Exodus 1:18
And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?
The king of Egypt summoned the Hebrew midwives to demand why they had saved the newborn boys alive instead of killing them as he had ordered. This confrontation came from his failed plan to reduce Israel's numbers by commanding the midwives to put the male children to death at birth. The midwives refused to carry out the command because they feared God, and God approved them and prospered them for preserving life. In his anger at their resistance the king extended the order and commanded all his people to kill every Hebrew boy. The account shows women in Bible times serving as midwives with appointed work caring for women and for mothers and children in childbirth, an arrangement that belongs to God's plan in which the Lord worked with them.
Pharaoh's Order Defied
The king of Egypt summoned the Hebrew midwives and demanded why they had done this thing and saved the male children alive instead of killing them as ordered. He questioned them because they had kept the Hebrew boys alive and let the male infants live, requiring an explanation for refusing to kill the newborn boys and choosing to preserve them. This confrontation belonged to his failed effort to reduce Israel's numbers by ordering the Hebrew midwives to kill the male children at birth.
The midwives refused to carry out the command because they feared God, choosing disobedience to the king from reverence for Him rather than taking life. God approved of them for preserving life and prospered them for it. The king's anger at their resistance led him to extend the order, commanding all his people to kill every Hebrew boy.
Women Midwives Pattern
Pharaoh's questioning of the Hebrew midwives for saving the male children alive belongs to a Bible-times account in which women served as midwives with appointed work in childbirth. In that account under Pharaoh's rule, women attended women, caring for women and for mothers and children at birth. That work of attending childbirth and caring for women's health was carried out by women.
This arrangement of women taking responsibility for women was part of God's plan. It was appointed work caring for women in childbirth, a work in which the Lord worked with them.
The account stands as a Bible pattern for women to receive medical training and take responsibility for attending women in childbirth. It supports the work of women as midwives and as physicians to care for women's health and diseases and for mothers and children. Women are to be trained as thoroughly as men for this care, and to take charge and responsibility for the work.