Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 1:19

"And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them." — Exodus 1:19 (ASV)

The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. —This was probably true; but it was not the whole truth. Though the midwives had the courage to disobey the king, they did not have “the courage of their convictions” and were afraid to confess their real motive. So they took refuge in a half-truth, and pretended that what actually occurred in only some cases was a general occurrence. It is a fact that in the East parturition is often so short a process that the attendance of a midwife is dispensed with.