the “Hebrew” midwives and suggested that they kill the baby boys at birth—they could have claimed that they had been stillborn. The fact that only two midwives are mentioned presents a problem to be dealt with later, when we consider the number of Israelites as a whole. The suggestion that these were the only two names remembered by tradition is hardly adequate, for it runs counter to the whole impression created by the story. It is not clear whether the Pharaoh thought that his power and majesty