Feared God suggests they feared the Israelite God more than they feared the king. In the Old Testament the expression “to fear God” or “to fear the LORD” is sometimes used to describe the feeling of reverence or respect in the worship of God, as in Psa 34.11 and Pro 1.7. Quite often it is used to describe the combined experience of fear and awe in the presence of God, especially when God reveals himself in an unusual way, as in Exo 14.31. (See also Exo 3.6.)

Therefore the translator must guard against weakening the element of fear unless the context warrants it. Since no more is known of these midwives than what is found in verses 15-21, it is better to assume the meaning of fear. It may be necessary to specify that “they feared what God would do to them if they obeyed the king.” In some languages there will be expressions meaning “to be in awe of,” suggesting both “reverence” and “fear” combined. Translators should use such an expression in this context.

The clause beginning with and did not do is a result clause based on the midwives’ fear of God. Good News Translation‘s “and so” makes this clear. But let the male children live is literally “but they kept alive the male children.” It means they allowed the boys to live. It is possible to restructure this verse as follows: “But the two women had great reverence for God. So they let the boys live, even though the king had ordered them to kill them.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .