What Does Exodus 1:21 Mean in the King James?
And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Awe before God, rather than coercive power, becomes the ground on which the midwives’ own household is established.
THE MEANING
The midwives’ reverence for God shapes their loyalty and their hands toward protecting life. “Houses” can mean households or family lines, so the verse holds a striking answer: the women who help other families begin are themselves given a household. Their future is not defined by the power that tried to control birth.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A ruler’s command is not the final authority over whose life continues or whose household can exist.
THE ROOT
יָרְאוּ
yare'u
GROWS FROM
ירא
y-r-ʾ
To fear or revere; toward God, awe.
The English “feared” can sound like simple fright, but here the word carries awe toward God. That points to the midwives’ deeper allegiance: a human command does not hold their ultimate loyalty.
ALSO GROWS
yir'ah: Awe or fear
יִרְאָה
This noun names the reverence underlying the midwives’ choice.
nora: Awe-inspiring or fearsome
נוֹרָא
This branch echoes the weight of what inspires reverence.
בָּתִּים
batim
GROWS FROM
בית
b-y-t
House or dwelling; by extension, a household or family line.
“houses” in this verse is batim. The word can point beyond buildings to the people and generations gathered within a household. The verse therefore answers the midwives’ protection of life with the establishment of family life for them.
ALSO GROWS
bayit: House or household
בַּיִת
The singular retains both the dwelling and the family gathered in it.
beit-av: Father’s household or family line
בֵּית־אָב
This compound shows how a house can name a continuing family.
מְיַלְּדֹת
meyalledot
GROWS FROM
ילד
y-l-d
To bear, bring forth, or beget.
The word for the midwives grows from the same root as words for a child and for birth. The ones who help life come forth are themselves given a household that can continue.
ALSO GROWS
yeled: Child
יֶלֶד
This is the life the midwives help enter the world.
moledet: Birth, lineage, or birthplace
מוֹלֶדֶת
This branch carries the root from an individual birth toward the wider line and place of origin.
THE PATTERN
Awe of God reorders loyalty beyond human authority and bears consequences in the life that follows.
In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge.Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.THE THREAD
But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.The word translated “feared” is the same in both verses: יָרְאוּ (yare’u), awe or reverence toward God. Verse 17 shows that awe in their refusal of the king’s command; verse 21 shows the household established for them.
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