This study is to reconsider the translation of ????????? in Exodus 1:16 from the perspective of textual criticism. In most Korean Bibles, this word is not even translated into Korean. The problem is not in incorrect translation but non-translation, which translators should avoid at all times. The Korean Bibles translate the Pharaoh’s command to the Hebrew midwives like “you should look at them closely, if it is a boy, kill him…” As a result, those translations do not deliver the hidden sign of ‘secrecy’ originally embedded in Pharaoh’s command of killing Hebrew male infants. According to them, all the midwives had to do was to look at a child closely and find out that infant’s sex. In this context, the answer of the midwives when they were asked by the king is hardly understandable to the readers. It is because the late arrival of the midwives does not justify the inability of killing male infants no matter how well the interpreters defend the translated texts.
In contrast to Korean Bibles, most English Bibles translate the word ????????? as BHS writes it in v.16. Therefore, their translations go as follows: “when you see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him…” We know that the word ????????? could be translated in several ways because the scholars are not sure about its exact meaning. Literally, it means ‘two stones’ whatever it actually means in the context of Exo 1:16. I compared several leading scholars’ interpretations of this word and analyzed their arguments in this study. LXX does not translate this word and simply says “they are at the point of giving birth” as if the word is not there. It is possible that Korean Bibles follow the LXX translation as they had done before.
When the English translations reveal the existence of the word ????????? they show the secrecy hidden in the Pharaoh’s command of killing the infants. The first measure the king took in order to reduce Israel’s population was to make them work more. The command itself did not have any secrecy but it did not work at all. This second measure focused on the secrecy because the king feared whether Israel became furious about this command of killing their babies. The fact of the matter was that the midwives had to kill the infants secretly. Therefore, this crucial secrecy was delivered to the midwives in the command by using the word ?????????. As BHS has it in the text, the Korean Bibles should translate the word in order to let the readers know the secrecy of the king’s command and understand the shrewdness of the midwives’ answer.