God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
Parallel Translations
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God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
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Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
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And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (16)
Passages linked to Exodus 1:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 8:12 Though a sinner commits crimes a hundred times, and lives long, yet surely I know that it will be better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him.
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Proverbs 11:18 Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
- Exodus 1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out. They started to dread the children of Israel.
- Psalms 111:5 He has given food to those who fear him. He always remembers his covenant.
- Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.
- Exodus 1:7 The children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
- Psalms 41:1-2 Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil. Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
- Psalms 61:5 For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
- Psalms 85:9 Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
- Psalms 103:11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
- Psalms 145:19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him. He also will hear their cry, and will save them.
- Proverbs 19:17 He who has pity on the poor lends to Yahweh; he will reward him.
- Matthew 10:42 Whoever gives one of these little ones just a cup of cold water to drink in the name of a disciple, most certainly I tell you he will in no way lose his reward.”
- Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- Luke 1:50 His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Exo 1:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives:…
Exo 1:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Ver. 20. Dealt well with the midwives.] God is a liberal paymaster: and his retributions are more than bountiful. "Be ye therefore steadfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." {1Co 15:58}
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And the people multiplied.] Sic divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur: humana sapientia, dum reluctatur, comprehenditur, as Gregory hath it. {a} "There are many devices in the heart of a man: but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." {Pro 19:21} Among the Romans, the more children any man had, the more he was freed from public burdens. And of Adrian the Emperor it is storied, that when those that had many children were accused of any crime, he mitigated their punishment according to the number of their children. {b} But these poor Israelites were otherwise used.
{a} Greg., Moral.
{b} Dio, in Adriano.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Therefore, because they feared God, and spared the children,…
Therefore, because they feared God, and spared the children, Exo 1:17, whereby they exposed themselves to the king’s displeasure; because they would not offend God by murdering the children, which they might have done many times secretly, and therefore it was only the fear of God which restrained them from it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Wherefore God dealt well with the midwives,.... He approved…
Wherefore God dealt well with the midwives,.... He approved of their conduct upon the whole, however difficult it may be to clear them from all blame in this matter; though some think that what they said was the truth, though they might not tell all the truth; yea, that they made a glorious confession of their faith in God, and plainly told the king, that it was nothing but the immediate hand of God that the Hebrew women were so lively and strong, and therefore were resolved not to oppose it, let him command what he would; so Dr. Lightfoot (r), who takes the midwives to be Egyptians:
and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty; became very numerous, and strong, and robust, being the offspring of such lively women.
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(r) Works, vol. 1. p. 700.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Therefore God dealt well with them - That is,…
Therefore God dealt well with them - That is, built them up in families, and blessed their children.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives:…
Verse 20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.] This shows an especial providence and blessing of God; for though in all cases where females are kept to hard labour they have comparatively easy and safe travail, yet in a state of slavery the increase is generally very small, as the children die for want of proper nursing, the women, through their labour, being obliged to neglect their offspring; so that in the slave countries the stock is obliged to be recruited by foreign imports: yet in the case above it was not so; there was not one barren among their tribes, and even their women, though constantly obliged to perform their daily tasks, were neither rendered unfruitful by it, nor taken off by premature death through the violence and continuance of their labour, when even in the delicate situation mentioned above.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Exo 1:20-21. God dealt well with the midwives —…
Exo 1:20-21. God dealt well with the midwives — he made them houses — He blessed them in kind: for as they kept up Israel’s houses or families, so God, in recompense, built them up into families, blessed their children, and made them prosperous. But a late learned writer interprets the passage as follows: Pharaoh, resolving effectually to prevent the increase of the Israelites, built houses for them, that so they might no longer have it in their power to lodge their women in child-bed out of the way to save their children, by removing them from place to place, as they had before done when they lived in the fields in tents, which was their ancient way of living. But the other seems the true interpretation.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain God dealt well with the midwives--This represents God as…
God dealt well with the midwives--This represents God as rewarding them for telling a lie. This difficulty is wholly removed by a more correct translation. To "make" or "build up a house" in Hebrew idiom, means to have a numerous progeny. The passage then should be rendered thus: "God protected the midwives, and the people waxed very mighty; and because the midwives feared, the Hebrews grew and prospered."
Next: Exodus Chapter 2
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. God dealt well with the mid-wives — Augustine…
20. God dealt well with the mid-wives — Augustine well says: “Not their falsehood, but their mercy, kindness, and fear of God, were rewarded. For the sake of the good, God forgave the evil.” It was well that the fear of God kept them from murder; it had been better if it had also kept them from falsehood.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20b. Assigned to J, because, while agreeing with v.…
20b. Assigned to J, because, while agreeing with v. 7, even in expression—‘âṣam, to wax mighty, occurs elsewhere in prose only in Gen_26:16, also J—it seems to imply a far greater people than is done by vv. 15–20a.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) Therefore God dealt well with the midwives.—Heb., and…
(20) Therefore God dealt well with the midwives.—Heb., and God dealt well, &c. The reason is stated in Exo_1:21. It was not because they equivocated and deceived the king, but because they feared God sufficiently to disobey the king, and run the risk of discovery. If they had been discovered, their life would have paid the forfeit.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 20, 21. Therefore God did well to the…
Vers. 20, 21. Therefore God did well to the midwives. Literally, "And God did well," etc. (see ver. 21). Because they feared him sufficiently to disobey the king, and take their chance of a punishment, which might have been very severe-even perhaps death God overlooked their weak and unfaithful divergence from truth, and gave them a reward. He made them houses. He Messed them by giving them children of their own, who grew up, and gave them the comfort, support, and happiness which children were intended to give. There was a manifest fitness in rewarding those who had refused to bring misery and desolation into families by granting them domestic happiness themselves.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 God protected these midwives
God protected these midwives
God kept Pharaoh from killing these midwives.
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midwives
These were women who helped a woman give birth to a baby. See how you translated this in Exodus 1:16.
The people increased in numbers
"The Israelites increased in numbers"
feared God
"revered God" or "had reverence for God"
he gave them families
"the enabled them to have children"
You must throw every son ... into the river
This order was given in order to drown the male children. The full meaning of this may be made explicit. AT: "You must ... into the river so they will drown" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
fear
God
family
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:20-21 he gave them families: For most of history,…
1:20-21 he gave them families: For most of history, children have had the worthy goal of growing up to raise a family. God graciously granted the universal wish of these women who served him courageously and faithfully.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.