| |
| |
 |
Media |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Women of ubuntu: Shiphrah and Puah |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
(By Rev Majaha Nhliziyo)
|
| |
|
| |
The story of the Exodus begins with an account of how the children of Israel came to be in Egypt, here in Africa. Starting off being few in number, they actually came as refugees enjoying the protection of the good offices of their long-lost brother, Joseph. And the story continues to a next stage where a king "who knew not Joseph", came to power and changed the Egyptian policy towards the children of Israel. How were they going to deal with the new situation?
They could have gone on strike or fled to the desert. Or they could have capitulated and worked harder at their tasks and won the favour of the Egyptians. But whatever course of action they could take, a lot of suffering and lay between them and their liberation. In such contexts of suffering and struggle, heroes and heroines are often borne as they make their daily contributions for a better life. One such pair of Heroines were the two women, Shiphrah and Puah, who were midwives to the Hebrews. |
| |
|
| |
Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people, "the Israelites have become too numerous for us. Come we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous, and if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labour in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labour, the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in child birth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him, but if it is a girl let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." Exodus 1: 8 - 19 |
| |
|
| |
This story is so rich about the reality of the human situation in its varied manifestations. Let us pick a few points: |
| |
|
| |
- A new king, "who did not know about Joseph" came into power in Egypt. Often when people, rulers in particular, want to oppress others they start by trying to change history or suppressing or distorting the facts. This is done with the hope that the hope that 'their perception of history' will replace the 'undesirable' history. In our story the king of Egypt is said to have 'not known Joseph'! It sounds untrue that one could take over a government and have been unaware of the key players of the previous rulers.
Perhaps it was the principles of Joseph's reign which troubled the conscience of the new rulers and hence the pretence to have not known who Joseph was. Let us suggest that Joseph's leadership principles were those of justice, hospitality, sharing and, in short, ubuntu. (Ubuntu refers to that intrinsic humanness that is essential for peaceful co-existence in society). Ubuntu is the ingredient makes healthy relations, where one sees others as members of a functional family.
- Realizing that the Hebrews were becoming numerous and strong, he conjured up a mentality of fear, divide and rule, which was xenophobic and basically racist. It is an attitude that could only see the growing numbers of the Hebrews as a threat instead of being an opportunity for better service delivery. Surely history has repeated itself several times over in this instance of hatred and fear of other human beings to the point of treating them like trash. Slavery, apartheid, genocides can all be seen as variations of the same 'hate' policy that the king of Egypt was working on.
- When the first plan of hard labour did not produce the desired results, a new policy had to be ushered in. For this to work it required the involvement of a section of the hated population, that is the midwives, who were to become midwives of death. It is typical for all dictators to use the policy of 'divide and rule', in order to keep the oppressed squabbling over trivialities, such as meaningless quota systems of gender, youth, persons with disabilities, in order to appear to meet the legal requirements. The poor have to unite and be alert to the temptations of co-option to the systems of the pharaohs/empires of the day.
- But God being God of grace, did not let the defenceless infants on their own. Shiphrah and Puah, had that presence of the spirit of ubuntu that they could not be part of an infant killing-machine. Shiphrah and Puah were very courageous women. (Indeed, 'Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo!' 'You touch a woman, you touch a rock!'), They dared to disobey an unjust command of the king. And this was risky business on their part as they could have been charged with treason. Not only were they courageous, they were also intelligent. They saw-off the king's inquest when he continued to see the strong and healthy little boys running in the streets in increasing numbers!
- As the story ends with the triumphant voices of Shiphrah and Puah declaring that 'the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, they are vigorous! The Deuteronomist editor could not resist the urge to add: "So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live." Exodus 1: 20 - 22
- And let us not think that the king of Egypt spared the Hebrew girls out of any goodwill. It was rather out of more sinister motives for the exploitation of the girl child. His new national policy required the numbers of the Hebrews should be reduced while the Egyptians should increase. Girls were thus to be "used" as child bearing machines for the system! One lesson from this is that we should be alert to the schemes of the evil one. (Lord deliver us from the evil one). We need to discern the subtle systems that continue to keep other people in eternal subjugation. Let us continue to interrogate even the so called progressive systems, knowing that liberation is not an event but a life-long process of suffering and struggle to be free.
|
| |
|
| |
Prayer-thought: |
| |
Lord, God of Shiphrah and Puah, may our mothers and sisters, be filled with the spirit of ubuntu, which is love, freedom and justice. Give us discerning hearts that shall lead us to actions of courage for the sake of oppressed and downtrodden people in our world. Amen. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
Social Media |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
| |
| Devotional |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
