John Calvin Commentary Exodus 1:15

"And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:" — Exodus 1:15 (ASV)

And the king of Egypt spake. The tyrant now descends from the open violence and cruelty which had availed nothing, to secret plots and deceit. He desires the infants to be killed at their birth; and commands the midwives to be the instruments of this dreadful barbarity.

We read of no such detestable example of inhumanity since the world began. I admit it has occasionally happened that, upon the capture of a city, the conquerors have not spared even children and infants; that is to say, either in the heat of battle or because the defense had been too obstinate, and they had lost many of their men, whose deaths they would avenge. It has also happened that an uncle, brother, or guardian has been impelled by the ambition of reigning to put children to death. Again, it has happened that, in the detestation of a tyrant, and to destroy the very memory of his family, his whole offspring has been slain; and some have proceeded to such cruelty against their enemies as to tear the little ones from their mothers’ breasts.

But never did any enemy, however implacable, ever vent his wrath against a whole nation in such a way as to command all its male offspring to be destroyed in the midst of peace. This was a trial severe enough to inflict a heavy blow on men of the utmost firmness, and much more to bring low a fainting people, already weary of their lives.

For, at first sight, each person would think it more advantageous and desirable for them to sink into a humbler state than for the wrath of their enemies to be provoked against them in this way by the blessings of God. And it is probable that the prostration of their minds was such that they were not only sorely smitten but almost stupefied. For nothing else remained but that the men should die without hope of offspring, and that the name and race of Abraham should soon be cut off, and thus all God’s promises would come to nothing.

In these days, when we have to bear similar insults and are urged to despair, as if the Church would soon be utterly destroyed, let us learn to hold up this example like a strong shield. We see that it is no new situation if immediate destruction seems to await us, until divine aid appears suddenly and unexpectedly in our extremity.

Josephus falsely conjectures that the midwives were Egyptian women, sent out as spies. However, Moses expressly says that they had been the assistants and attendants of the Hebrew women in their labor. This erroneous idea is plainly refuted by the whole context, in which it especially appears that they were restrained by the fear of God from yielding to the sinful desire of the tyrant. Hence it follows that they were previously possessed with some religious feeling.

But another question arises: why are only two midwives mentioned by name when it is probable that, in so large a population, there were many? Two replies may be given: either that the tyrant addressed himself to these two, who might spread the fear of his power among the others; or that, desiring to proceed with secret malice, he tested the firmness of these two, and if he had obtained their acquiescence, he hoped to have succeeded easily with the others, for shame forbade him from issuing an open and general command.