9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
King James Version
Having no direct charge of wrongdoing against the Hebrews, the king of Egypt had to deal wisely (lit. cleverly) with them lest they multiply. If one were to place this decree within the context of the progressive growth of the nation of Israel (vs. 7), it might have occurred while they were increased abundantly and before they multiplied. To remedy the possibility of exponential growth, Pharaoh employed a sequential series of actions against the Hebrew nation to suppress them, lest they join our enemies and fight against us. Again, this may lend to a Hyksos ruler worried about the Hebrews joining with the conquered Egyptians.
The first action in the sequence was to set taskmasters (mas), meaning forced labor or enforced levy. It is possible that, rather than forced labor, this decree implied the latter, a form of labor equivalent to that of feudal serfdom. Having land that was within the realm of Egyptian territory, Pharaoh began to implement a system of levies that would limit their holding while increasing his. This action would build treasure cities (lit. storage-spaces) in Pithom and Raameses, referring to large storehouses of agricultural yield (cf. II Chron. 32:28). This effort of the enforced levy would do little to diminish the fruitful abundance of the Israelites, and the Egyptians were grieved (lit. to become sick), implying that they began to loathe even the sight of the Israelites (cf. Num. 22:3, see distressed).
Realizing that an enforced levy did little to stem the success and growth of the Israelites, Pharaoh enacted phase two, making their lives bitter with hard bondage (lit. harshness or cruelty). Ordinary labor with an enforced levy transitioned to a work of rigour, a word whose Hebraic stem signifies “to break apart.” This phase made their lives bitter, something that would be remembered in every Passover feast in the future (cf. Ex. 12:8). Once again, though, despite the bitterness of crushing labor, one sees the implied ineffectiveness of this tactic to diminish the fruitful growth of the nation of Israel; thus a more direct approach is taken as Pharaoh initiates a third phase of oppression.
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
King James Version
Speaking to two of the chief administrators of the many midwives, the king entered the third phase of oppression. He commands the midwives to kill each Hebrew child that was perceived as male when seen upon the stools (lit. two stones), the birthstone seat that women, in a squatting position, gave labor. The word used here (stools), (ʾobĕnayim), is the same word used in Jeremiah 18:3 for the potter’s wheel, where clay is fashioned. Since the mention of these birthing stools is not associated with later Israelite birth, it may be plausible that the birthing stones played a significant role in Egyptian superstitions and customs as they related to childbirth and their notions of creation. Nevertheless, what Pharaoh wished to implement was evil. He was promoting an active birth abortion accomplished by the midwives as the children were identified when leaving the birth canal. The entire premise behind this plan was to still maintain a cloak of secrecy against the malicious intent of Pharaoh.
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 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 midwives come in unto them.
King James Version
This reason given by the midwives may certainly reflect a truthful response rather than subterfuge. The Hebrew women are revealed to be lively (lit. vigorous); thus, as people of hard labor and bondage, they are given to deliver in a manner unlike the Egyptian women. The Hebrew women had already given birth by the time the midwives arrived, perhaps even if they came slowly. Regardless, the midwives had already decided to let the male children live before they even arrived to assist in the deliveries.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
King James Version
Once again, we are brought to the progressive increase of Ex. 1:7, where the Israelites waxed exceeding mighty. Following the best attempts of Pharaoh to crush the Hebrews in a descreen manner, the Israelites continued to increase numerically and grew stronger as a people.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
King James Version
Some scholars believe the houses in question here are not directed toward the midwives. Instead, due to the nature of the midwives’ refusal to carry out the plans of Pharaoh, he (Pharaoh) had some form of public housing built for the Israelites to ensure that the Egyptians could keep a watchful eye on the birth of every child lest any new males go unseen.
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
King James Version
Forsaking a subtle approach, Pharaoh implements the final stage of his war against the increase of Israel by openly commanding all his people to cast every son born to the Hebrew people into the Nile River. Pharaoh, like many genocidal dictators to come, would systematically turn the citizens of Egypt against the Hebrew nation so that the charge of genocide would be taken up by those captured by fear, loathing, and prejudice against the Israelite people.