Exodus 1:17

Exodus 1:17

But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

a. ASV: But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive.

b. YLT: And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads alive;

c. Classic Amplified: But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded, but let the male babies live.

d. Septuagint: But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt appointed them; and they saved the male children alive.

e. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/ Writings: But the midwives feared God and they did not do as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they caused the boys to live.

1. “But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them…”

a. [But the] midwives [Strong: 3205 yalad yaw-lad' a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage:--bear, beget, birth((-day)), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).] 

b. feared [Strong: 3372 yare' yaw-ray' a primitive root; to fear; morally, to revere; caus. to frighten:--affright, be (make) afraid, dread(-ful), (put in) fear(-ful, -fully, -ing), (be had in) reverence(-end), X see, terrible (act, -ness, thing).]

c.  God [Strong: 430 'elohiym el-o-heem' plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.

d. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

e. [and] did [Strong:  6213 `asah aw-saw' a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application (as follows):--accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, X certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, + displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, + feast, (fight-)ing man, + finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, + hinder, hold ((a feast)), X indeed, + be industrious, + journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, + officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, X sacrifice, serve, set, shew, X sin, spend, X surely, take, X thoroughly, trim, X very, + vex, be (warr-)ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

f. not [Strong: 3808 lo' lo or lowi {lo}; or loh (Deut. 3:11) {lo}; a primitive particle; not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles (as follows):--X before, + or else, ere, + except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), (X as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, + surely, + as truly as, + of a truth, + verily, for want, + whether, without.]

g. as [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

h. [the] king [Strong: 4428 melek meh'-lek from 4427; a king:--king, royal.]

i. [of] Egypt [Strong: 4714 Mitsrayim mits-rah'-yim dual of 4693; Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt:--Egypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.]

j. commanded [Strong: 1696 dabar daw-bar' a primitive root; perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue:--answer, appoint, bid, command, commune, declare, destroy, give, name, promise, pronounce, rehearse, say, speak, be spokesman, subdue, talk, teach, tell, think, use (entreaties), utter, X well, X work.]

k. them [Strong: 413 'el ale (but only used in the shortened constructive form sel {el}); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:--about, according to ,after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, X hath, in(- to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

1). The fear of the LORD caused the midwives to obey God and disobey the king of Egypt. The fear of the LORD will cause us to disobey the flesh, sin and the devil and obey the Word and the Spirit of God.

a). Proverbs 8:13 “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way…”

b). Proverbs 14:27 “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”

c). Proverbs 16:6 “…by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”

2). There is an interesting verse in Hebrews that speaks of the attitude of Moses parents after he was born.

a). Hebrews 11:23 “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment.”

2. “...but saved the men children alive.”

a. [but saved the] men children [Strong: 3206 yeled yeh'-led from 3205; something born, i.e. a lad or offspring:--boy, child, fruit, son, young man (one).]

b. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

c. alive [Strong: 2421 chayah khaw-yaw' a primitive root (Compare 2331, 2421); to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revive:--keep (leave, make) alive, X certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, (X God) save (alive, life, lives), X surely, be whole.]