Exodus 1:18

So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

Majority Standard Bible

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

17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had instructed; they let the boys live.

19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before a midwife arrives.”

Read all of Exodus 1

Cross References

2 Samuel 13:28Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”

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