Exodus 1

A dark cloud has fallen over Egypt. What was once a land of refuge and blessing is now...as if the Nazis have won.

From Exodus 1, we do not know the span of time. All we know is a new king has come about, who does not know the Israelites.

That alone is enough. He is threatened. The starting population of 72 has swelled to uncontrollable numbers.

He implements population control, in particular killing the newborn male children. OK, if you really, really want to wipe out the Israelites, kill their female children. Jewish heritage passes through the female, plus even today, it is known that female fecundity is more important than male. Or yet, kill both their male and female children.

If none of this makes sense...consider this, who do you kill and eat, a cow or bull? If you have more than one bull, you kill and eat as many bulls as you have, but save one. It is the female distribution among the population that will keep the species alive.

So, why kill male children but not female? This action will kill off future Israelite leaders, but will keep their race alive.

Two wise women among the Israelites step in to stop this. In other translations, they are midwives. They claim that the Israelite women are so strong they don't need midwives, so they can't kill the male children.

This is total BS.

Ethical question - is it OK to lie to save a man's life? Is it OK to lie repeatedly to save an entire race of children? That is the unanswered question here.

In the French translation, these women are "wise", so maybe that answers the question.

The chapter ends with the Israelites becoming more numerous despite Pharaoh's genocide on children.