SHIPHRAH & PUAH: REBEL MIDWIVES

When we first meet Shiphrah & Puah, they are in the presence of a pharaoh in Egypt. They are midwives and about to receive specific instructions from the king himself.

The setting of their story is roughly a few hundred years after the death of Rachel’s firstborn son, Joseph.

Since our focus for this series is on women, not men, I’ll leave it to you to review the story of Joseph to learn how the Hebrews ended up in Egypt in the first place (Genesis 37-50).

Suffice it to say, at this point in history (Exodus 1:8), the Hebrews had been living in Egypt long enough to flourish as a people group—they were fruitful and multiplied!

When this particular pharaoh realizes the Hebrews not only outnumber the Egyptians but are also “more mighty” than they are, he acts preemptively to secure their submission and take them down a notch by pressing them into forced labor.

Much to his surprise, they not only build his cities but also birth even more mighty Hebrew babies. 💪🏽

Pharaoh’s "Plan B"

In an effort to stunt their population growth without completely diminishing his workforce, the pharaoh summons Shiphrah and Puah, “midwives to the Hebrews,” for a special assignment.

Mega Sidenote: There’s an ongoing debate about whether or not Shiphrah and Puah were Hebrew midwives or midwives to the Hebrews. This might seem like semantics, but the question is about their ethnicity. Were they Hebrew or Egyptian? Traditional commentaries identify the women as Hebrews; however, the storyline implies they were Egyptian. The text is ambiguous, so we have to look at the context and sources outside the Bible for clues.

✅ Clue #1: Multi-Cultural Familiarity

They were familiar with both Hebrew and Egyptian birth customs.

✅ Clue #2: Pharaoh's Trust

It is unlikely the pharaoh would entrust the murder of Hebrew babies to Hebrew midwives.

✅ Clue #3: Manuscript Evidence

LXX (a.k.a. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) refers to them as “the midwives of the Hebrews.”

✅ Clue #4: Extrabiblical Evidence

Josephus, a famous Jewish historian, clearly assumes the midwives were Egyptian (see Antiquities, 2:206-207).

✅ Clue #5: Cairo Geniza Fragment

An ancient fragment of text that lists Shiphrah and Puah as Egyptian along with other non-Jewish women mentioned in the Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy)—check it out:

“There is an incredible fragment of a text from the Cairo Geniza (a collection of manuscripts found in a Cairo synagogue, some dating back as far as 870 C.E.) that recognizes Shiphrah and Puah as Egyptians. It’s a list of biblical righteous gentiles, and it includes the midwives. The context of the fragment has been lost, but the list remains — and Shiphrah and Puah are on it, along with women like Hagar and Zipporah” (Bonnheim)

Based on these clues, I am comfortable asserting Shiphrah and Puah were EGYPTIAN midwives to the Hebrews. It’s totally ironic that Egyptian midwives would be helping deliver Hebrew babies and perfectly aligned with how we see God work throughout Israel’s history.

🎬 Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming:  

Pharaoh summons these two trusted midwives for a special assignment. Normally, their job is to help expectant mothers deliver healthy babies; however, this time, the pharaoh issues a new order:

Their mission, should they choose to accept it (did they have a choice?), is to MURDER every Hebrew baby boy at the moment of his birth. Can you imagine how they felt?

Mini-sidenote: There’s something else you should know about these remarkable women: They are barren. Shiphrah and Puah help other women do something they themselves have never done: birth a baby. They could be resentful and bitter and comply with the order. But they aren't, and they don't.  

"The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live." (Exodus 1:17)

These women are rebels. In defying the king’s orders, they risk death. But they would rather die than murder newborn baby boys.

It is not long until Pharaoh discovers their disobedience. He is irate and insists Shiphrah and Puah appear before him to explain this scandalous affront to his authority.

What will they say to the Pharaoh, a presumed god in Egypt?

Their response is creatively cunning. They explain that “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive” (Exodus 1:19). Besides that, the chariot traffic in that part of town is ridiculous!  

These rebellious midwives are a blessing to the Hebrew people. Had it not been for their unwavering determination to disobey Pharaoh’s orders, the future Hebrew deliverer, Moses, would have been murdered at birth.

BLESSED WITH BABIES

Because of their bravery in the face of opposition and commitment to life—even the life of someone else’s newborn baby—God blesses Shiphrah and Puah with children of their own.

You can read the story of Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus 1.

Additional Resources:

• Genesis: A Commentary, Revised Edition by Gerhard von Rad

• All the Women of the Bible by Edith Deen

• “Genesis.” Women’s Bible Commentary, 3^rd ed. Edited by Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, Jacqueline E. Lapsley

• “How Long Was the Sojourn in Egypt: 210 or 430 Years?”  by David Gadeloff. Jewish Bible Quarterly, Vol. 44, Issue No. 3 (July – September 2016)

• “The ‘Egyptian’ Midwives” by Dr. Moshe Lavee and Dr. Shana Strauch-Schick in TheTorah.com (2015).

• “The First Heroes of Exodus” by Ana Bonnheim. ReformJudaism.org (2017).

Photo Credits:

Photo licensed to Laura L. Zielke from BigStockPhoto.com.

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