Exodus 1 · Verse 20

Exodus 1:20

Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Exodus 1:20, King James Version

Exodus 1:20 in other translations

BSBSo God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied and became even more numerous.
WEBGod dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty.
ASVAnd God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
YLTAnd God doth good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are very mighty;
DARBYAnd God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong.
BBEAnd the blessing of God was on these women: and the people were increased in number and became very strong.
WebsterTherefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.

What does Exodus 1:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Exodus 1:20-21
20-21. God dealt well with the midwives--This represents God as rewarding them for telling a lie. This difficulty is wholly removed by a more correct translation. To "make" or "build up a house" in Hebrew idiom, means to have a numerous progeny. The passage then should be rendered thus: "God protected the midwives, and the people waxed very mighty; and because the midwives feared, the Hebrews grew and prospered."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty - This shows an especial providence and blessing of God; for though in all cases where females are kept to hard labor they have comparatively easy and safe travail, yet in a state of slavery the increase is generally very small, as the children die for want of proper nursing, the women, through their labor, being obliged to neglect their offspring; so that in the slave countries the stock is obliged to be recruited by foreign imports: yet in the case above it was not so; there was not one barren among their tribes, and even their women, though constantly obliged to perform their daily tasks, were neither rendered unfruitful by it, nor taken off by premature death through the violence and continuance of their labor, when even in the delicate situation mentioned above.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 1:15-22

The Egyptians tried to destroy Israel by the murder of their children. The enmity that is in the seed of the serpent, against the Seed of the woman, makes men forget all pity. It is plain that the Hebrews were now under an uncommon blessing. And we see that the services done for God's Israel are often repaid in kind. Pharaoh gave orders to drown all the male children of the Hebrews. The enemy who, by Pharaoh…

Read the full comment on Exodus 1:15-22 →

Exodus 1:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֵּ֥יטֶבvai.Yei.tevand he did goodH3190
אֱלֹהִ֖ים'E.lo.HimGodH430
לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֑תlam.ya.le.Dotto the midwivesH3205
וַיִּ֧רֶבvai.Yi.revand it increasedH7235
הָעָ֛םha.'Amthe peopleH5971
וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּvai.ya.'atz.Muand they became mightyH6105
מְאֹֽד\׃me.'OdexceedinglyH3966

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 1:20

  • Isaiah 3:10

    Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

  • Ecclesiastes 8:12

    Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:

  • Proverbs 11:18

    The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

  • Psalms 111:5

    He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his covenant.

  • Exodus 1:12

    But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.

  • Hebrews 6:10

    For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

  • Luke 1:50

    And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.

  • Psalms 103:11

    For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.

  • Matthew 10:42

    And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

  • Exodus 1:7

    And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.

  • Psalms 41:1-2

    To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

  • Psalms 145:19

    He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
God.
Ps 41:1,2; 61:5; 85:9; 103:11; 111:5; 145:19; Pr 11:18; 19:17
Ec 8:12; Isa 3:10; Mt 10:42; 25:40; Lu 1:50; Heb 6:10
the people.
7,12

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 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 midwives come in unto them.

  • Exodus 1:20

    Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.

  • Exodus 1:21

    And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.

Read all of Exodus 1

Exodus 1:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y Dios hizo bien á las parteras: y el pueblo se multiplicó, y se corroboraron en gran manera.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Dieu fit du bien aux sages-femmes; et le peuple multiplia, et devint très fort.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Gott tat den Hebammen Gutes; und das Volk mehrte sich und wurde sehr stark.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Bene ergo fecit Deus obstetricibus: et crevit populus, confortatusque est nimis.