Exodus 1:15-21 (NIV)

The women walked slowly out of the palace. They did not notice the yellow pansy butterfly accompanying them.

Neither said a word until they passed through the door into Shiphrah’s adobe-brick house. Puah’s arms flew out, and her eyes blazed as she struggled to control her voice.

“Who does he think he is? How can he tell us to kill all the baby boys? Doesn’t he know what we do? Who we are? Why? Why does he want them dead?”

The older Shiphrah reached out to her sister, her voice calm, but firm. “No,” she replied. “We will not do it. No way. Our job is to bring babies, boys or girls, into this world alive and as healthy as we can.”

She paused, then continued, answering the “why.” “Because he’s afraid, afraid of foreigners, of people who aren’t like him. He’s afraid of people who speak a different language, who have different customs. And he’s afraid they will rebel against their work.”

“But they’ve been here a long time. These are the descendants of the ones who came back in the time of Joseph. They’re our friends. They speak our language.”

“And they speak their own Hebrew.”

Puah pulled away and banged on the wall. Shiphrah cautioned, “Careful, Puah. Don’t hit so hard. You’ll break your hand.”

“How can you be so calm? How can you stand there and not shake with rage?”

“Oh, don’t worry, inside I am. But we need to devise a plan, to figure out how we’re going to do what we’re going to do. This is serious. We can’t … We need a plan.”

“You’re better at that than I am. You think. I’ll pace.”

For the next hour Puah paced around the room, muttering angrily while Shiphrah leaned against the wall, letting out an occasional sigh.

As she shifted her position, a movement outside caught her eye. A light yellow butterfly clung to a flower just outside her window. It seemed to be looking her right in the eye. Was it communicating with her?

She turned back to her pacing sister. “You know what he will do to us if the Hebrew boy babies continue to be born alive.”

Puah stopped and nodded. “You have a plan?”

“Maybe. If …”

A knock on the door interrupted her. “Puah! Shiphrah! We need you! Now! Rachel is …”

Before the voice could finish, the door flew open, and the two midwives rushed out. The three ran through the maze of houses. The yellow butterfly followed.

“Here!”

As they reached the door, Shiphrah called out, “Ah, listen! A baby has been born!”

Once inside, they could hear a woman crying in pain.

“It’ll be okay now, Rachel. They’re here.” The woman who had summoned the midwives touched Rachel’s arm. “You’re going to be fine.”

A half hour later, Puah held the newborn. Her eyes raised to Shiphrah’s as she whispered, “He’s a boy.”

The older midwife smiled and nodded as she made the announcement to the mother. “He’s a fine, healthy boy.”

The mother relaxed. “Thank God.”

The other three women washed the baby, wrapped him in a blanket, and presented him to his mother. “Take good care of him,” Shiphrah said, as the midwives left.

As time passed, the two women delivered more babies, some of them boys. Each time, Puah raised her eyes and whispered, “He’s a boy.” Each time, Shiphrah smiled and announced the gender to the mother.

One evening, as they sat in the courtyard, Shiphrah noticed the butterfly again. She was about to comment on its frequent presence, when Puah whispered, “Shiphrah, do you know what we’re doing?”

“Yes, we’re delivering babies. Healthy babies.”

The younger woman shook her head. “He’s going to find out.”

“Yes, but I … and he will call us in, I’m sure.”

“And what will we do?”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

Shiphrah touched Puah’s shoulder.

“It’s about the way his mind works. Not the way ours do. These people are individuals to us—names, faces, friends. They’re numbers to him, nothing more than numbers. Foreigners. Not Egyptians. He sees them as animals, like cattle or sheep or goats. And that’s in our favor. Cattle and sheep and goats birth their calves, their lambs, their kids without any midwives. They do it by themselves.”

She stopped, as though that explained everything.

Puah shook her head and raised her eyebrows. “So?”

“So that’s what we tell him. His orders were to kill them at birth, like they were stillborn. If the women had their babies without help, then we weren’t there yet. Then the mother and the others in the house see they were born alive.”

“But …”

“Haven’t you noticed that when we get to the house, I say, ‘Ah! Listen! A baby has been born’?”

“Yes, but … but then we go in and help the mother deliver the baby.”

“Right, but if any Egyptian soldiers hear me, they think it’s already happened. The baby is born. We’re not responsible.”

Puah’s lips turned up slightly, but her eyebrows furrowed.

“Will he believe that?”

“Yes, I’m sure. We can’t make it look like they were stillborn if we aren’t there when the baby comes. He considers them animals, and animals have their babies by themselves. Yes, that will make sense to him.”

“I hope so.”

“We’re doing the right thing. Surely God will protect us if we protect these babies.”

They did not wait long. The next morning, two soldiers knocked at their door.

“Shiphrah? Puah?”

The two women nodded.

“Come with us. The Pharaoh wishes to speak to you.”

Walking between the two soldiers to the palace, Shiphrah clutched Puah’s hand. She could feel the younger hand trembling as she tried to control her own fear. Again, she wondered about the presence of the butterfly flying with them. Was it to encourage them?

Shiphrah felt herself shivering as the large doors to the palace closed behind them. They entered the public room where the Pharaoh sat at the other end. He glared at them as they stepped toward him. The two soldiers dropped back, leaving the women standing alone a dozen paces away from this man who held their lives in his hands.

“What are you doing? Why have you let the boys live?” The women felt the vibrations from the anger in his voice.

Shiphrah took one step forward. She spoke confidently. “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before we arrive.” 

Silence followed as the Pharaoh considered her words. The Hebrew settlement covered a large area. It could take some time for someone to summon them and more time before they could go from their house to the house where the birthing would happen. He knew nothing about birthing babies and how long that would take. These two women also delivered Egyptian babies, and they were well respected by the Egyptian women.

He wanted Hebrew boy babies dead, but this plan was not working.

Without a word, he raised his hand, dismissing the midwives. The soldiers led them to the outer door and sent them on their way.

Outside the palace, Puah whispered, “Can I breathe again?”

The butterfly landed gently on the older sister’s shoulder. Shiphrah exhaled deeply and smiled. “I think so. Thank God!”