Exodus 1:19

NETBible

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew 1  women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women 2  are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” 3 

NIV ©

The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

NASB ©

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them."

NLT ©

"Sir," they told him, "the Hebrew women are very strong. They have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time! They are not slow in giving birth like Egyptian women."

MSG ©

The midwives answered Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women aren't like the Egyptian women; they're vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they've already had the baby."

BBE ©

And they said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are strong, and the birth takes place before we come to them.

NRSV ©

The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."

NKJV ©

And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them."

KJV
And the midwives
<03205> (8764)
said
<0559> (8799)
unto Pharaoh
<06547>_,
Because the Hebrew
<05680>
women
<0802>
[are] not as the Egyptian women
<04713>_;
for they [are] lively
<02422>_,
and are delivered
<03205> (8804)
ere
<02962>
the midwives
<03205> (8764)
come in
<0935> (8799)
unto them.
NASB ©
The midwives
<3205>
said
<559>
to Pharaoh
<6547>
, "Because
<3588>
the Hebrew
<5680>
women
<5680>
are not as the Egyptian
<4713>
women
<802>
; for they are vigorous
<2422>
and give
<3205>
birth
<3205>
before
<2962>
the midwife
<3205>
can
<935>
get
<935>
to them."
LXXM
eipan {V-AAI-3P} de
<1161> 
PRT
ai
<3588> 
T-NPF
maiai {N-NPF} tw
<3588> 
T-DSM
faraw
<5328> 
N-PRI
ouc
<3364> 
ADV
wv
<3739> 
CONJ
gunaikev
<1135> 
N-NPF
aiguptou
<125> 
N-GSF
ai
<3588> 
T-NPF
ebraiai {N-NPF} tiktousin
<5088> 
V-PAI-3P
gar
<1063> 
PRT
prin
<4250> 
ADV
h
<2228> 
CONJ
eiselyein
<1525> 
V-AAN
prov
<4314> 
PREP
autav
<846> 
D-APF
tav
<3588> 
T-APF
maiav {N-APF} kai
<2532> 
CONJ
etikton
<5088> 
V-IAI-3P
NET [draft] ITL
The midwives
<03205>
said
<0559>
to
<0413>
Pharaoh
<06547>
, “Because
<03588>
the Hebrew women
<05680>
are not
<03808>
like the Egyptian
<04713>
women
<0802>
– for
<03588>
the Hebrew women are vigorous
<02422>
; they
<02007>
give birth
<03205>
before
<02962>
the midwife
<03205>
gets
<0935>
to
<0413>
them!”
HEBREW
wdlyw
<03205>
tdlymh
<03205>
Nhla
<0413>
awbt
<0935>
Mrjb
<02962>
hnh
<02007>
twyx
<02422>
yk
<03588>
tyrbeh
<05680>
tyrumh
<04713>
Mysnk
<0802>
al
<03808>
yk
<03588>
herp
<06547>
la
<0413>
tdlymh
<03205>
Nrmatw (1:19)
<0559>
NETBible

The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew 1  women are not like the Egyptian women – for the Hebrew women 2  are vigorous; they give birth before the midwife gets to them!” 3 

NET Notes

1 sn See further N. Lemche, “‘Hebrew’ as a National Name for Israel,” ST 33 (1979): 1-23.

2 tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Hebrew women) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

3 tn Heb “before the midwife comes to them (and) they give birth.” The perfect tense with the vav consecutive serves as the apodosis to the preceding temporal clause; it has the frequentative nuance (see GKC 337-38 §112.oo).

3 sn The point of this brief section is that the midwives respected God above the king. They simply followed a higher authority that prohibited killing. Fearing God is a basic part of the true faith that leads to an obedient course of action and is not terrified by worldly threats. There probably was enough truth in what they were saying to be believable, but they clearly had no intention of honoring the king by participating in murder, and they saw no reason to give him a straightforward answer. God honored their actions.