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Exodus 1:19
ESV The midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them."
NIV The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
NASB The midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.'
CSB The midwives said to Pharaoh, "The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them."
NLT The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,' the midwives replied. 'They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.'
KJV And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
NKJV And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

What does Exodus 1:19 mean?

Pharaoh has ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill male babies (Exodus 1:15–16) to curb the growth of the nation of Israel (Exodus 1:10–14). Seeing that the population is not shrinking, he confronts the women to whom he'd given his initial order. The midwives responded with a lie. While possibly true on rare occasions, their answer is clearly a ploy to protect innocent lives (Exodus 1:18). The implication is that Jewish women are giving birth without a midwife and hiding newborn boys to protect their lives. Pharaoh will address this excuse by expanding his command to all of Egypt, that they throw every Hebrew son into the Nile River (Exodus 1:22). In this way, the king will take away the midwives' ability to oppose his plans.

Interestingly, this command must have been limited according to some kind of time frame. Pharaoh didn't order that all male Israeli newborns be killed, from that day on, forever. For example, Moses was hidden as a newborn to protect his life. However, no mention is made regarding a similar situation for his older brother Aaron. Aaron was likely born early enough to avoid being thrown into the Nile, though Moses was under threat of dying in this way. God's sovereign plan allowed their births to occur at exactly the right times to allow His plan to unfold and bring Israel from slavery to freedom.
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