The Matriarchy

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

• Exodus 1:15-21

This is another moment when subversive elements get snuck into the Bible. While patriarchy characterized the entire culture in the ancient Near East, women continued to press to the forefront, to take leadership, and to shift history.

Look long and hard at these two women who were leaders amongst their people (it might be better to translate it as ‘the Hebrew chief midwives.’ They are named; the men in their lives were not. They become the head of their families (Ex 1:21). They were called out as leaders to stand in front Pharaoh, they went back to their people and undermined his unjust rule, and then when called to account they fearlessly lied to his face. And they clearly shifted the entire culture, enlisting and empowering other midwives and women to resist the structural evil that Egypt was forcing on them and creating safety for those most vulnerable.

How can you follow in their steps? What does resistance look like for you today?