Category: Old Testament

Books of the Bible with Questions and Proposed Answers

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Exodus 2:11 Killing Q&A Supplied

Killing

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus 2:11-15

 

Exodus 2:11 And he was in those days. And Draw ‘biggened.’ And he exited unto his brothers. And he saw via their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew man from his brethren. 12And he turned so and so. And he saw that there is no man. And he smote the Egyptian. And he buried him in the sand.

 

13And he exited in the second day. And behold, two Hebrew men are striving. And he said to the culpable-one, “Why wilt thou smite thy neighbour?” 14And he said, “Who set thee a prince man and a judge over us? Art thou saying to slay me just as thou slew the Egyptian?” And Draw feared. And he said, “Ah, established, this speech is known!”

 

15And Pharaoh heard this speech. And he sought to slay Draw. And Draw fled from the faces of Pharaoh. And he dwelt in the land of Contention.

 

 

 

I. Maturity (verses 11-12)

 

Moshe grew. He went out among his Israeli brothers. He saw what was occurring by means of their burdens.

 

He also saw an Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew man who was one of his brethren.

 

He turned this way and that way, and he saw that there isn’t a man to witness this. Moshe smote the Egyptian who was smiting the Israeli. He then buried the Egyptian in the sand.

 

Questions

 

1. What was in those days? The events about to be described were in those days.

 

2. Where did Moshe grow up? He grew up in the home of Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s daughter. Thus, he grew up as royalty.

 

3. How did Moshe know who his brothers were? Moshe’s mother taught him this while breastfeeding him. Pharaoh’s daughter may have also taught him this. He certainly knew that he was an Israeli Hebrew.

 

4. Why did Moshe exit (go out) unto his brothers? Moshe desired to be connected with them, and he refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter:

 

Hebrews 11:24 By faith, Moshe, having become great, refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25having chosen to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to have temporary enjoyment of sin, 26having esteemed the reproach of the Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect to the recompense.

 

He chose to suffer affliction with the people of God (the Israelis). (The ‘people of God’ in this text are the Israelis; they are not in faith. Thus, being part of the ‘people of God’ doesn’t prove that one is in faith.)

 

5. What is so significant about Moshe’s seeing via the burdens of the Israelis? After all, he didn’t have to lift a finger to help. Moshe saw what they were being forced to do. He attached to them, though he was still separated. They didn’t see him as attached; they saw him as royalty with all the privileges of the highest class in Egypt. Moshe determined to know what they were suffering, also knowing that his position in the house of Pharaoh wasn’t for his own benefit, but for their benefit.

 

6. Why was the Egyptian man smiting a Hebrew Israeli man? The text doesn’t say. I propose that he was a taskmaster—a slavedriver who was not satisfied with what the Israeli was doing or not doing.

 

7. What does smiting mean? It means to strike with a force great enough to do damage or to kill.

 

8. Why did Moshe turn “so and so”? He wanted to see if anyone else was seeing this action, and if anyone else was seeing him (Moshe).

 

9. Why did Moshe smite the Egyptian enough to kill him? Why didn’t he just use his rank and authority to stop the Egyptian man? Moshe knew that the Egyptian was smiting the Israeli hard enough to kill him. Those were death blows, not just wounding blows. Moshe also knew that temporarily stopping the Egyptian man would not permanently stop him, and he would likely finish the Israeli in death later. Also, if he left the Egyptian man alive, Moshe’s interference would come to Pharaoh, and that would end Moshe’s position. The Egyptian was in the process of committing murder:

 

Acts 7:23 And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel. 24And seeing a certain one being wronged, he defended and avenged him being oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian. 25For he thought his brethren would understand that God is giving them salvation by his hand. But they didn’t understand.

 

10. Why did he bury him in the sand? That was the easiest place to bury him, and all traces of a burial could quickly be erased.

 

11. Was what Moshe did right? Yes! It was right in the eyes of Yehovah!

 

 

 

II. Prince Man and Judge (verses 13-14)

 

He went out in the second day again to view his Israeli brethren. Behold, two Hebrew men are in a violent fight. Moshe said to the culpable one—the one who was truly the culprit, “Why wilt thou smite thy neighbour?” The culprit answered, “Who set thee a prince man and a judge over us? Art thou saying to slay me just as thou slew the Egyptian?” Moshe feared. He said, “Ah, established, this speech is known!”

 

Questions

 

1. Why did Moshe return back to the place where he had violently ended the life of a man? Moshe was not traumatized by these things. Instead, he knew he had done right, and he wondered what else was occurring against his own brethren.

 

2. About what were the two Hebrew men striving (fighting)? The text doesn’t say. It only indicates that one was right, and the other was wrong. The one that was wrong was stronger than the one that was right. (He was a bully.)

 

3. Why did Moshe just ask the question, “Why wilt thou smite thy neighbour?” Why didn’t he jump in to stop the fight? Moshe was high in rank in Egypt. He thought that his brethren would understand that God is giving them salvation by his hand! Instead, the man saw Moshe as interfering.

 

4. Had anyone set Moshe a prince man and a judge over the Hebrew slaves? Not yet! Still, Moshe knew that he was sent to save them from this terrible slavery. The man asked the question so that he didn’t have to answer Moshe’s question! Folks often do that.

 

5. Why did the man add, “Art thou saying to slay me just as thou slew the Egyptian?” The man knew that this question would distract Moshe from stopping the fight, and would even cause Moshe to flee from the area. Now, Moshe looked like the greatest offender of Egypt!

 

6. Explain the wording, “Art thou saying to slay me just as thou slew the Egyptian?” The part that seems odd is, “saying to slay me.” It sounds like, “planning to slay me,” or a shortened version of, “Art thou saying this to slay me?” We have help with this, however, in the next text:

 

Acts 7:23 And when a period of forty years was fulfilled to him, it came into his heart to look upon his brethren, the sons of Israel. 24And seeing a certain one being wronged, he defended and avenged him being oppressed, having smitten the Egyptian. 25For he thought his brethren would understand that God is giving them salvation by his hand. But they didn’t understand. 26And on the following day, he appeared to those who were contending. And he urged them to peace, saying, “Men, ye are brethren. Why wrong ye one another?” 27But he who was wronging a neighbour thrust him away, saying, “Who appointed thee ruler and judge over us? 28Thou desirest to put me to death in the way thou put to death the Egyptian yesterday!” 29And Moshe fled at this saying. And he became a sojourner in the land of Midian, where he begat two souls.

 

This bad man was accusing Moshe of having plans to kill him. He is also accusing Moshe of doing wrong by his killing the Egyptian!

 

7. The text states, “And Moshe feared.” What did he fear? The following text helps:

 

Hebrews 11:24 By faith, Moshe, having become great, refused to be called son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25having chosen to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to have temporary enjoyment of sin, 26having esteemed the reproach of the Messiah greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect to the recompense. 27He left Egypt by faith, not having feared the indignation of the king; for he mightily-did as seeing the Invisible [One].

 

He didn’t leave out of fear of the indignation of the king. So, why did he leave? I propose that he left knowing that all the Israelis would suffer as long as he was in the land. The Egyptians would figure that he, a fugitive, was staying with the Israelis, and would torture and kill them until they turned him in. By fleeing the way he did—in the open, the Egyptians would go after him, and not after the Israelis, so that his departure would relieve the Israelis of Egyptian wrath. If this is correct, Moshe fled in order to keep the focus of the Egyptians on him, and not on his brethren.

 

8. Why did he say, “this speech is known,” instead of saying, “what I did is known”? The speech itself would make its way back to Pharaoh, and Moshe knew this. That was when the problems would begin.

 

 

 

III. Moshe Flees (verse 15)

 

Pharaoh indeed heard this speech. He sought to slay Moshe! And Moshe fled from the faces of Pharaoh. He went all the way to the land of Midian.

 

Questions

 

1. How did Pharaoh hear what happened? He had many folks who reported to him, seeking his favour. Word of this action traveled very quickly. Though a Hebrew (Israeli) had been the witness, a corrupt Israeli (as this man was) would have been happy to report that Pharaoh’s own adopted son was killing Egyptian slavemasters!

 

2. Why did Pharaoh desire to kill Moshe? Moshe, from Pharaoh’s own house, was working against what Pharaoh desired to accomplish: the complete enslavement and rule over the Israelis. Pharaoh would have seen this as an act of a traitor!

 

3. What is the difference between, “Moshe fled from Pharaoh,” and “Moshe fled from the faces of Pharaoh”? Moshe did not want to see Pharaoh’s faces. He didn’t just flee from Pharaoh, but from all of Pharaoh’s spies who would try to find him to bring him before Pharaoh’s faces! This expression is what I call a ‘childism’—an expression that makes more sense if viewed from the perspective of a little child. A child who is in trouble (whether it was the child’s fault or not) doesn’t want to see the angry faces of an adult, so the child will hide from the faces of the adult.

 

4. Was the land of Midian far from Egypt? It wasn’t far—about 200 miles on foot, but it was far enough that the Egyptians gave up searching for Moshe. See map below (Copyright Access Foundation, Zaine Ridling, Ph.D., Editor):

 

From Egypt to Midian

 

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Exodus 1:22 Drawn Out with Questions and Proposed Answers

Drawn Out

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

 Background and Printed Text: Exodus 1:22-2:10

 

Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded to all his people, saying, “Ye shall cast every son childed riverward! And ye shall cause-to-live every daughter.”

 

Exodus 2:1 And a man from the House of My-Joined-[one] [Levi] walked. And he took a daughter of My-Joined-[one] [Levi]. 2And the woman conceived. And she childed a son. And she saw him, that he is good. And she hid him three moons.

 

3And she was not further able to hide him. And she took a papyrus box to him. And she tarred her via tar and via pitch. And she put the child into her. And she put into a reed upon the lip of the river. 4And his sister positioned herself from afar to know—what will he do to him?

 

5And the daughter of Pharaoh descended to bathe by the river. And her maidens are walking by the hand of the river. And she saw the box in the midst of the reed. And she sent her handmaid. And she took her.

 

6And she opened. And she saw him—a child! And behold, a youth is weeping! And she had compassion upon him. And she said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.” 7And his sister said unto the daughter of Pharaoh, “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews [fem.]. And she will nurse the child to thee!” 8And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Walk!” And the virgin walked. And she called the mother of the child.

 

9And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage.” And the woman took the child. And she nursed him.

 

10And the child ‘biggened.’ And she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh. And he became to a son to her.

 

And she called his name Draw. And she said, “For I drew him from the waters.”

 

 

 

I. Genocide (Chapter 1, verse 22)

 

Pharaoh had gotten nowhere with the Midwives. He therefore commanded his own people to cast every Israeli son newly born to the river. “And ye shall cause to live every daughter.”

 

Questions

 

1. How many Egyptians were responsible to cast every Israeli son born to the river? They all were commanded to do this. Thus, he was commanding them to commit genocide—that is, to exterminate the Israelis by killing their boy babies.

 

2. He again repeated that he wanted the girl babies kept alive. Why keep them alive? He didn’t fear the female Israelis; they would make good wives and workers. He feared the male Israelis. This is often what occurs in racism.

 

 

 

II. Marriage and Horror (chapter 2, verses 1-2)

 

Life went on. A man from the House of Levi walked and took a daughter of Levi for a wife. The woman became pregnant. She childed a son. She saw the child: he is good. She hid the child three months.

 

Questions

 

1. Where did the man from the House of Levi walk? We would say that he went. He walked to some other location in Egypt where there were other Israeli women in order to obtain a wife.

 

2. Why did he take a woman from the same tribe (Levi) of which he was a part? The text doesn’t say why, but it is important in the events that will occur. Her family culture was probably familiar to him. The text doesn’t mention her parents or whether he made an agreement with them to obtain her.

 

3. Why does the text state, “And she saw him, that he is good”? She saw the child, and he immediately caused her to be fond of the little one. She also figured that she would be able to hide him—at least for a time—from the Egyptians. Had he been very noisy, she wouldn’t have been able to hide him.

 

4. The text states that she hid him three moons. What is the relationship between a month and a moon? In many cultures, periods of time were measured in moons—from new moon to new moon. This is where we get the word month, though the length of a moon cycle is 28 days. The moon cycles of 28 days will not work right over a year, since a part of a moon cycle will be left over after a year. This is why our calendar was adjusted with different numbers of days for different months, and why we need leap years (using February to add one and sometimes two days).

 

5. How could she hide an infant for three whole months? She was very good and very clever! I suspect that she stayed away from the Egyptians whenever she could. The text doesn’t give the details of how she did this; she must have been very clever!

 

6. What was happening among the rest of the Israelis regarding boy babies? Women were still getting pregnant, and boy babies were being born. The Egyptians were forcefully taking those babies and killing them at birth. There must have been great mourning and wailing throughout the area of the Israelis with this cruel policy. Yehovah would have His revenge for it later.

 

 

 

III. The End (verses 3-4)

 

A child of this age can be quite noisy. The mother could no longer hide this child. She had an idea. She took a box made of bulrush plant material, and brought it to the child. She tarred the box using both tar and pitch. The then put the child into the box.

 

She put the box into a reed plant upon the lip (shore) of the river.

 

In the meantime, the child’s sister positioned herself at a distance to know what an unnamed person will do to the child.

 

Questions

 

1. Why wasn’t she able to hide him any longer? Either her circumstance or the child’s circumstance was such that the Egyptians would find this child. She knew it would occur soon, so she made preparations for her loss.

 

2. Who gave her the idea of the papyrus box? The text doesn’t say who gave her the idea. It was quite an idea!

 

3. What is a papyrus? It is a plant that is strong, yet can be used to make paper. The following is a picture of it from Wikimedia.com, and from the Kew Gardens:

 

Papyrus - Kew Gardens

 

As you can see, it is a narrow, stout plant with thin leaves at the top that grows in water. It is quite strong, and can support some weight. It would make a good box.

 

4. Did she make the papyrus box? The text doesn’t say; it may have already been made. She waterproofed it.

 

5. What is tar and what is pitch? Tar is often made from pine tree resin (the sap of a pine tree) using heat. Pitch is similar, and is made from plants. They both produce a waterproofing thick substance.

 

6. Was the box that she made pretty? I suspect that it was very pretty in order to attract the eye!

 

7. Did she put the child straight into the box with no blanket? Again, the text doesn’t say, but I have a feeling that she made it comfortable for the little child.

 

8. What does “And she put into a reed upon the lip of the river” mean? She suspended the box from a reed that was strong enough to hold it above the water. It was in the reed—near the top, and quite reachable, near the leaves.

 

9. What is the lip of the river? It is the shore of the river—where the sand meets the water. It is called a lip because it is watered, just like your lip is watered inside your mouth.

 

10. Did his sister’s mother know that his sister had positioned herself to watch to see what would occur with the baby? That isn’t my impression. I can’t prove it, but I don’t think that the baby’s mother knew that her daughter was doing this.

 

11. Who is he and him in, “What will he do to him?” Again, I am proposing: He is Yehovah, and him is the baby. I know of no other he who was in the position to do anything with the child except for the king himself.

 

 

 

IV. The Box (verse 5)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe by the river. She had maidens who attended her, walking by the hand (extension) of the river.

 

She saw the box—it was in the midst of the reed! She sent her handmaid; the handmaid took the box.

 

Questions

 

1. What is the hand of the river? Since a hand reaches, it must be a part of the river that reaches inland—like an inlet. That way, the waters are calm and free from the currents that might otherwise make the river dangerous.

 

2. How could she see the box in the midst of the reed? This is why I think the box was colorful—and not with just green! The box needed to be spotted by someone; else the baby would die in the box. That wasn’t the idea.

 

Wouldn’t it be fun to see what that box looked like?

 

3. Why did she send her handmaid? Handmaids were used to send on errands!

 

4. What is her in, “And she took her”? She is the box! A box is feminine in gender in Hebrew.

 

 

 

V. Identification and Need (verses 6-8)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter opened the box. She saw him—a child! And the youth is weeping! She had compassion on him.

 

She then said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.”

 

The child’s sister spoke to the daughter of Pharaoh: “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews. And she will nurse the child to thee!” Pharaoh’s daughter replied, “Walk!” The virgin did exactly that, and called the mother of the child—her own mother—to come.

 

Questions

 

1. What does the wording of the text, “And she saw him—a child!” indicate? It indicates that she was quite surprised!

 

2. What was important about the youth weeping? That took a hold on the mothering instincts of Pharaoh’s daughter! That was excellent timing!

 

3. What did she do to show that she had compassion upon him? What would any woman do? She held him!

 

4. Pharaoh’s daughter then said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.” Why did she say this? Either this was in response to a question as to how this child got there, or it was a comment that Pharaoh’s daughter made in realization of what was occurring in her father’s kingdom.

 

5. We next see the child’s sister speaking to Pharaoh’s daughter. Wasn’t Pharaoh’s daughter startled to see a Hebrew youth suddenly appear and speaking to her? She doesn’t seem at all startled. It is as if this is a normal occurrence. Some of Pharaoh’s daughter’s handmaids could have been from the Israelis, for all we know.

 

6. The child’s sister volunteered, “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews. And she will nurse the child to thee!” Wasn’t she quite bold to speak up like this and to offer to help in this way? She was bold, with all the boldness of a child! She spoke as if she knew of a lactating woman (a woman who had breast milk) who was available, since the child’s weeping indicated that the child was probably hungry.

 

7. What does the response of Pharaoh’s daughter (“Walk!”) indicate about her?

 

  • It indicates that she doesn’t know that this youth offering to get a woman for her is the child’s sister.
  • It indicates that she doesn’t know that the woman being brought is the child’s mother.
  • It indicates that she didn’t care about what her father commanded to the rest of the Egyptians; she was going to do what she wanted right under her father’s nose!

8. Why does the text say, “And she called the mother of the child,” instead of this: “And she called her own mother”? This is telling the reader of a very unusual circumstance: a mother is being summoned to take care of her own child!

 

 

 

VI. Orders (verse 9)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter commanded the mother, “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage.” The woman took the child, and she did as she was told. She nursed him.

 

Questions

 

1. What is so unusual about the command given by Pharaoh’s daughter: “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage”? Well, since when is a mother paid to take care of her own child? That is so unusual!

 

2. How did the Egyptians know that this woman had orders from Pharaoh’s daughter to take care of the child? Pharaoh’s daughter would have made certain that the woman and the child would not be harmed or bothered.

 

3. How did the child’s mother feel about this arrangement? The text doesn’t say. She now knew that the child would live: that is good. She also knew that the time with her child would be short. She had much to teach the child before he would be gone from her. She also knew that she could not disclose that she was the mother of this child; Pharaoh’s daughter would have seemed like a fool, had that happened.

 

4. Did other Hebrew parents manage to keep their sons alive? I suspect that there were some who did, but the text doesn’t say. I also suspect that a few of the Egyptians would have helped the Israelis. Few sons of the age of this baby lived among the Israelis.

 

 

 

VII. Adoption (verse 10)

 

The child ‘biggened’ (grew). She brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. He became as her own son.

 

Pharaoh’s daughter called the child Draw (Moshe). She said, “For I drew him from the waters.”

 

Questions

 

1. How long did she wait to bring the child to the daughter of Pharaoh? The text again doesn’t say. Women in some cultures continue to breastfeed their children until they are five years old. This is especially important in places where there are dangerous diseases, since the mother gives immunity to her child if the mother has become immune. I propose that the child was breastfed for between three and five years, and likely closer to five is my guess.

 

2. Was bringing the child to the daughter of Pharaoh hard for her? It would have been both hard and exhilarating! Her child would become the grandson of the king!

 

3. Did Pharaoh’s daughter love him? You know she did!

 

4. Was the name Draw (Moshe) a good name for him? It was an excellent name! He will later do the same: he will draw all Israel out of Egypt!

 

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Exodus 1:22 Drawn Out

Drawn Out

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus 1:22-2:10

 

Exodus 1:22 And Pharaoh commanded to all his people, saying, “Ye shall cast every son childed riverward! And ye shall cause-to-live every daughter.”

 

Exodus 2:1 And a man from the House of My-Joined-[one] [Levi] walked. And he took a daughter of My-Joined-[one] [Levi]. 2And the woman conceived. And she childed a son. And she saw him, that he is good. And she hid him three moons.

 

3And she was not further able to hide him. And she took a papyrus box to him. And she tarred her via tar and via pitch. And she put the child into her. And she put into a reed upon the lip of the river. 4And his sister positioned herself from afar to know—what will he do to him?

 

5And the daughter of Pharaoh descended to bathe by the river. And her maidens are walking by the hand of the river. And she saw the box in the midst of the reed. And she sent her handmaid. And she took her.

 

6And she opened. And she saw him—a child! And behold, a youth is weeping! And she had compassion upon him. And she said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.” 7And his sister said unto the daughter of Pharaoh, “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews [fem.]. And she will nurse the child to thee!” 8And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Walk!” And the virgin walked. And she called the mother of the child.

 

9And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage.” And the woman took the child. And she nursed him.

 

10And the child ‘biggened.’ And she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh. And he became to a son to her.

 

And she called his name Draw. And she said, “For I drew him from the waters.”

 

 

 

I. Genocide (Chapter 1, verse 22)

 

Pharaoh had gotten nowhere with the Midwives. He therefore commanded his own people to cast every Israeli son newly born to the river. “And ye shall cause to live every daughter.”

 

Questions

 

1. How many Egyptians were responsible to cast every Israeli son born to the river?

 

2. He again repeated that he wanted the girl babies kept alive. Why keep them alive?

 

 

 

II. Marriage and Horror (chapter 2, verses 1-2)

 

Life went on. A man from the House of Levi walked and took a daughter of Levi for a wife. The woman became pregnant. She childed a son. She saw the child: he is good. She hid the child three months.

 

Questions

 

1. Where did the man from the House of Levi walk?

 

2. Why did he take a woman from the same tribe (Levi) of which he was a part?

 

3. Why does the text state, “And she saw him, that he is good”?

 

4. The text states that she hid him three moons. What is the relationship between a month and a moon?

 

5. How could she hide an infant for three whole months?

 

6. What was happening among the rest of the Israelis regarding boy babies?

 

 

 

III. The End (verses 3-4)

 

A child of this age can be quite noisy. The mother could no longer hide this child. She had an idea. She took a box made of bulrush plant material, and brought it to the child. She tarred the box using both tar and pitch. The then put the child into the box.

 

She put the box into a reed plant upon the lip (shore) of the river.

 

In the meantime, the child’s sister positioned herself at a distance to know what an unnamed person will do to the child.

 

Questions

 

1. Why wasn’t she able to hide him any longer?

 

2. Who gave her the idea of the papyrus box?

 

3. What is a papyrus?

 

4. Did she make the papyrus box?

 

5. What is tar and what is pitch?

 

6. Was the box that she made pretty?

 

7. Did she put the child straight into the box with no blanket?

 

8. What does “And she put into a reed upon the lip of the river” mean?

 

9. What is the lip of the river?

 

10. Did his sister’s mother know that his sister had positioned herself to watch to see what would occur with the baby?

 

11. Who is he and him in, “What will he do to him?”

 

 

 

IV. The Box (verse 5)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe by the river. She had maidens who attended her, walking by the hand (extension) of the river.

 

She saw the box—it was in the midst of the reed! She sent her handmaid; the handmaid took the box.

 

Questions

 

1. What is the hand of the river?

 

2. How could she see the box in the midst of the reed?

 

3. Why did she send her handmaid?

 

4. What is her in, “And she took her”?

 

 

 

V. Identification and Need (verses 6-8)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter opened the box. She saw him—a child! And the youth is weeping! She had compassion on him.

 

She then said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.”

 

The child’s sister spoke to the daughter of Pharaoh: “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews. And she will nurse the child to thee!” Pharaoh’s daughter replied, “Walk!” The virgin did exactly that, and called the mother of the child—her own mother—to come.

 

Questions

 

1. What does the wording of the text, “And she saw him—a child!” indicate?

 

2. What was important about the youth weeping?

 

3. What did she do to show that she had compassion upon him?

 

4. Pharaoh’s daughter then said, “This is from the children of the Hebrews.” Why did she say this?

 

5. We next see the child’s sister speaking to Pharaoh’s daughter. Wasn’t Pharaoh’s daughter startled to see a Hebrew youth suddenly appear and speaking to her?

 

6. The child’s sister volunteered, “Shall I walk? And I will call a nursing woman to thee from the Hebrews. And she will nurse the child to thee!” Wasn’t she quite bold to speak up like this and to offer to help in this way?

 

7. What does the response of Pharaoh’s daughter (“Walk!”) indicate about her?

 

8. Why does the text say, “And she called the mother of the child,” instead of this: “And she called her own mother”?

 

 

 

VI. Orders (verse 9)

 

Pharaoh’s daughter commanded the mother, “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage.” The woman took the child, and she did as she was told. She nursed him.

 

Questions

 

1. What is so unusual about the command given by Pharaoh’s daughter: “Walk this child. And nurse him to me. And I, I will give thy wage”?

 

2. How did the Egyptians know that this woman had orders from Pharaoh’s daughter to take care of the child?

 

3. How did the child’s mother feel about this arrangement?

 

4. Did other Hebrew parents manage to keep their sons alive?

 

 

 

VII. Adoption (verse 10)

 

The child ‘biggened’ (grew). She brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter. He became as her own son.

 

Pharaoh’s daughter called the child Draw (Moshe). She said, “For I drew him from the waters.”

 

Questions

 

1. How long did she wait to bring the child to the daughter of Pharaoh?

 

2. Was bringing the child to the daughter of Pharaoh hard for her?

 

3. Did Pharaoh’s daughter love him?

 

4. Was the name Draw (Moshe) a good name for him?

 

Posted on

Exodus 1:1 The Midwives QA Supplied

The Midwives

With Questions and Proposed Answers

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus 1:1-21

 

Exodus 1:1 And these are the names of the children of Israel coming Egyptward with He-Will-Heel [Jacob]. They came, a man and His house: 2They-Saw-A-Son [Reuben], Hearkening [Shimon], My-Joined-[One] [Levi] and He-Confessed-Yehovah [Judah], 3There-Is-A-Wage [Issachar], They-Shall-Cohabit [Zebulun] and Son-Of-Right [Benjamin], 4Adjudicator [Dan] and My-Wrestling [Naphtali], Troop [Gad] and Happy [Asher]. 5And he was, every being exiting from the thigh of He-Will-Heel [Jacob]: seventy being(s). And He-Will-Gather [Joseph] was in Egypt.

 

6And He-Will-Gather [Joseph] died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

 

7And the children of Israel were fruitful. And they swarmed. And they multiplied. And they became very very strong! And the land filled them!

 

8And a new king arose over Egypt who didn’t know He-Will-Gather [Joseph]. 9And he said unto his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel is multiple and stronger than we are! 10Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to him lest he will multiply. And he shall be, when they shall happen a war, and he will be gathered—even he—upon our enemies! And he will fight into us! And he will ascend from the land!” 11And they set princes of slave-labour over him in order to humiliate him via their burdens.

 

And he built cities of warehouses to Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12And whenever they will humiliate him, established, he will multiply. And established, he will spread! And they were cut-off from the faces of the children of Israel! 13And the Egyptians slave-drove the children of Israel via crushing. 14And they embittered their lives via hard slavery: via mortar and via bricks and via every slavery in the field with all their slavery that they slaved via them, via crushing.

 

15And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives (the one whose name is Pretty [Shifrah] and the second whose name is Groan [Puah])─ 16and he said, “When ye child the Hebrews [fem.], and ye shall see upon the stones. If he is a son, and ye shall kill him! And if he is a daughter, and he shall live.”

 

17And the midwives feared the Gods. And they did not, just as the king of Egypt spoke unto them. And they caused-the-children-to-live.

 

18And the king of Egypt called to the midwives. And he said to them, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” 19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrews [fem.] are not as women of the Egyptians [fem.]. For they are alive there! Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!”

 

20And Elohim good-did to the midwives. And the people multiplied. And they strengthened very-much! 21And he was. For the midwives feared the Gods. And He made houses to them.

 

 

 

I. The Scene (verses 1-5)

 

The text starts with an overview of the children of Israel who arrived in Egypt. A list is given of the sons.

 

A total of seventy folks who came out of Jacob’s thigh came to Egypt. Joseph was already there.

 

 

 

Questions

 

1. How many of Jacob’s children went to Egypt? They all did!

 

2. Verse 5 states that these all came out of Jacob’s thigh. What does coming out of his thigh mean, and why did the Bible give this piece of information? The thigh of a man is where his groin is located, and thus his penis and testicles. The sperm from the testicles are what fertilize the egg in a woman so that she becomes pregnant. Thus, every person who was born to Jacob came out of his thigh!

 

This tells the careful reader that seventy persons (including children and grandchildren, and perhaps even some great grandchildren) were directly from Jacob! They didn’t include the persons that Shimon and Levi captured when they slaughtered the Hivites in Genesis 34.

 

 

 

II. The Change of Scene (verse 6)

 

Verse 6 is a short scene change. Joseph died, along with all that generation.

 

Questions

 

1. What is so important about telling readers that Joseph and all his brethren died? This sets the scene for what will happen next. The folks who remembered what things were like under Joseph all died. Those alive had just heard the stories.

 

2. The text states that Joseph and all his brethren died, “and all that generation.” Why did Yehovah need to mention that all that generation died? Wasn’t that obvious? A Biblical generation is not what most folks think it is. A generation has to do with an administration—that is, with what kind of government is ruling a people. It isn’t referring to a family and having children. Folks mistakenly think that once a baby is born, that baby is the new generation. The Bible sees generations in a totally different way. A generation can last forty or even more than one hundred years! If the style of government leadership remains the same, the generation is the same. If it changes, a new generation will now develop. You may have heard of the World War II generation or the Viet Nam generation. This is using generation in the way that the Bible uses it.

 

 

 

III. The Multiplication (verse 7)

 

The children of Israel were fruitful—they were productive. They swarmed in groups, and they multiplied, having many children. They also became physically and mentally very strong. The land filled them—they had plenty to eat—and they filled the land with a great population.

 

Questions

 

1. What does being fruitful really mean in the Bible? A person is fruitful if the person does good works—that is, if the person does what is morally right toward another person or ethically right in business and social things. Morality is all about right and wrong, righteousness and sin. Only a God/god can declare something as morally right or wrong. Ethics has to do with the right way to treat entire groups of folks in business and in dealings with them. When one group cheats another group, the cheating group is not practicing proper ethics. That will lead to violence.

 

If a person does what is right in the eyes of Yehovah toward another person, that person is doing a good work, and is therefore being fruitful to Yehovah. If a person sins, that person is doing a bad or an evil work.

 

The Israelis did right toward each other, and they prospered because of this. (When folks are violent toward each other, the societies in which they live become poor and unfruitful, with corruption taking all the good work that they do.)

 

Every person is compared to a tree. If a tree produces good fruit, that is a good tree. If a tree produces bad fruit, that is a bad tree. The same is true of every person. Are you producing good fruit?

 

2. What does “they swarmed” mean? This means that they began to congregate in groups because of the number of them and for business and social reasons. Thus, they were everywhere in some of the Egyptian markets, having things to sell. They also had social occasions like weddings where they gathered in large groups.

 

3. What does “they multiplied” mean? That means that they had many babies!

 

4. What is significant about their becoming very very strong? They will become a threat to the Egyptians, and they will be able to live well under harsh conditions. They will also become good fighters.

 

5. The text states, “And the land filled them!” What does this mean? Most (probably all) translators thought that this really meant that the land was filled with them—that their population became so big, that they were everywhere. Actually, they weren’t everywhere; they lived only in a few locations. Instead, the land provided food for them, and they had enough to eat. The land filled them so that they were not hungry. They did fill their cities, but that isn’t what the Hebrew text described.

 

 

 

IV. New King; New Fear (verses 8-11)

 

The new king was the new Pharaoh over Egypt. He didn’t know Joseph.

 

He told his people of Egypt, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel is multiple and stronger than we are! Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to [with] him lest he will multiply. And he shall be, when they shall happen a war, and he will be gathered—even he—upon our enemies! And he will fight into us! And he will ascend from the land!” They set princes over the Jewish slave labour pools in order to humiliate Israel by means of the burdens put on Israel.

 

Questions

 

1. What is important about there being a new king (pharaoh) who didn’t know Joseph? The previous pharaohs who knew Joseph was kind to the Israelis because of how Joseph saved Egypt from starvation. The new pharaoh didn’t know Joseph personally, and he didn’t know much about what Joseph was supposed to have done. Therefore, he didn’t feel the need to treat the Israelis as special. He instead saw them in a very different way.

 

2. Why did this new king talk to his people about the Israelis? The Egyptians began to become very nervous about the Israelis: they were multiplying and becoming very strong to the point that the Egyptians felt threatened by them. These are exactly the same reasons why many Southerners (in the United States) passed laws and humiliated the Black slaves who had been kidnapped from Africa. Just as the Israelis, the Black slaves had many children and became very strong—far stronger than the non-Black populations in the South. Folks who fear other folks because of superiorities tend to mistreat them, humiliate them, threaten them and even kill some of them to try to prove to themselves that they are superior (when they are in fact far inferior in the very ways they fear). Those who are wise know that every group has its strengths and weaknesses, and they trade with groups that have strengths in which they themselves have weakness.

 

The new king reacted in a typical racist manner.

 

3. What did the king and the Egyptians fear that the Israelis might do using their numbers and strength? They feared that the Israelis would turn on the Egyptians in a war, and join the battle on the side of the enemies! Then, they feared that the Israelis would ascend from the land of Egypt! The Israelis had become Egypt’s economy. If Israel left Egypt, the Egyptians would have to start doing their own work!

 

4. Was the fear of the Egyptians regarding the Israelis in war a reasonable fear? No, it wasn’t a reasonable fear. The Israelis would have fought on the side of Egypt in any war; the Israelis didn’t desire to be taken captive to a foreign land. They were doing well in Egypt.

 

The pharaoh and his people were becoming paranoid—that is, they were becoming fearful of the Israelis as if the Israelis desired to do them harm. Racism and paranoia always go together.

 

5. The pharaoh said, “Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to him lest he will multiply.” Wasn’t the people of Israel already multiplying? This pharaoh feared more multiplication. He thought he could stop it.

 

6. What was the official Egyptian answer to controlling the population growth and the strengthening of the Israelis? It was to make the Israelis into slaves, and to put them under slavemasters so that they would be humiliated. The Egyptians thought this would cause the Israelis to despair so much that they would stop having so many children, and they would be weakened.

 

 

 

V. Building Projects (verses 11-14)

 

Israel built two cities that held warehouses for Egypt: Pithom and Raamses.

 

Whenever the Egyptian slave captains humiliated Israel, Israel multiplied—had more children. Israel spread throughout Egypt. Finally, the Egyptians had to go through Jewish groups and faces to visit other Egyptians!

 

The Egyptians used crushing means to slave-drive the Israelis to work harder and harder. They made their lives bitter by the hardness of their slavery: by means of mortal and bricks and every type of labour in the field. They used crushing force to tell them what to do and where to go.

 

Questions

 

1. Who is he in, “And he built cities of warehouses to Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses”? He is Israel! Israel built those two very famous cities in Egypt!

 

2. The text states, “And whenever they will humiliate him, established, he will multiply.” Why did Israel multiply under humiliation? This generally occurs for any group and population when it is being mistreated. Members of that group tend to look for ways to find pleasure. One of the obvious ways to find pleasure is to have sex, and babies are born. Had the Egyptians realized this, they would not have done the very actions that certainly will increase Israel’s population! (Incidentally, the same thing happens during a war: those populations involved in the war tend to have a large increase in child births.)

 

3. Why did Israel spread under humiliation? A group that is being mistreated will try to find safe places to be to avoid the humiliation, if possible. Thus, the group will spread out. The more a large group is mistreated, the more members of that group will run and seek refuge elsewhere.

 

4. Who is they in, “And they were cut-off from the faces of the children of Israel,” and what was occurring? They are the Egyptians. There were so many Israelis, now, that the Egyptians were surrounded by Israelis. The group of Egyptians was cut into small groups by the large number of the Israelis. This made the Egyptians even more paranoid. Wherever they would go, Israelis were there, and the Israelis were stronger and tougher than the Egyptians. The Egyptians developed a fear of the Israelis and a desire to not be isolated from other Egyptians by the Israelis. This same fear occurs today by folks who feel surrounded by groups that they don’t know and of whom they are afraid. It is one of the main reasons why racism becomes very strong.

 

5. What was the response to this fear of the Egyptians? The response was this: “The Egyptians slave-drove the children of Israel via crushing.” This was the same response that many Southern slave-owners had to the increasing populations of African slaves kidnapped and brought to the United States. This continued in the United States after the Civil War.

 

6. What does embittered mean? It means to make bitter; to cause resentment; to remove joy and pleasure. The Egyptians were doing exactly the wrong thing.

 

7. What is mortar? It is what holds bricks and stones together. It can be like cement (as is used to make concrete) where it is liquid, first, then dries to become a very hard substance, or it can be like tar where it is a sticky and very thick liquid that acts like a solid after it is applied, but in any case it holds bricks and stones in place.

 

8. How are bricks made? They are made in several ways. Take straw and mud. Mix them together thoroughly. Heat the mixture in an oven at 500 degrees for an hour. See what you get when it cools. (They actually heat it above this.) The moisture goes out of the mud, and the straw and the mud connect together to form a very hard brick when it is done right. Mud alone is brittle if heated; it won’t support anything. Straw alone is weak; it won’t hold. Put the two together in this way, however, and a very, very hard substance results. It can be almost as hard as stone!

 

9. Who made these bricks? The Israelis made the bricks! Making many bricks is no fun! It is hot, dirty work, and after doing this for days, it makes life seem very bad.

 

10. What did the Israelis have to do that was included in “every slavery in the field”? They had to tend all the crops, including getting water to the crops by irrigating them. Irrigating isn’t so hard today, since there are electric pumps that can bring the water through pipes to the crops. Back then, there were no electric pumps, and pipes were very rare and hard to make. The water had to be hand-lifted if the fields were not below the water source, and the work was very hard and continuous.

 

There were many other field chores that the Israelis were forced to do. The Israelis had come as shepherds and cattlemen. Being forced to work in the fields was not what they were used to doing. Now, they had to do all the hardest work for the Egyptians, or get beaten.

 

11. What does via crushing mean? This is the Hebrew word that describes under much pressure. They were forced to work. If they didn’t work fast enough or hard enough, they were beaten and terribly mistreated.

 

 

 

VI. Abortion (verses 15-17)

 

The king of Egypt had a very modern idea for birth control. He spoke to the two heads of the Hebrew midwives (who birthed the babies)—to Pretty and to Groan, “When ye child the Hebrews, and ye shall see the gender of the baby upon the birthing stones. If he is a son, and ye shall kill him! And if he is a daughter, and he shall live.”

 

The midwives feared the Gods—Elohim—the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob. They did exactly what the king of Egypt didn’t speak unto them to do! They made certain that the children lived.

 

Questions

 

1. Why do you suppose that one girl baby had been named Pretty and another Groan at this time? (You will obtain various answers, of course. I propose that the one named Pretty was such a pretty baby. I propose that the one named Groan described how her parents felt about the harsh slavery.)

 

2. Why did the king call just two women of the midwives? The king was used to speaking to representatives—to individuals whom he could hold responsible for what he ordered. Had he called all the midwives into the palace, the number would have been large, and he would have feared an uprising. He wanted to cause fear in the Israelis and in his slaves; he didn’t want to be the one who feared.

 

These two women were viewed as being like rulers over all the midwives; whatever the king said, they were responsible to get the speech out to all the other midwives and to made certain that the king’s orders were followed.

 

3. What are the stones in, “ye shall see upon the stones”? They are the birthing stools or birthing areas that women used when bringing out children in childbirth. I cannot tell if the stones were large and shaped or if they were pebbles so that the child could be placed on a softer surface while being cleaned from the afterbirth. The king knew how childbirth was accomplished, and he knew that stones were where they would birth the babies.

 

4. The king said, “If he is a son, and ye shall kill him!” What was he commanding the midwives to do? He was commanding them to put the little boy babies to death when they came out. This is exactly the same as modern abortion. The idea is to take a baby that would live, given time and what it needs, and to kill the baby for whatever reason.

 

5. Is abortion wrong? Is abortion murder? Explain well. The answer to this question depends on the god/gods in which a person believes. Whenever any question includes right and wrong, this always becomes a question of the god/gods of the person doing the answering.

 

Many folks believe in gods that find no fault with all abortions. Those gods see abortion as a convenience for mothers. Folks who believe in those gods are not doing any wrong by having an abortion.

 

Other folks believe in gods that make distinctions on the basis of how the pregnancy took place. If the girl was raped, abortion is fine to those gods. If the girl wasn’t raped, and if she is old enough to carry the baby without danger to her, those gods don’t permit an abortion.

 

Still other folks believe in gods who see all abortions as being murder, and those who do the abortions as murderers.

 

There are other possibilities just as there are other gods.

 

The God of the Bible also teaches regarding these things. When Rebecca became pregnant, she went to ask Yehovah about it because the pregnancy wasn’t normal; there was much activity inside her. Yehovah told her,

 

Genesis 25:23 “Two races are in thy belly. And two folks will be separated from thine internals.”

 

So, Yehovah called the little ones races and folks—that is, large groups of persons before they were born.

 

When women put their unborn children to death for no other reason than their own convenience, this shows that they are idolaters—believing in idols—in false gods. Anyone who believes in the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob has no right to condemn or judge idolaters; that is Yehovah’s business, not his/her business, even if the idolaters are in his/her own family.

 

If a teenager or younger girl is too young to safely birth a child, and she becomes pregnant, aborting the child is wise; it isn’t wrong.

 

If parents force a teenager who becomes pregnant to abort her child, and she could safely have the child, and would have taken care of the child, working for its benefit, that is the idolatry of the parents. They are doing that for their own convenience even if the girl was raped. This isn’t the same as cleaning her out right after the rape occurred; such a cleaning out is fine. Whenever parents force a daughter to abort later in pregnancy when the daughter would carry the child with joy (and a little help), they are doing damage to her and to their relationship with her instead of considering her and whatever her faith is (or isn’t). Parents who truly love their children will consider their children in these matters, and will seek what is the highest, best interest of their children without regard to themselves. Of course, such love isn’t so common. Most folks think of themselves and their convenience; most folks are idolaters.

 

The men and boys who get girls pregnant are just as responsible for the pregnancy as the girls, and are often more responsible. If the Bible is Truth, they will be held responsible for all that they do and don’t do.

 

If you are ever asked if abortion is murder, remember that it depends upon the god/gods in which a person believes. Saints in the Bible valued human lives; they didn’t see them as inconveniences to be destroyed. They were out to save lives, not to destroy them. The image of God is on them.

 

6. Why does the text state, “and if he is a daughter…”? That he refers to the human child in a generic way—that is, as a human, not as a girl or boy. We would say, “and if it is a daughter.” But that doesn’t make more sense; the child isn’t an it!

 

7. Why did the king desire for them to keep the girl babies alive? He wanted the girls to grow up and provide more wives for the Egyptians! Many Israeli girls were pretty.

 

8. Verse 17 states, “And the midwives feared the Gods.” What does this mean, and what did they do that showed this? The fear the Gods (that is, the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob) includes the following:

 

  • It is to be aware that Yehovah (the Gods) will judge each person for what he/she has done and said in life. That awareness will cause a person to be very careful about what he or she does and says.
  • It is to know that Yehovah watches what each person says and does, and sometimes takes action for or against that person. (Some folks take this the wrong way, and think that God is punishing them for something they did or didn’t do when in truth they are just having the normal difficulties of life that have nothing to do with what they did or didn’t do.) Yehovah is very patient, and doesn’t usually respond right away to what folks do. He usually gives folks much time to begin to do right.
  • It is to know that Yehovah has all power, and He sees and knows what is happening. He sometimes takes action for a person using His power to bring things about. (That is why making a request to Him can be very good.)
  • It is to know that forgiveness is with Him. (That cannot be used as an excuse to do wrong!)
  • It is to refuse to do wrong even when the sometimes painful consequences of doing right seem very great. It is better to face God having done right than to face God having done wrong. Doing right sometimes is very expensive and painful, and doing wrong sometimes feels very good. A person who fears Yehovah knows that the good feelings that come with doing wrong will be much later followed by terrible pain that will last forever as a consequence of the sin (if the person doesn’t quit doing the sin and turn to doing right before God).

The midwives feared Yehovah much more than they feared what the king could or would do to them. The king was temporary, and life was temporary, but Yehovah is forever, and everlasting life (or death) is forever. Thus, the midwives did what was right in the eyes of Yehovah instead of what the king commanded them.

 

9. What does “And they did not, just as the king of Egypt spoke unto them” mean? This means that they did exactly what the king told them not to do: they saved the boy children alive.

 

10. How did they cause the children to live? They did what they could be aid the boy children in birth, and they nurtured them rather than killing them.

 

 

 

VII. The Excuse (verses 18-19)

 

The king of Egypt called the midwives. He said to them, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” The midwives responded unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrews are not as women of the Egyptians. For they are alive there! Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!”

 

Questions

 

1. Why did the king ask, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” Didn’t he know the answer? He knew the answer. He wanted to put fear into them. He was very angry, and he wanted them to know that he was very angry.

 

2. What does “Because the Hebrews [fem.] are not as women of the Egyptians. For they are alive there!” mean, and who are they in, “For they are alive there”? The Hebrew women are much tougher than the Egyptian women. They refer to the boy babies. They are alive there, indicating that the tough Israeli women already have living baby boys that they birthed without the midwives being present.

 

3. The midwives said, “Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!” Is this the truth? No! The midwives lied to the king. Midwives won’t be late for births if they can help it. What they said was a lie.

 

4. If what the midwives said was a lie, was that sin? No! It was an act of righteousness! (See how Elohim responds to see whether it is sin or not.) They lied to save the lives of innocent ones from the hands of guilty ones. That is always right to do before Yehovah!

 

5. At some time, you will probably hear a discussion like this: “When does life begin? Does it begin at conception, or at birth?” If you do, what is the right answer? The right answer is this: life does not begin at conception, and it does not begin at birth. It begins at Adam. The sperm and the egg that form the human embryo (the little baby immediately after fertilization) were already alive! Human life began with Adam, and that is the only right answer.

 

Yehovah places the soul (including the personality) of the little one after conception—after the egg and sperm connect to begin to form the human embryo, the littlest stage of the baby. Life is already there, however.

 

 

 

VIII. Yehovah’s Response (verses 20-21)

 

Elohim did good to the midwives. The people of Israel multiplied. They continued to grow even stronger. What happened next was because the midwives feared the Gods: Yehovah made houses to them!

 

Questions

 

1. In what ways did Elohim do good to the midwives? The text only mentions one way: He made houses to them. He did other things for them besides this. He made certain that the midwives were able to continue being midwives, and He provided for them so that they prospered. The king could have had them arrested and tortured or killed. Instead, the midwives did very well, and the people of Israel multiplied.

 

2. Did Yehovah want the Israelis to multiply in Egypt? Yes! That is why He sent them there!

 

3. Why did the Israelis become so strong (“they strengthened very much!”)? The very hard work built their muscles and their minds! Instead of hurting them, it did them much good!

 

4. What does “And he was” mean? This means that the event about to be described took place: the event was.

 

5. Why does the text again mention, “the midwives feared the Gods”? If something is mentioned twice in the Bible, it is very important! These women continued to fear the Elohim, and they continued to only do right. Israel prospered into a great race because of them!

 

6. What does “He made houses to them” mean? I can only take this in two different ways:

 

  • Yehovah built them houses in which to live; they came and found those pre-built houses waiting for them to occupy them.
  • Yehovah gave these woman households with many children of their own so that these women became mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, etc. with many offspring.

I don’t assume that Yehovah pre-built physical houses for them in which to live; I am certain that he gave these women many offspring who were a great delight to these women who risked their lives for Yehovah’s people Israel!

 

Posted on

Exodus 1:1 The Midwives

The Midwives

 

Background and Printed Text: Exodus 1:1-21

 

Exodus 1:1 And these are the names of the children of Israel coming Egyptward with He-Will-Heel [Jacob]. They came, a man and His house: 2They-Saw-A-Son [Reuben], Hearkening [Shimon], My-Joined-[One] [Levi] and He-Confessed-Yehovah [Judah], 3There-Is-A-Wage [Issachar], They-Shall-Cohabit [Zebulun] and Son-Of-Right [Benjamin], 4Adjudicator [Dan] and My-Wrestling [Naphtali], Troop [Gad] and Happy [Asher]. 5And he was, every being exiting from the thigh of He-Will-Heel [Jacob]: seventy being(s). And He-Will-Gather [Joseph] was in Egypt.

 

6And He-Will-Gather [Joseph] died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.

 

7And the children of Israel were fruitful. And they swarmed. And they multiplied. And they became very very strong! And the land filled them!

 

8And a new king arose over Egypt who didn’t know He-Will-Gather [Joseph]. 9And he said unto his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel is multiple and stronger than we are! 10Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to him lest he will multiply. And he shall be, when they shall happen a war, and he will be gathered—even he—upon our enemies! And he will fight into us! And he will ascend from the land!” 11And they set princes of slave-labour over him in order to humiliate him via their burdens.

 

And he built cities of warehouses to Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. 12And whenever they will humiliate him, established, he will multiply. And established, he will spread! And they were cut-off from the faces of the children of Israel! 13And the Egyptians slave-drove the children of Israel via crushing. 14And they embittered their lives via hard slavery: via mortar and via bricks and via every slavery in the field with all their slavery that they slaved via them, via crushing.

 

15And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives (the one whose name is Pretty [Shifrah] and the second whose name is Groan [Puah])─ 16and he said, “When ye child the Hebrews [fem.], and ye shall see upon the stones. If he is a son, and ye shall kill him! And if he is a daughter, and he shall live.”

 

17And the midwives feared the Gods. And they did not, just as the king of Egypt spoke unto them. And they caused-the-children-to-live.

 

18And the king of Egypt called to the midwives. And he said to them, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” 19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrews [fem.] are not as women of the Egyptians [fem.]. For they are alive there! Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!”

 

20And Elohim good-did to the midwives. And the people multiplied. And they strengthened very-much! 21And he was. For the midwives feared the Gods. And He made houses to them.

 

 

 

I. The Scene (verses 1-5)

 

The text starts with an overview of the children of Israel who arrived in Egypt. A list is given of the sons.

 

A total of seventy folks who came out of Jacob’s thigh came to Egypt. Joseph was already there.

 

Questions

 

1. How many of Jacob’s children went to Egypt?

 

2. Verse 5 states that these all came out of Jacob’s thigh. What does coming out of his thigh mean, and why did the Bible give this piece of information?

 

 

 

II. The Change of Scene (verse 6)

 

Verse 6 is a short scene change. Joseph died, along with all that generation.

 

Questions

 

1. What is so important about telling readers that Joseph and all his brethren died?

 

2. The text states that Joseph and all his brethren died, “and all that generation.” Why did Yehovah need to mention that all that generation died? Wasn’t that obvious?

 

 

 

III. The Multiplication (verse 7)

 

The children of Israel were fruitful—they were productive. They swarmed in groups, and they multiplied, having many children. They also became physically and mentally very strong. The land filled them—they had plenty to eat—and they filled the land with a great population.

 

Questions

 

1. What does being fruitful really mean in the Bible?

 

2. What does “they swarmed” mean?

 

3. What does “they multiplied” mean?

 

4. What is significant about their becoming very very strong?

 

5. The text states, “And the land filled them!” What does this mean?

 

 

 

IV. New King; New Fear (verses 8-11)

 

The new king was the new Pharaoh over Egypt. He didn’t know Joseph.

 

He told his people of Egypt, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel is multiple and stronger than we are! Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to [with] him lest he will multiply. And he shall be, when they shall happen a war, and he will be gathered—even he—upon our enemies! And he will fight into us! And he will ascend from the land!” They set princes over the Jewish slave labour pools in order to humiliate Israel by means of the burdens put on Israel.

 

Questions

 

1. What is important about there being a new king (pharaoh) who didn’t know Joseph?

 

2. Why did this new king talk to his people about the Israelis?

 

3. What did the king and the Egyptians fear that the Israelis might do using their numbers and strength?

 

4. Was the fear of the Egyptians regarding the Israelis in war a reasonable fear?

 

5. The pharaoh said, “Come-on! We shall wisely-deal to him lest he will multiply.” Wasn’t the people of Israel already multiplying?

 

6. What was the official Egyptian answer to controlling the population growth and the strengthening of the Israelis?

 

 

 

V. Building Projects (verses 11-14)

 

Israel built two cities that held warehouses for Egypt: Pithom and Raamses.

 

Whenever the Egyptian slave captains humiliated Israel, Israel multiplied—had more children. Israel spread throughout Egypt. Finally, the Egyptians had to go through Jewish groups and faces to visit other Egyptians!

 

The Egyptians used crushing means to slave-drive the Israelis to work harder and harder. They made their lives bitter by the hardness of their slavery: by means of mortal and bricks and every type of labour in the field. They used crushing force to tell them what to do and where to go.

 

Questions

 

1. Who is he in, “And he built cities of warehouses to Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses”?

 

2. The text states, “And whenever they will humiliate him, established, he will multiply.” Why did Israel multiply under humiliation?

 

3. Why did Israel spread under humiliation?

 

4. Who is they in, “And they were cut-off from the faces of the children of Israel,” and what was occurring?

 

5. What was the response to this fear of the Egyptians?

 

6. What does embittered mean?

 

7. What is mortar?

 

8. How are bricks made?

 

9. Who made these bricks?

 

10. What did the Israelis have to do that was included in “every slavery in the field”?

 

11. What does via crushing mean?

 

 

 

VI. Abortion (verses 15-17)

 

The king of Egypt had a very modern idea for birth control. He spoke to the two heads of the Hebrew midwives (who birthed the babies)—to Pretty and to Groan, “When ye child the Hebrews, and ye shall see the gender of the baby upon the birthing stones. If he is a son, and ye shall kill him! And if he is a daughter, and he shall live.”

 

The midwives feared the Gods—Elohim—the Gods of Avraham, Isaac and Jacob. They did exactly what the king of Egypt didn’t speak unto them to do! They made certain that the children lived.

 

Questions

 

1. Why do you suppose that one girl baby had been named Pretty and another Groan at this time?

 

2. Why did the king call just two women of the midwives?

 

3. What are the stones in, “ye shall see upon the stones”?

 

4. The king said, “If he is a son, and ye shall kill him!” What was he commanding the midwives to do?

 

5. Is abortion wrong? Is abortion murder? Explain well.

 

6. Why does the text state, “and if he is a daughter…”?

 

7. Why did the king desire for them to keep the girl babies alive?

 

8. Verse 17 states, “And the midwives feared the Gods.” What does this mean, and what did they do that showed this?

 

9. What does “And they did not, just as the king of Egypt spoke unto them” mean?

 

10. How did they cause the children to live?

 

 

 

VII. The Excuse (verses 18-19)

 

The king of Egypt called the midwives. He said to them, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” The midwives responded unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrews are not as women of the Egyptians. For they are alive there! Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!”

 

Questions

 

1. Why did the king ask, “Why did ye this speech, and have caused-the-children-to-live?” Didn’t he know the answer?

 

2. What does “Because the Hebrews [fem.] are not as women of the Egyptians. For they are alive there!” mean, and who are they in, “For they are alive there”?

 

3. The midwives said, “Before the midwife will come unto them, and they childed!” Is this the truth?

 

4. If what the midwives said was a lie, was that sin?

 

5. At some time, you will probably hear a discussion like this: “When does life begin? Does it begin at conception, or at birth?” If you do, what is the right answer?

 

 

 

VIII. Yehovah’s Response (verses 20-21)

 

Elohim did good to the midwives. The people of Israel multiplied. They continued to grow even stronger. What happened next was because the midwives feared the Gods: Yehovah made houses to them!

 

Questions

 

1. In what ways did Elohim do good to the midwives?

 

2. Did Yehovah want the Israelis to multiply in Egypt?

 

3. Why did the Israelis become so strong (“they strengthened very much!”)?

 

4. What does “And he was” mean?

 

5. Why does the text again mention, “the midwives feared the Gods”?

 

6. What does “He made houses to them” mean?

 

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Jonah

Jonah Chapter 1

 

And the speech of Yehovah was unto Dove [Yonah] son of My-Two-Truths [Amee-tai] to say, 2 “Arise! Walk unto Neen-vay the big city! And call upon her that their bad ascended to my faces!” 3And Dove [Yonah] arose to flee to Tarsheesh from the faces of Yehovah!

 

And he descended to Yaffo. And he found a ship. She went to Tarsheesh. And he gave her wage. And he descended into her to come with them to Tarsheesh from the faces of Yehovah.

 

4And Yehovah threw a big wind unto the sea! And a big storm was in the sea! And the ship thought to be broken! 5And the saltees feared! And they screamed, a man unto his gods! And they threw the utensils that are in the ship unto the sea to lighten from upon them. And Dove [Yonah] descended unto the thighs of the wainscoting. And lay down. And he slept.

 

6And the great-one of the company approached unto him. And he said to him, “What is to thee, sleeper? Arise! Call unto thy gods! Perhaps the gods will gleam to us, and we will not perish!”

 

7And they said, a man unto his neighbour, “Go-ye! And we have thrown-down lots. And we have known on account of whom this bad is to us!” And they threw-down lots. And the lot fell upon Dove [Yonah].

 

8And they said unto him, “Tell to us, na, via what—for whom this bad is to us. What is thine errand? And from where wilt thou come? What is thy land? And where from this—a people—art thou?” 9And he said unto them, “I am Hebrew. And I fear Yehovah Gods of the heavens Who made the sea and the dry!” 10And the men feared a big fear!

 

And they said unto him, “What is this thou hast done?” For the men knew that he fled from the faces of Yehovah, because he told to them. 11And they said unto him, “What will we do to thee, and the sea has calmed from upon us?” For the sea is walking and tempestuous. 12And he said unto them, “Lift ye me, and throw me unto the sea. And the sea has calmed from upon you. For I know that this big tempest is upon you on account of me!”

 

13And the men dug to return unto the dry. And they were not able. For the sea is walking and tempestuous upon them. 14And they called unto Yehovah! And they said, “Oh, Yehovah! We, na, will not perish via the being of this man! And do not give innocent blood upon us! For Thou, Yehovah, Thou hast done just as Thou hast desired!”

 

15And they lifted Dove [Yonah]. And they threw him unto the sea. And the sea stood from his rage! 16And the men feared Yehovah a big fear! And they sacrificed a sacrifice to Yehovah. And they vowed vows.

 

 

 

I. Walking Orders (verses 1-3)

 

Yehovah told Yonah the son of Ameetai to arise and walk unto the big city of Nineveh. He must loudly call upon the city that the bad of its citizens ascended to Yehovah’s faces. Upon hearing this, Yonah arose to flee to Tarshish which is in the opposite direction! He desired to get away from the faces of Yehovah.

 

Questions

 

1. What does Yonah mean?

 

2. If Ameetai means My two truths, to what would these truths refer?

 

3. How far was Nineveh from Israel?

 

4. Why did Yehovah desire Yonah to walk to the big city of Nineveh instead of riding?

 

5. How long would a journey of this distance take by foot if a person can walk 25 miles in a day, staying as a guest at each stop for one day?

 

6. Why was the size of Nineveh so unusual back then?

 

7. To what does bad refer in, “And call upon her that their bad ascended to my faces”?

 

8. Why did Yehovah say that their bad ascended to His faces? What does that mean?

 

9. Why did Yonah arise to flee to Tarshish, which is in the opposite direction? What did he have against obeying Yehovah?

 

10. Why does the text read, “And Yonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the faces of Yehovah” instead of “And Yonah arose to flee to Tarshish from Yehovah”?

 

11. Where is Tarshish?

 

 

 

II. Going on a Cruise (verse 3)

 

Yonah went down to Yaffo in Israel. He found and boarded a ship going to Tarshish; he paid the passenger fare. He went below deck to travel with them to Tarshish from the faces of Yehovah.

 

Questions

 

1. Where is Yaffo?

 

2. What does Yaffo mean?

 

3. What does “and he gave her wage” mean?

 

4. Who is her in, “And he descended into her”?

 

5. Identify them in, “…to come with them to Tarshish…”:

 

6. Did Yonah really think that he could escape from the faces of Yehovah?

 

 

 

III. The Violent Storm (verses 4-5)

 

Yehovah threw a big wind unto the sea! That was a terrific storm. Those in the ship thought it would be broken. The saltees (sailors) feared. Each saltee screamed to his own gods.

 

They then started throwing items overboard in order to lighten the ship.

 

Yonah went down into the hold of the ship, into the wainscoting. He lay down and went to sleep!

 

Questions

 

1. Why did Yehovah throw a big wind unto the sea?

 

2. Why did He add a big storm?

 

3. Whenever there are big winds and storms at sea, does Yehovah cause them?

 

4. What does “the ship thought to be broken” mean?

 

5. What is a saltee?

 

6. How many different gods did the sailors use?

 

7. Why did the sailors scream? Were they that easily made frightened?

 

8. What are utensils?

 

9. What is wainscoting?

 

10. What are the thighs of the wainscoting?

 

11. Why did Yonah descend unto the thighs of the wainscoting to lay down and to sleep?

 

12. How could he sleep though this motion and danger?

 

 

 

IV. Join Us in Prayer! (verse 6)

 

The captain over the sailors approached Yonah. He said to him, “What is to thee, sleeper? Arise! Call unto thy gods! Perhaps the gods will gleam at us, and we will not perish!”

 

Questions

 

1. Who is the great one of the company?

 

2. How did the great one of the company find Yonah?

 

3. What gods did the captain think that Yonah had?

 

4. What does “gleam to us” mean?

 

5. If the gods will gleam on them, according to the captain, what will happen?

 

 

 

V. Lots of Dice (verse 7)

 

Each man on board spoke to others about throwing dice to find out who is responsible for this bad situation. They did so; the dice indicated that Yonah was responsible.

 

Questions

 

1. What are lots in the Bible?

 

2. Where lots good indicators of the will of the gods or of Yehovah?

 

3. The sailors seemed certain that they could determine who was responsible for “this bad” being to them by casing lots. Were they right to be so certain?

 

4. How could they throw down lots when the winds were tossing the ship so hard, that it was about to be broken in pieces?

 

5. By what process did they use the dice to determine that Yonah was the one?

 

 

 

VI. The Interrogation and Fear (verses 8-10)

 

The men said to Yonah, “Tell to us, na, via what—for whom this bad is to us? What is thine errand? And from where wilt thou come? What is thy land? And where from this—a people—art thou?” His response was, “I am Hebrew. And I fear Yehovah Gods of the heavens Who made the sea and the dry!” This caused the men to greatly fear.

 

Questions

 

1. What does na mean in Hebrew?

 

2. Why does the sentence, “Tell to us, na, via what—for whom this bad is to us” seem so broken up?

 

3. What did they mean by, “Tell to us, na, via what…”?

 

4. What did they mean by, “Tell to us for whom this bad is to us”?

 

5. What did they mean by, “What is thine errand?”

 

6. What did they mean by, “And from where wilt thou come? What is thy land?”

 

7. What did they mean by, “And where from this—a people—art thou?”

 

8. Which of their questions did Yonah answer when he said, “I am a Hebrew”?

 

9. What does being a Hebrew mean?

 

10. Which of their questions was Yonah answering when he said, “And I fear Yehovah Gods of the heavens Who made the sea and the dry”?

 

11. Why did the men fear a big fear when they heard Yonah’s answer?

 

 

 

VII. The Solution (verses 10-12)

 

Now the men wanted to know what Yonah had done to bring this wrath on them all. Yonah had told them that he fled from the faces of Yehovah. They therefore asked the question, “What will we do to thee, and the sea has calmed from upon us?” The sea kept on walking—with huge waves—and was tempestuous—very violent.

 

Yonah gave them the steps: “Lift ye me, and throw me unto the sea. And the sea has calmed from upon you. For I know that this big tempest is upon you on account of me!”

 

Questions

 

1. What did they mean by, “What is this thou hast done?”

 

2. Why did Yonah tell the men that he fled from the faces of Yehovah?

 

3. What were they asking Yonah when they asked, “What will we do to thee, and the sea has calmed from upon us?”

 

4. What does “For the sea is walking and tempestuous” mean?

 

5. Who said, “For the sea is walking and tempestuous”?

 

6. Why did Yonah say, “Lift ye me, and throw me unto the sea. And the sea has calmed from upon you”? Was he trying to get himself killed?

 

7. How did Yonah know that this would calm the sea?

 

8. Why would Yehovah sink a ship, kill all the crew, and cause great loss of the items being shipped just because one person isn’t doing what He wants? Is this fair?

 

 

 

VIII. The Attempt and the Plea (verses 13-14)

 

The men dug with their oars, pulling as hard as they could to get to dry land. They could not. The Ship didn’t move toward land. The sea walked with huge waves, and the violent winds kept them out at sea.

 

The men then called to Yehovah. The started with, “Oh, Yehovah! We, na, will not perish via the being of this man!” They didn’t want to die because of what Yonah had done.

 

They then said, “And do not give innocent blood upon us!” They didn’t want to be held responsible for killing Yonah.

 

They reminded Yehovah, “For Thou, Yehovah, Thou hast done just as Thou hast desired!”

 

Questions

 

1. What did they dig?

 

2. What does “to return unto the dry” mean?

 

3. Why weren’t they able (to return to shore)?

 

4. Why does the text repeat, “For the sea is walking and tempestuous upon them”?

 

5. Why did the sailors call to Yehovah? Didn’t they still have their own gods?

 

6. What did the sailors mean by, “Oh, Yehovah! We, na, will not perish via the being of this man”?

 

7. What did they mean by, “And do not give innocent blood upon us”?

 

8. What where they saying when they said, “For Thou, Yehovah, Thou hast done just as Thou hast desired”?

 

 

 

IX. Man Overboard! (verses 15-16)

 

The sailors lifted Yonah, and they threw him unto the sea! The sea immediately stopped raging! The waters became calm.

 

The men feared Yehovah with a very big fear. They sacrificed a sacrifice to Yehovah on the ship, and they vowed vows to Yehovah.

 

Questions

 

1. What does “And the sea stood from his rage” mean?

 

2. Was the sea truly enraged?

 

3. Does the sea really think and act like a person?

 

4. Why did the men fear Yehovah with a big fear?

 

5. How did they do a sacrifice to Yehovah when they were onboard the ship?

 

6. What is the purpose of doing a sacrifice?

 

7. What did they vow, and why did they vow?

 

8. What is a vow?

 

9. Does this mean that the sailors became fearers of Yehovah, including obtaining salvation from their sins and getting everlasting life?

 

Jonah Chapter 2

 

1And Yehovah measured a big fish to swallow Dove [Yonah]. And Dove [Yonah] was in the internals of the fish three days and three nights.

 

2And Dove [Yonah] rolled-himself unto Yehovah his Gods from the internals of the fish. 3And he said, “I called unto Yehovah from tribulation to me! And He answered/humbled me! I screamed from the belly of Sheol! Thou didst hearken-to my voice!

 

4 “Thou didst sling me submerged into the heart of the seas. And a river will surround me! All thy breakers and thy waves crossed-over upon me. 5And I, I said I’ve been forced-out from straight-in-front-of Thine eyes! But I will accrue to look unto the Temple of Thy Holy-One!

 

6 “Waters encircled me unto a being! The deep will surround me! A reed was wrapped to my head. 7I descended the land with her bars to the cuttings of the mountains for my sake to Hider. And Thou hast made-my-lives-ascend from destruction, Yehovah my Gods, 8when my being fainted upon me. I remembered Yehovah! And my rolling came unto Thee—unto the Temple of Thy Holy-One!

 

9 “Guards of breaths of vanity shall forsake their grace!

 

10 “And I, I will sacrifice to Thee via the voice of confession! I will make peace what I vowed!”

 

“Her Salvation is to Yehovah!”

 

11And Yehovah said to the fish, and he vomited Dove [Yonah] unto the dry.

 

 

 

I. Kosher Fish (verse 1)

 

Yehovah measured a big fish (so that Yonah would fit) to swallow Yonah. Yonah was inside this fish three days and three nights.

 

Questions

 

1. Why did Yehovah have to measure the big fish?

 

2. What is significant about his being in the fish three days and three nights?

 

 

 

II. Prophetic Prayer (verses 2-3)

 

Yonah rolled himself (giving details as he prayed) unto Yehovah his Gods from inside the fish.

 

He said, “I called unto Yehovah from tribulation to me!” He was in the Tribulation.

 

“And He answered/humbled me!” Yehovah responded by both answering and humbling him.

 

“I screamed from the belly of Sheol!” He was in Sheol, and thus was dead.

 

“Thou didst hearken-to my voice!” Thus, whatever he asked was granted.

 

Questions

 

1. Was Yonah alive in the internals of the fish, or was he dead?

 

2. What did Yonah mean by, “I called unto Yehovah from tribulation to me”? Was Yonah being put into tribulation (trouble)?

 

3. What does “And He answered/humbled me” mean, and what will occur?

 

4. What is so important about humility?

 

5. Yonah said, “I screamed from the belly of Sheol.” Where is Sheol, and was Yonah there?

 

6. Yonah said, “I screamed from the belly of Sheol! Thou didst hearken-to my voice!” What did Yehovah do?

 

 

 

III. The Sub-Marine (verses 4-5)

 

“Thou didst sling me submerged into the heart of the seas.” He was slung underwater, and was submerged into the heart of the seas (plural).

 

“And a river will surround me!” He will be surrounded by some river!

 

“All thy breakers and thy waves crossed-over upon me.” Not just a few breakers and wavers, but all Yehovah’s breakers and waves crossed over upon him.

 

“”And I, I said I’ve been forced-out from straight-in-front-of Thine eyes!” He figured that Yehovah shoved him out of His sight; Yehovah did not desire to see him.

 

“But I will accrue to look unto the Temple of Thy Holy-One!” He knows that he will look unto the Temple of Yehovah’s Holy One (the Holy One of Israel).

 

Questions

 

1. Was Yonah slung into the heart of the seas by Yehovah?

 

2. What does “Thou didst sling me submerged into the heart of the seas” describe?

 

3. What does “And a river will surround me” describe?

 

4. What will occur for “All thy breakers and thy waves crossed-over upon me” to happen?

 

5. What does “And I, I said I’ve been forced-out from straight-in-front-of Thine eyes” mean?

 

6. What does accrue mean?

 

7. Explain “I will accrue to look unto the Temple of Thy Holy One”:

 

 

 

IV. More Death; More Resurrection (verses 6-8)

 

“Waters encircled me unto a being!” Those waters are there to take away his life, and he cannot escape from them.

 

“A reed was wrapped to my head.” That reed is a water plant by the shore.

 

“I descended the land with her bars to the cuttings of the mountains for my sake to Hider.” He went down the land; she hemmed him in on both sides forcing him to go through the mountain passes that were cut out by erosion. This was for his sake as he went to Hider—to the God Who hides Himself, to the period of time that isn’t recorded in the Bible.

 

“And Thou hast made-my-lives-ascend from destruction, Yehovah my Gods, when my being fainted concerning me.” Yehovah his Gods caused him to escape alive from destruction just when his being, his life fainted on top of him.

 

“I remembered Yehovah!” He remembered this God, this Hope.

 

“And my rolling came unto Thee—unto the Temple of Thy Holy-One!” His detailed prayer came unto Yehovah—until the Temple of Yehovah’s Holy One of Israel.

 

Questions

 

1. What does “Waters encircled me unto a being” mean?

 

2. What deep will surround her?

 

3. What reed was wrapped to her head?

 

4. What does “I descended the land with her bars” mean?

 

5. What are the cuttings of the mountains?

 

6. Why was this descending for the speaker’s sake?

 

7. What does to Hider mean?

 

8. What does the speaker mean by, “I descended the land with her bars to the cuttings of the mountains for my sake to Hider”?

 

9. What occurred next, described by, “And Thou hast made-my-lives-ascend from destruction, Yehovah my Gods”?

 

10. Why is lives plural?

 

11. What does Yehovah mean?

 

12. Why is Gods plural?

 

13. The speaker continued, “And Thou hast made-my-lives-ascend from destruction, Yehovah my Gods, when my being fainted upon me.” What occurs if the being faints upon the speaker?

 

14. The speaker then said, “I remembered Yehovah!” What is so significant about this?

 

15. What is this rolling that come unto Yehovah?

 

16. What is this Temple?

 

17. Who is this Holy One?

 

18. What occurred if the speaker’s rolling came unto Yehovah and until the Temple of Yehovah’s Holy One?

 

 

 

V. Damned Lifeguards (verse 9)

 

“Guards of breaths of vanity shall forsake their grace!” Those who try to save their own lives will reject the Grace of God.

 

Questions

 

1. What are breaths of vanity?

 

2. What does grace and “shall forsake their grace” mean?

 

3. What must a person do that is the opposite of guarding his/her own breaths of vanity?

 

 

 

VI. Sacrifice, Confession and Peace (verse 10)

 

“And I, I will sacrifice to Thee via the voice of confession!” He will once again do sacrifice to Yehovah, but this time via confessing!

 

“I will make peace what I vowed!” He will keep his vows by doing what he said in the vow.

 

“Her Salvation is to Yehovah!” Yehovah is the one who owns and is responsible for his being’s Salvation!

 

Questions

 

1. Why is ‘I’ mentioned twice?

 

2. What is confession?

 

3. What is the voice of confession?

 

4. Why is this voice of confession some kind of sacrifice?

 

5. What does “I will make peace what I vowed” mean?

 

6. Who is her in, “Her Salvation is to Yehovah”?

 

7. What does “Her Salvation is to Yehovah” mean?

 

8. Who said, “Her Salvation is to Yehovah”?

 

 

 

VII. Fish Puke (verse 11)

 

Yehovah said something to the fish. The fish responded by vomiting Yonah toward the dry land.

 

Questions

 

1. What did Yehovah say to the fish?

 

2. Where did the fish vomit Yonah?

 

3. What did Yonah smell like?

 

4. What did Yonah do once he was vomited on the shore?

 

 

 

Jonah Chapter 3

1And the speech of Yehovah was unto Dove [Yonah] a second time to say, 2 “Arise! Walk unto Neenvey the big city! And call unto her the calling that I spoke unto thee!”

 

3And Dove [Yonah] arose. And he walked unto Neenvey according to the speech of Yehovah.

 

And Neenvey was a big city to Elohim, three days’ walk.

 

4And Dove [Yonah] began to come into the city a one-day walk. And he called. And he said, “Forty days more, and Neenvey is flipped-over!” 5And the men of Neenvey believed in Elohim!

 

And they called a shutting! And they put-on sacks from their big and unto their little.

 

6And the speech struck unto the king of Neenvey. And he arose from his chair. And he crossed-over his splendour from upon him. And he covered sack. And he sat upon the ash. 7And he screamed! And he said in Neenvey from the taste of the king and his big-ones to say, “The man and the beast, the herd and the flock shall not taste anything! They shall not pasture, and they shall not drink water! 8And the man and the beast covered themselves sacks! And they called unto Elohim via a grip! And they turned, a man, from his bad way and from the violence that is in their palms! 9Who will know? The Elohim will turn and console, and He will turn from the heat of His nose. And we will not perish!”

 

10And the Elohim saw their works—that they turned from their bad way. And the Elohim was consoled concerning the bad that He spoke to do to them. And He did not.

 

 

 

I. Walking Orders Again(verse 1-2)

 

Yehovah’s speech came to Yonah a second time. He told him to arise and to walk unto the big city of Nineveh, and to shout unto her what Yehovah told him previously to call.

 

Questions

 

1. Why didn’t Yehovah tell Yonah off for disobeying and wasting time?

 

2. What was the original calling that Yehovah had commanded Yonah?

 

 

 

II. Travel Nineveh (verse 3)

 

Yonah arose from the shore. He walked unto Nineveh just as Yehovah spoke to him.

 

Questions

 

1. Why did Yonah arise and walk this time?

 

2. How far was Nineveh?

 

3. How long was the walk?

 

 

 

III. The Big City (verse 3)

 

Elohim Himself saw Nineveh as a big city. It took three days to walk through it!

 

Questions

 

1. How many miles is a three-day walk?

 

2. What kind of a city can be this big? What is it called?

 

3. What is important about this being a big city to Elohim?

 

 

 

IV. Doomsday Announcement (verses 4-5)

 

Yonah just began to come into the city; he walked into it a distance that one can walk in a full day. He shouted the message of Yehovah: “Forty days more, and Neenvey is flipped-over!” The inhabitants of Nineveh believed in Elohim!

 

Questions

 

1. How many miles is a one-day walk?

 

2. What did Yonah call?

 

3. What had Yehovah told him to call?

 

4. Did Yonah disobey Yehovah’s command again?

 

5. Did Yonah give them any hope? Did he tell them that they could repent?

 

6. Who are the folks today who are the offspring of the Ninevites?

 

7. The text states, “And the men of Niveveh believed in Elohim.” What caused them to believe in Elohim? Was Elohim their God?

 

8. Why is this event so important in the Bible?

 

9. Was does believe mean in the Bible?

 

V. Sackcloth and Closing Time (verse 5)

 

The people of Nineveh called for a closing of the mouth! This included no food intake! They put on sackcloth from the highest ranking persons to the lowest, from the biggest person to the littlest.

 

Questions

 

1. What is a shutting?

 

2. What are these sacks?

 

3. Why did they put on this sackcloth?

 

4. Did they put sacks on their little babies?

 

 

 

VI. The Royal Response (verses 6-9)

 

The king finally heard the message, and it struck him hard. He got up from his chair (throne) and changed his gorgeous garments, putting on sackcloth. He sat down in ash. And he screamed!

 

He gave commands according to the normal way that commands are given: “The man and the beast, the herd and the flock shall not taste anything!” He gave more details: “They shall not pasture, and they shall not drink water!” Thus, the animals had to be restricted from all food and all water.

 

“And the man and the beast covered themselves sacks!” Every man and every animal had to be covered with sackcloth in the entire land!

 

“And they called unto Elohim via a grip!” They must call unto Elohim without ceasing, gripping (holding on) to continue with this call!

 

“And they returned, a man, from his bad way and from the violence that is in their palms!” Every person must turn from the bad and from the violence that is in the very palms of their hands—over which they have control!

 

“Who will know? The Elohim will return and console, and He will return from the heat of His nose. And we will not perish!” There isn’t any certainty, but perhaps the Gods will turn and bring consolation instead of devastation! Perhaps He will turn from the great heat of His nose (anger). Perhaps the inhabitants of Nineveh will not perish!

 

Questions

 

1. What does “the speech struck unto the king” mean?

 

2. Why did he arise from his chair?

 

3. What does “And he crossed-over his splendour from upon him. And he covered sack” mean?

 

4. What does “he sat upon the ash” mean? Where did he get the ash?

 

5. What would sitting on ash do, and what did this picture?

 

6. Why did the king scream?

 

7. What does “he said in Nineveh from the taste of the king and his big-ones to say” mean?

 

8. Why did they command man and beast to not taste anything?

 

9. Why did he command them all to not drink water?

 

10. The text states, “And the man and the beast covered themselves sacks.” How did the animals manage to cover themselves? Why did they do this?

 

11. What does “via a grip” mean?

 

12. From what bad way did they turn?

 

13. What does “violence that is in their palms” mean?

 

14. What does “Who will know? The Elohim will turn…” mean?

 

15. Why did they take this threat so seriously?

 

16. The text states, “Who will know? The Elohim will turn and console.” What does this last part mean, and what is consolation?

 

17. What is “the heat of His nose”?

 

18. What would be required in order for the citizens of Nineveh to not perish?

 

 

 

VII. Seeing and Not Doing (verse 10)

 

Elohim saw their works! He saw that they turned from doing the bad things they had been doing. And Elohim was consoled about the bad that He had spoken that He would do to them. He didn’t do it.

 

Questions

 

1. What did Elohim see that was important to Him?

 

2. What does “the Elohim was consoled concerning the bad that He spoke to do to them” mean?

 

3. The last statement is, “And He did not.” He did not what?

 

 

Jonah Chapter 4

1And he-was-bad unto Dove [Yonah]: a big bad! And heat was to him! 2And he rolled himself unto Yehovah. And he said, “Ah, Yehovah! Isn’t this my speech unto my being upon my soil? Therefore I anticipated to flee to Tarshish! For I knew that Thou art a Mighty-[One] of favour and wombing, long of noses and multiple of Grace and consolation concerning the bad! 3And now, Yehovah, take, na, my being from me! For my death is better than my life!”

 

4And Yehovah said, “Is the heat good for thee?”

 

5And Dove [Yonah] exited from the city. And he sat from the east to the city. And he made a Succah there for himself. And he sat under her in the shadow until he will see what will be in the city.

 

6And Yehovah Elohim measured a Kikayon-plant. And he ascended from above to Dove [Yonah] to be a shadow upon his head, to rescue him from his bad. And Dove [Yonah] rejoiced a big rejoicing concerning the Kikayon-plant.

 

7And the Elohim measured a worm at the ascending of the dawn for the next day. And she smote the Kikayon. And he withered. 8And he was as the sunrising of the sun. And Elohim measured a cutting, east wind. And the sun attacked upon the head of Dove [Yonah]. And he made-himself-wilt. And he asked his being to die. And he said, “My death is better than my life!”

 

9And Elohim said unto Dove [Yonah], “Is the heat good for thee concerning the Kikayon-plant?” And he said, “The heat is good for me unto death!” 10And Yehovah said, “Thou, thou didst have pity upon the Kikayon in which thou didst not labour and did not make big, that was the son of a night. And he perished the son of a night. 11And I, I will not pity over the big city Neenveh in whom there are many more than 120,000 of Adam who did not know between his right to his left, and multiplied cattle?”

 

 

 

I. Frustrated to Death (verses 1-3)

 

Yehovah’s decision to turn from the destruction of Nineveh was a very bad decision to Yonah. He prayed a detailed prayer to express this. He said, “Ah, Yehovah! Isn’t this my speech unto my being upon my soil?” This is what Yonah told Yehovah while he was still in the Land of Israel.

 

“Therefore I anticipated to flee to Tarshish!” This is why he fled to Tarshish; he knew in advance that this would occur!

 

“For I knew that Thou art a Mighty-[One] of favour and wombing…” Yonah knew that this is the type of a Mighty One Yehovah is: He is quick to show favour and to womb—that is, to take one who needs help and consolation, and bring that one to His womb, as in His lap, to console him/her.

 

“…long of noses…” He doesn’t anger very quickly; He waits a long time to respond in great anger.

 

“…and multiple of Grace and consolation concerning the bad!” He many times over will demonstrate a very strong zeal on behalf of a person or group to do that person or group much good, and to be consoled Himself concerning the bad He would have done if the person or group hadn’t turned.

 

“And now, Yehovah, take, na, my being from me! For my death is better than my life!” He wants Yehovah to cause him to die. His death is better than his continuing to live under these circumstances.

 

Questions

 

1. What was such a big bad to Yonah?

 

2. What did Yonah view it this way?

 

3. What does “And he rolled himself unto Yehovah” mean?

 

4. What does “Ah, Yehovah! Isn’t this my speech unto my being upon my soil” mean?

 

5. What did he mean by, “Therefore I anticipated to flee to Tarshish”?

 

6. What does “I knew that Thou art a Mighty One of favour” mean?

 

7. What does “I knew that Thou art a Mighty One of wombing” mean?

 

8. What does “long on noses” mean?

 

9. What does “multiple of Grace” mean?

 

10. What does “multiple of consolation” mean?

 

11. Explain “concerning the bad” in, “For I knew that Thou art a Mighty-[One] of favour and wombing, long of noses and multiple of Grace and consolation concerning the bad”:

 

12. Why does Yonah desire Yehovah to take his being from him now?

 

13. Is Yonah right when he says, “my death is better than my life”?

 

14. Do you love your own people as much as Yonah loved his?

 

 

 

II. The Heated Question (verse 4)

 

Yehovah asked Yonah one question: “Is the heat good for thee?” Does Yonah benefit himself by being furious?

 

Questions

 

1. What does heat mean?

 

2. Answer the question: Is anger good (beneficial) for Yonah?

 

 

 

III. Camouflage (verse 5)

 

Yonah went out of the city. He found a place east of the city where he could watch. He constructed a Succah (camouflage) for himself so that he would be hidden under its shadow in order to watch and see what will happen in the city.

 

Questions

 

1. Why did Yonah exit the city?

 

2. Why did he choose to sit to watch the city on its eastern side?

 

3. What is a Succah?

 

4. Why did Yonah make a Succah?

 

5. What produced the shadow under which he sat, and why did he want to sit under a shadow?

 

6. What does “until he will see what will be in the city” mean? What was he waiting to see?

 

 

 

IV. Kikayon (verse 6)

 

Now, Yehovah Elohim measured (fitted for size) a plant called in Hebrew Kikayon. The plant must have had very large leaves, since it would provide perfect shade. This plant grew extremely rapidly above Yonah giving Yonah shadow overhead, and to rescue Yonah from his bad (his harm) from the sun. Yonah greatly rejoiced over this Kikayon plant.

 

Questions

 

1. What is a Kikayon plant?

 

2. Why did Yehovah measure this plant?

 

3. Who ascended above Yonah?

 

4. What service did the Kikayon plant do?

 

5. What does “to rescue him from his bad” mean?

 

6. Why was Yonah so happy about the Kikayon plant?

 

V. Worm and Wind (verses 7-8)

 

The Elohim next measured a worm as the dawn ascended for the next day. The worm destroyed the Kikayon, and the plant withered.

 

As the sun rose the next day, Elohim next measured a cutting east wind. The sun beat down on Yonah’s head, and Yonah made himself wilt!

 

He again asked his being to die. He said, “My death is better than my life!”

 

Questions

 

1. How fast had the Kikayon plant grown??

 

2. Why did Elohim need to measure a worm?

 

3. What did the worm do?

 

4. What happened to that large plant?

 

5. Who was at the sunrising of the sun?

 

6. Why did Elohim measure a cutting, east wind, and what is that?

 

7. What did the sun do on this day?

 

8. What did Yonah do in response?

 

9. What does “he asked his being to die” mean?

 

10. Why did he say, “My death is better than my life”?

 

11. Why did Elohim do this—give him a plant that made him glad, then intentionally send a worm, a terrible wind, and the heat of the sun to destroy the plant and to beat down on Yonah’s head?

 

12. Was Yonah right when he said, “My death is better than my life”?

 

 

 

VI. Having Pity (verses 9-11)

 

Elohim said to Yonah, “Is the heat good for thee concerning the Kikayon-plant?” That heat is anger. Yonah replied, “The heat is good for me unto death!” Yonah was angry! Yehovah continued, “Thou, thou didst have pity upon the Kikayon in which thou didst not labour and did not make big, that was the son of a night. And he perished the son of a night.” Yehovah then compared Yonah and the Kikayon to Yehovah and some of the folks of Nineveh: “And I, I will not pity over the big city Nineveh in whom there are many more than 120,000 of Adam who did not know between his right to his left, and multiplied cattle?”

 

Questions

 

1. What did Elohim mean by, “Is the heat good for thee concerning the Kikayon-plant?”

 

2. Yonah stated, “The heat is good for me unto death!” Was he right?

 

3. What did Elohim mean by, “in which thou didst not labour and did not make big”?

 

4. What does “that was the son of a night” mean?

 

5. Why did Yonah pity the plant?

 

6. What does “And he perished the son of a night” mean?

 

7. What does “120,000 of Adam” mean?

 

8. What does “who did not know between his right to his left” mean?

 

9. According to verse 11, according to Elohim, what did Yonah desire Him to do or to not do?

 

10. What does this last part show about Elohim?