Did the Really Ancient Egyptians Kill Hebrew Babies
Shiphrah (Hebrew: שִׁפְרָה Šīp̄ərā ) and Puah (Hebrew: פּוּעָה Pūʿā ) were two midwives who briefly prevented a genocide[1] of children by the Egyptians, according to Exodus 1:15–21. According to the Exodus narrative, they were commanded by the King of Egypt, or Pharaoh, to kill all male Hebrew babies, merely 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'[two] or 'vigorous',[iii] and therefore the babies had been built-in (and protected) earlier the midwives arrived. God "dealt well with the midwives" and "made them houses".[4]
Exodus 1:15–1:21 [edit]
15 And the male monarch of Arab republic of egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah;
16 and he said: 'When ye practice the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, so ye shall impale him; but if information technology be a girl, and then she shall alive.'
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children live.
eighteen And the rex of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them: 'Why take ye done this affair, and have saved the men-children live?'
xix And the midwives said unto Pharaoh: 'Because the Hebrew women are not every bit the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them.'
20 And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And information technology came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses.[five]
Interpretations [edit]
The Talmud [Sotah 11b] identifies Shiphrah with Jochebed, the mother of Moses, and Puah with Miriam, Moses' sis, making the two midwives female parent and daughter respectively.[half dozen]
"The midwives feared God" [edit]
The Torah has no discussion for faith. The closest related concept establish in the Torah is what it calls "the fearfulness of God" (Exod. ane:17). The midwives evidently believed that God'due south moral demands outweighed Pharaoh's legal demands.[7] For this reason, writer Francine Klagsbrun said that the midwives' refusal to follow the Pharaoh'southward genocidal instructions "may be the offset known incident of civil defiance in history."[viii] Theologian Jonathan Magonet agrees, calling them "the primeval, and in some ways the near powerful, examples, of resistance to an evil regime".[nine]
The "fearfulness of God" theme is reversed a few verses later on when Pharaoh commands the Egyptian people to behave out the genocide (Exod. 1:22). The Egyptians plainly feared Pharaoh more than they feared God, and therefore, participated in the criminal offence. Rabbi Joseph Telushkin compared the Shiphrah and Puah's defection with the rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust, many of whom had been religious. Those who aided the Nazis, on the other paw, feared the Nazis' power more than they feared (or even believed in) God's judgment.[10]
"Fabricated Houses" [edit]
Commentators accept interpreted Exodus 1:20–21 in diverse ways.[11] Some scholars argue that the ii 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 i:one to the children of Israel coming downward to Egypt, each with his "house". However, Magonet notes[9] that the more mutual view is that the houses are for the midwives - "houses" here being understood equally '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 [edit]
The name Šp-ra is found in a listing of slaves in Egypt during the reign of Sobekhotep Iii (effectually 1745 BCE[13]). This listing is on Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446, in the Brooklyn 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 aforementioned 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 a Canaanite name which means "lass" or "little girl".[15]
External links [edit]
- Original text of Exodus Chapter 1
- Hebrew – English language original text at Mechon-Mamre.org
- Jewish Publication Society translation at Mechon-Mamre.org
- Judaica Press translation with Rashi'due south commentary at Chabad.org
References [edit]
- ^ Limmer, Seth M.; Pesner, Jonah Dov (2019). Moral Resistance and Spiritual Say-so: Our Jewish Obligation to Social Justice. CCAR Press. ISBN9780881233193 . Retrieved 11 Jan 2019.
- ^ Exod. 1:19 NKJV
- ^ Exod. ane: xix NIV
- ^ "Exodus 1 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre". www.mechon-mamre.org . Retrieved xiv November 2017.
- ^ "Exodus 1 / Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre". www.mechon-mamre.org.
- ^ See for example Judah 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, ISBN 0-394-40159-X
- ^ a b Magonet, Jonathan (1992) Bible Lives (London: SCM), 8.
- ^ Telushkin, Joseph. A Code of Jewish Ethics: Book ane - You Shall Be Holy. New York: Bell Tower, 2006. p. 488.
- ^ Magonet, Jonathan (1992) Bible Lives (London: SCM), 7–eight.
- ^ See for instance Talmud Tractate Sotah 11b; and Exodus Rabbah 1:17.
- ^ van Heel, Koenraad Donker (2014). Mrs. Tsenhor. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN978-977-416-634-ane.
- ^ "Portion of a Historical Text".
- ^ Albright, W. F. (1954). "Northwest-Semitic Names in a List of Egyptian Slaves from the Eighteenth Century B. C.". Periodical of the American Oriental Society. 74 (four): 223, 229. doi:10.2307/595513. ISSN 0003-0279. JSTOR 595513.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiphrah_and_Puah
0 Response to "Did the Really Ancient Egyptians Kill Hebrew Babies"
Post a Comment