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ShowersofRoses
Guest
Just to clarify one point brought up, the two Hebrew midwives did not murder the male children. They disobeyed Pharaoh and God blessed them for it.
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Psalms62
Guest
Josephus, in his retelling, explicitly assumes that the women were Egyptians who served as midwives for the Hebrews ( Antiquities 2:206-207, Brill ed.):
[The King of Egypt commanded] … that the midwives of the Egyptians (τὰς Αἰγυπτίων μαίας) should watch carefully the pangs of childbirth of the Hebrew women and should observe closely their deliveries. For he ordered that they should be delivered of children by these who because of kinship were not likely to transgress the wish of the king. Those, however, who disregarded the decree and dared secretly to save the child that had been born to them, he ordered to be put to death together with their offspring.
[The King of Egypt commanded] … that the midwives of the Egyptians (τὰς Αἰγυπτίων μαίας) should watch carefully the pangs of childbirth of the Hebrew women and should observe closely their deliveries. For he ordered that they should be delivered of children by these who because of kinship were not likely to transgress the wish of the king. Those, however, who disregarded the decree and dared secretly to save the child that had been born to them, he ordered to be put to death together with their offspring.
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Psalms62
Guest
A Question of Vowels:
A Brief Lesson in Grammar
At first glance, it would appear that the question about the identity of the midwives can be solved by the biblical text itself. The vocalized text of verse 15 states that the King of Egypt spoke לַמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת. Properly translated, this is “to the Hebrew midwives,” namely midwives who are Hebrew. Grammatically speaking, since both the word “midwives” and the word “Hebrew” open with a definite article—the patach under the lammed masks the definite article הַ—the word “Hebrew” must be an adjective modifying the previous word “midwives,” hence “Hebrew midwives” in the sense of midwives who are Hebrew.
The LXX, however, reads the text differently, and translates the verse as, “the midwives of the Hebrew women (μαίαις τῶν εβραίων)”; this seems to reflect an understanding of two nouns in construct: “the midwives (the first noun) of (representing the construct) the Hebrews (the second noun in the construct chain).” This translation reads “Hebrews” as the identity of the women and leaves the ethnicity of the midwives unstated. Many scholars have suggested that what lies behind the LXX reading isn’t a loose interpretation of the text, but a different pointing: לִמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת.
Reference: Hebrew midwives:
The “Egyptian” Midwives Recovering a Lost Midrashic Text and Exploring Why It May Have Been Forgotten
A Brief Lesson in Grammar
At first glance, it would appear that the question about the identity of the midwives can be solved by the biblical text itself. The vocalized text of verse 15 states that the King of Egypt spoke לַמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת. Properly translated, this is “to the Hebrew midwives,” namely midwives who are Hebrew. Grammatically speaking, since both the word “midwives” and the word “Hebrew” open with a definite article—the patach under the lammed masks the definite article הַ—the word “Hebrew” must be an adjective modifying the previous word “midwives,” hence “Hebrew midwives” in the sense of midwives who are Hebrew.
The LXX, however, reads the text differently, and translates the verse as, “the midwives of the Hebrew women (μαίαις τῶν εβραίων)”; this seems to reflect an understanding of two nouns in construct: “the midwives (the first noun) of (representing the construct) the Hebrews (the second noun in the construct chain).” This translation reads “Hebrews” as the identity of the women and leaves the ethnicity of the midwives unstated. Many scholars have suggested that what lies behind the LXX reading isn’t a loose interpretation of the text, but a different pointing: לִמְיַלְּדֹת הָעִבְרִיֹּת.
Reference: Hebrew midwives:
The “Egyptian” Midwives Recovering a Lost Midrashic Text and Exploring Why It May Have Been Forgotten
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Psalms62
Guest
Last reference:Good for the Midwives
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Hodos
Guest
Well, the immediate purpose of Israel going to Egypt was to save them and protect them from famine. This was God’s providential blessing to reserve his people for himself. My personal opinion though was to accomplish a few things, pre-figure God’s salvation of Israel and all mankind from sin into eternal life through the sacrifice of his son, and to establish a special identity as God’s treasured possession for Israel.Yes, when God made the covenant with Abraham, God said that his descendants would be enslaved – but why?
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TechieGuy
Guest
For reasons of plot
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Mintaka
Guest
Josephus read and spoke Hebrew as his native tongue, because he was from Jerusalem. He also.spoke Greek from childhood. He was a Scripture scholar from an early age, a prodigy. So if there were a misleading translation problem, he would have known about it.
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