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Easy-to-Read Version
Exodus 1:16
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- CondensedParallel Translations
and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
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.
and he said, "When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he is a son, you will put him to death, and if she is a daughter, she will live."
"When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let her live, but if it is a boy, kill him!"
"When you assist the Hebrew women in childbirth, observe at the delivery: If it is a son, kill him, but if it is a daughter, she may live."
"When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
And sayde, When ye doe the office of a midwife to the women of the Ebrewes, and see them on their stooles, if it be a sonne, then yee shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then let her liue.
and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
He told them, "If a Hebrew woman gives birth to a girl, let the child live. If the baby is a boy, kill him!"
"When you attend the Hebrew women and see them giving birth," he said, "if it's a boy, kill him; but if it's a girl, let her live."
and he said, When ye help the Hebrew women in bearing, and see [them] on the stool, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if a daughter, then she shall live.
"When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
And he said to them, When you do perform your duties as midwives to the Hebrew women, look out when they kneel to deliver; if it is a male, then you must kill him; but if it is a female, then let her live.
"When you help the Hebrew women give birth," he said to them, "kill the baby if it is a boy; but if it is a girl, let it live."
“When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him, but if it’s a daughter, she may live.”
and he said, When you midwife the Hebrew women, and look on the birth-stools, if it is a son, you will kill him; and if it is a daughter, it shall live.
Whan ye helpe the wemen of the Hebrues, and se vpon the stole, that it is a sonne, then slaye him: but yf it be a doughter, let her lyue.
and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
When you are looking after the Hebrew women in childbirth, if it is a son you are to put him to death; but if it is a daughter, she may go on living.
When ye do the office of a mydwyfe to the women of the Hebrues, and see in the birth tyme that it is a boy, ye shall kyl it: but if it be a daughter, it shal liue.
and he said: 'When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.'
And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew-women, and see them vpon the stooles, if it be a sonne, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then shee shall liue.
And he said, When ye do the office of midwives to the Hebrew women, and they are about to be delivered, if it be a male, kill it; but if a female, save it.
and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them as they deliver. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live."
and he commaundide to hem, Whanne ye schulen do the office of medewyues to Ebrew wymmen, and the tyme of childberyng schal come, if it is a knaue child, sle ye him; if it is a womman, kepe ye.
and saith, `When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children; if it [is] a son -- then ye have put him to death; and if it [is] a daughter -- then she hath lived.'
and he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth-stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.
And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see [them] upon the stools; if it [shall be] a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it [shall be] a daughter, then she shall live.
and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
"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."
He said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth, and see the baby before the mother does, if it is a son, kill him. But if it is a daughter, let her live."
"When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live."
then he said - When ye act as midwives unto the Hebrew women, then shall ye look out for the sex, - If it is, a son, then shall ye kill it, But, if it is, a daughter, then shall it live.
Commanding them: When you shall do the office of midwives to the Hebrew women, and the time of delivery is come: if it be a man child, kill it: if a woman, keep it alive.
"When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
and see them: Or, rather, "and ye see them by the stone-troughs;" for so ovnayim, from aven, a stone, seems to signify - compare Exodus 7:19, in which they washed the new-born infants. See this subject fully illustrated in Fragments to Calmet, Nos. 312, 313.
then ye shall: Exodus 1:22, Matthew 21:38, Revelation 12:4
Reciprocal: Exodus 18:11 - in the thing Numbers 20:15 - vexed us Deuteronomy 26:6 - General 2 Samuel 13:28 - commanded Psalms 105:25 - to hate Ecclesiastes 4:1 - and considered Jeremiah 31:2 - The people Daniel 3:10 - hast made Hebrews 11:23 - the king's
Cross-References
So God made the space and separated the water. Some of the water was above it, and some of the water was below it.
God named that space "sky." There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the second day.
Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered together so that the dry land will appear." And it happened.
The earth grew grass and plants that made grain. And it grew trees that made fruit with seeds in it. Every plant made its own kind of seeds. And God saw that this was good.
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the sky. These lights will separate the days from the nights. They will be used for signs to show when special meetings begin and to show the days and years.
And be careful when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, and the stars—all the many things in the sky. Be careful that you are not tempted to worship and serve them. The Lord your God lets the other people in the world do this.
I have never worshiped the bright sun or the beautiful moon.
when the morning stars sang together and the angels shouted with joy?
I look at the heavens you made with your hands. I see the moon and the stars you created.
It starts at one end of the sky and runs all the way to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And he said, when ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women,.... Deliver them of their children:
and see [them] upon the stools; seats for women in labour to sit upon, and so contrived, that the midwives might do their office the more readily; but while they sat there, and before the birth, they could not tell whether the child was a son or a daughter; wherefore Kimchi h thinks the word here used signifies the place to which the infant falls down from its mother's belly, at the time of labour, and is called the place of the breaking forth of children, and takes it to be the "uterus" itself; and says it is called "Abanim", because "Banim", the children, are there, and supposes "A" or "Aleph" to be an additional letter; and so the sense then is, not when ye see the women on the seats, but the children in the place of coming forth; but then he asks, if it be so, why does he say, "and see them" there? could they see them before they were entirely out of the womb? to which he answers, they know by this rule, if a son, its face was downwards, and if a daughter, its face was upwards; how true this is, must be left to those that know better; the Jewish masters i constantly and positively affirm it: he further observes, that the word is of the dual number, because of the two valves of the womb, through which the infant passes:
if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; give it a private pinch as it comes forth, while under their hands, that its death might seem to be owing to the difficulty of its birth, or to something that happened in it. This was ordered, because what the king had to fear from the Israelites was only from the males, and they only could multiply their people; and because of the above information of his magicians, if there is any truth in that:
but if it be a daughter, then she shall live, be kept alive, and preserved, and brought up to woman's estate; and this the king chose to have done, having nothing to fear from them, being of the feeble sex, and that they might serve to gratify the lust of the Egyptians, who might be fond of Hebrew women, being more beautiful than theirs; or that they might be married and incorporated into Egyptian families, there being no males of their own, if this scheme took place, to match with them, and so by degrees the whole Israelitish nation would be mixed with, and swallowed up in the Egyptian nation, which was what was aimed at.
h Sepher Shorash. rad. ×××. i T. Bab. Sotah, fol. 11. 1. Niddah, fol. 31. 2.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Upon the stools - Literally, âtwo stones.â The word denotes a special seat, such as is represented on monuments of the 18th Dynasty, and is still used by Egyptian midwives.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Exodus 1:16. Upon the stools — ×¢× ×××× ×× al haobnayim. This is a difficult word, and occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible but in Jeremiah 18:3, where we translate it the potter's wheels. As ××× signifies a stone, the obnayim has been supposed to signify a stone trough, in which they received and washed the infant as soon as born. Jarchi, in his book of Hebrew roots, gives a very different interpretation of it; he derives it from ×× ben, a son, or ×× ×× banim, children; his words must not be literally translated, but this is the sense: "When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and ye see that the birth is broken forth, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him." Jonathan ben Uzziel gives us a curious reason for the command given by Pharaoh to the Egyptian women: "Pharaoh slept, and saw in his sleep a balance, and behold the whole land of Egypt stood in one scale, and a lamb in the other; and the scale in which the lamb was outweighed that in which was the land of Egypt. Immediately he sent and called all the chief magicians, and told them his dream. And Janes and Jimbres, (see 2 Timothy 3:8). who were chief of the magicians, opened their mouths and said to Pharaoh, 'A child is shortly to be born in the congregation of the Israelites, whose hand shall destroy the whole land of Egypt.' Therefore Pharaoh spake to the midwives, &c."
