King James Version

Exodus 1:18

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive?

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Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

וַיִּקְרָ֤אvayiqraand callקָרָאconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and call”, the next action in the storyH7121to call out to (i.e. properly, address by name, but used in a wide variety of applications)bewray (self), that are bidden, call (for, forth, self, upon), cry (unto), (be) famous, guest, invite, mention, (give) name, preach, (make) proclaim(-ation), pronounce, publish, read, renowned, say.מֶֽלֶךְmelekhkingמֶלֶךְnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “king”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4428a kingking, royal.מִצְרַ֨יִם֙mitsrayimEgyptמִצְרַיִםnoun, proper name — “Egypt”H4714Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower EgyptEgypt, Egyptians, Mizraim.לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֔תlamyaldotto bearיָלַדpreposition, with the article, verb, piel, participle, absolute — “to bear”, a verb used as a describing wordH3205to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineagebear, beget, birth(-day), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (wom…וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvayomerand sayאָמַרconjunction, verb, qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “and say”, the next action in the storyH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…לָהֶ֔ןlahentoלָהֶ֔ןpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, feminine, plural — “to”toמַדּ֥וּעַmaduawhyמַדּוּעַparticle, interrogative — “why”H4069what (is) known?; i.e. (by implication) (adverbially) why?how, wherefore, why.עֲשִׂיתֶ֖ןasitendoעָשָׂהverb, qal, perfect, 2nd person, feminine, plural — “do”, a completed actionH6213to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationaccomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, [idiom] certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, [phrase] displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, f…הַדָּבָ֣רhadavarthe causeדָּבָרdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “the cause”, the ordinary formH1697a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a causeact, advice, affair, answer, [idiom] any such (thing), because of, book, business, care, case, cause, certain rate, [phrase] chronicles, commandment, [idiom] commune(-ication), [phrase] concern(-ing), [phrase] confer, counsel, [phrase] dea…הַזֶּ֑הhazehthe the one...the otherזֶהdefinite article, pronoun, demonstrative, masculine, singular — “the the one...the other”H2088the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thathe, [idiom] hence, [idiom] here, it(-self), [idiom] now, [idiom] of him, the one...the other, [idiom] than the other, ([idiom] out of) the (self) same, such (a one) that, these, this (hath, man), on this side...on that side, [idiom] thus,…וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָvatchayeynaand liveחָיָהconjunction, verb, piel, sequential imperfect, 2nd person, feminine, plural — “and live”, the next action in the storyH2421to live, whether literally or figuratively; causatively, to revivekeep (leave, make) alive, [idiom] certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life), revive, ([idiom] God) save (alive, life, lives), [idiom] surely, be whole.אֶתetobject markerאֵתparticle, direct object marker — “object marker”H853properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)(as such unrepresented in English).הַיְלָדִֽיםhayladimthe childיֶלֶדdefinite article, noun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “the child”, the ordinary formH3206something born, i.e. a lad or offspringboy, child, fruit, son, young man (one).

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them: 'Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?'

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?

Young’s Literal Translation

and the king of Egypt calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads alive?'

World English Bible

The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?”

Darby Translation

And the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, Why have ye done this, and saved the male children alive?

Douay-Rheims

And the king called for them and said: What is that you meant to do, that you would save the men children?

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them: 'Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?'

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, Why is it that ye have done this thing, and saved the male children alive?

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Ἐκάλεσε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς Αἰγύπτου τὰς μαίας, καὶ εἶπεν αὐταῖς, τί ὅτι ἐποιήσατε τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο, καὶ ἐζωογονεῖτε τὰ ἄρσενα;