orichalcum (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
orichalcum) wrote2009-02-03 03:57 pm
orichalcum) wrote2009-02-03 03:57 pm
Quote of the Day
Exodus 1.15-20: Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;
and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them." God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
I'm teaching this passage today. Things I find intriguing about it:
1. Two midwives, for the Hebrew population? That implies a fairly low total population, unless there really are lots of women delivering w/o midwives.
2. Birthstools - attested for at least 3000 years. And why did I have to lie on my frakking back and do sit-ups for 1.5 hours again?
3. One of the genetic mutations traced back to the pre-Diaspora Jewish population is correlated with high fertility and easy delivery. Perhaps the Hebrew population really is multiplying at higher rates than their Egyptian neighbors and giving birth quickly!
Today, I get to make my students do math - they're tracing all the references to different population figures in Exodus and trying to come up with a plausible single answer. And people claim I'm not interdisciplinary!
and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live." But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?" The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them." God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
I'm teaching this passage today. Things I find intriguing about it:
1. Two midwives, for the Hebrew population? That implies a fairly low total population, unless there really are lots of women delivering w/o midwives.
2. Birthstools - attested for at least 3000 years. And why did I have to lie on my frakking back and do sit-ups for 1.5 hours again?
3. One of the genetic mutations traced back to the pre-Diaspora Jewish population is correlated with high fertility and easy delivery. Perhaps the Hebrew population really is multiplying at higher rates than their Egyptian neighbors and giving birth quickly!
Today, I get to make my students do math - they're tracing all the references to different population figures in Exodus and trying to come up with a plausible single answer. And people claim I'm not interdisciplinary!
no subject
Re: the two midwives, as I commented on the phone today, at least one commentator says that Shifra and Puah were the head midwives, not the only midwives. OTOH, if they were the only two (which I don't believe), it would make sense that the Hebrew women could deliver before they got there, since the two of them would be incredibly overextended!
Oh, and there's a popular midrash claiming that Shifra and Puah were actually Yocheved and Miriam.