ⁴  Go, you men ⁵  only, and serve the Lord, for that ⁶  is what you want.” ⁷  Then Moses and Aaron ⁸  were driven ⁹  out of Pharaoh’s presence.

Keluaran 21:18

21:18 “If men fight, and one strikes his neighbor with a stone or with his fist and he does not die, but must remain in bed, ¹⁰ 

[1:19]  ¹ sn See further N. Lemche, “‘Hebrew’ as a National Name for Israel,” ST 33 (1979): 1-23.

[1:19]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Hebrew women) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:19]  ³ tn Heb “before the midwife comes to them (and) they give birth.” The perfect tense with the vav consecutive serves as the apodosis to the preceding temporal clause; it has the frequentative nuance (see GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

[1:19]  sn The point of this brief section is that the midwives respected God above the king. They simply followed a higher authority that prohibited killing. Fearing God is a basic part of the true faith that leads to an obedient course of action and is not terrified by worldly threats. There probably was enough truth in what they were saying to be believable, but they clearly had no intention of honoring the king by participating in murder, and they saw no reason to give him a straightforward answer. God honored their actions.

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “not thus.”

[10:11]  ⁵ tn The word is הַגְּבָרִים (haggÿvarim, “the strong men”), a word different from the more general one that Pharaoh’s servants used (v. 7). Pharaoh appears to be conceding, but he is holding hostages. The word “only” has been supplied in the translation to indicate this.

[10:11]  ⁶ tn The suffix on the sign of the accusative refers in a general sense to the idea contained in the preceding clause (see GKC 440-41 §135.p).

[10:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “you are seeking.”

[10:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “they”; the referent (Moses and Aaron) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:11]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Piel preterite, third person masculine singular, meaning “and he drove them out.” But “Pharaoh” cannot be the subject of the sentence, for “Pharaoh” is the object of the preposition. The subject is not specified, and so the verb can be treated as passive.

[21:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “falls to bed.”