Shiphrah(Hebrew:שִׁפְרָהŠīp̄ərā) andPuah(Hebrew:פּוּעָהPūʿā) were twomidwiveswho briefly prevented agenocide[1]of children by the Egyptians, according toExodus1:15–21. According to the Exodus narrative, they were commanded by theKing of Egypt, or Pharaoh,to kill all male Hebrew babies, but they refused to do so. When challenged by the Pharaoh, they told him that Hebrew women's labour was short-lived because they were 'lively'[2]or 'vigorous',[3]and therefore the babies had been born (and protected) before the midwives arrived. God "dealt well with the midwives" and "made them houses".[4]
Exodus 1:15–1:21
edit15 The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, 16 “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. 18 So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” 20 And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. 21 And [God] established households for the midwives, because they feared God.[5]
Interpretations
editThe Talmud [Sotah 11b] identifies Shiphrah withJochebed,the mother of Moses, and Puah withMiriam,Moses' sister, making the two midwives mother and daughter respectively.[6]
"The midwives feared God"
editThe Torah has no word forreligion.The closest related concept found in the Torah is what it calls "thefear of God"(Exod. 1:17). The midwives apparently believed that God's moral demands outweighed Pharaoh's legal demands.[7]For this reason, authorFrancine Klagsbrunsaid that the midwives' refusal to follow the Pharaoh's genocidal instructions "may be the first known incident ofcivil disobediencein history. "[8]TheologianJonathan Magonetagrees, calling them "the earliest, and in some ways the most powerful, examples, of resistance to an evil regime".[9]
The "fear of God" theme is reversed a few verses later when Pharaoh commands the Egyptian people to carry out the genocide (Exod. 1:22). The Egyptians apparently feared Pharaoh more than they feared God, and therefore, participated in the crime. RabbiJoseph Telushkincompared the Shiphrah and Puah's defection with therescuers of Jews during the Holocaust,many of whom had been religious. Those who aided the Nazis, on the other hand, feared the Nazis' power more than they feared (or even believed in) God's judgment.[10]
"Made houses"
editCommentators have interpreted Exodus 1:20–21 in various ways.[11]Some scholars argue that the two halves of each verse are parallel, so that it is the Israelites ('who multiplied and grew greatly') for whom God 'made houses'. This fits with the reference in Exodus 1:1 to the children of Israel coming down to Egypt, each with his "house". However, Magonet notes[9]that the more common view is that the houses are for the midwives - "houses" here being understood as 'dynasties'. Rabbinic thought has understood these as the houses of kehunah (priesthood), leviyah (assistants to the priests), and royalty – the latter interpreted as coming from Miriam.[12]
Names
editThe name Šp-ra is found in a list ofslavesinEgyptduring the reign ofSobekhotep III(around 1745 BCE[13]). This list is onPapyrus Brooklyn 35.1446,in theBrooklyn Museum.The museum states that "Scholars assume that this is a hieroglyphic transliteration of the Hebrew name Shiphra."[14]The name means "to be fair" or "beautiful", and may be related to, or even the same as, the Aramaic Sapphira and (up to slight morphological adaptations) as Shiphrah, the name of the Hebrew midwife. The name of the second midwife, Puah, is aCanaanitename which means "lass" or "little girl".[15]
External links
edit- Original text of Exodus Chapter 1
- Hebrew – English original textat Mechon-Mamre.org
- Jewish Publication Society translationat Mechon-Mamre.org
- Judaica Press translationwithRashi's commentary at Chabad.org
References
edit- ^Limmer, Seth M.; Pesner, Jonah Dov (2019).Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice.CCAR Press.ISBN9780881233193.Retrieved11 January2019.
- ^Exod. 1:19 NKJV
- ^Exod. 1: 19 NIV
- ^"Exodus 1 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre".www.mechon-mamre.org.Retrieved14 November2017.
- ^"Exodus 1:15".www.sefaria.org.
- ^See for exampleJudah Loew ben Bezalel's Gur Aryeh: Sifrei Chachamim ('Books of the Wise').
- ^Kushner, Harold, ed. of the d'rash commentary. "Exodus." Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary. New York: The Jewish Publication Society, 2001.
- ^Voices of Wisdom,ISBN0-394-40159-X
- ^abMagonet, Jonathan (1992)Bible Lives(London: SCM), 8.
- ^Telushkin, Joseph.A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1 - You Shall Be Holy.New York: Bell Tower, 2006. p. 488.
- ^Magonet, Jonathan (1992)Bible Lives(London: SCM), 7–8.
- ^See for example Talmud TractateSotah11b; andExodus Rabbah1:17.
- ^van Heel, Koenraad Donker (2014).Mrs. Tsenhor.Oxford University Press. p. 114.ISBN978-977-416-634-1.
- ^"Portion of a Historical Text".
- ^Albright, W. F. (1954). "Northwest-Semitic Names in a List of Egyptian Slaves from the Eighteenth Century B. C.".Journal of the American Oriental Society.74(4): 223, 229.doi:10.2307/595513.ISSN0003-0279.JSTOR595513.