Exodus 1:18

And summoning them, the king said, “What did you intend to do, so that you would save the boys?”

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

In Context

17But the midwives feared God, and so they did not act according to the precept of the king of Egypt, but they kept the males safe.

19They responded: “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. For they themselves have the wisdom of a midwife, and so they give birth before we can come to them.”

Read all of Exodus 1

Cross References

2 Samuel 13:28Then Absalom commanded his servants, saying: “Observe when Amnon will have become drunk with wine. And when I say to you, ‘Strike and kill him!’ do not be afraid. For it is I who commands you. Be strong and valiant men.”

Matthew Henry on Exodus 1:16-22

15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Exodus 1:18