Commentaire sur L’Exode 1:20

וַיֵּיטָב means HE DID GOOD TO THEM. — The following is the difference between certain forms in a word (verb) whose root is two letters when one prefixes ו and י to them: when it intends to express the meaning “and he caused someone or something to do a particular action” (i. e. the 3rd masc. sing, imperf. Hiphil with Vau conversive), the י has the vowel Tzéré which is what we call Kametz Katan, as, (in this verse) “And God dealt well (וַיֶּיטָב) with the midwives” (to Rashi the root it טב; we take it as יטב); (Lamentations 2:5) “וַיָרָב for the daughter of Judah [mourning]” i. e. He increased (made great) the mourning; (root רֹב; we take it as רבה). Similarly (II Chronicles 36:20) “וַיָּגָל the remnant” which occurs in connection with Nebuzaradon, i. e. he caused the remnant to be exiled; (Judges 15:4) וַיָּפָן tail to tail”, i. e. he turned the tails one towards the other (more lit., he caused one tail to turn to the other) — all these express the meaning “he caused others to do something” (i. e. they are of the Hiphil conjugation). When, however, it speaks in the sense of “and he did something” (3rd masc. sing, imperf. Kal with Vau conv.), the י has the vowel Chirik. For example, (Leviticus 10:20) “וַיִיטַב in his eyes” — this means, “it was good”. Similarly (in this verse) the people”, i. e. the people became many; (2 Kings 25:21) “וַיִגָל Judah”, i. e. Judah became an exile; (2:12) “וַיִפֵן this way and that way”, i. e. he turned this way and that way. Do not answer me (do not raise an objection) by quoting the words וַיֵּלֶךְ and וַיֵּשֶׁב and וַיַרֶד and וַיֵּצֵא (saying that these verbal forms also have ו and י prefixed and the י has the vowel Tzéré and yet they are Kal, not Hiphil forms), because these are not of the same class of verbs as those above-mentioned, for the י is part of the root in them — in יֵלֵךְ and יֵשֵׁב and יֵרֵד and יֵצֵא, the י is a third root letter in each of these.

וייטב אלוקים למילדות, G'd dealt well with the midwives, etc. We are entitled to know what precisely were the favours G'd did for the midwives. Perhaps the verse alludes to the houses that are described in the next verse. If that were so, however, there would have been no point in interrupting this sequence by stating that "the people increased and became very powerful." It appears rather that the verse explains the cause of the increase in the numbers of Israelites. The very food and water which the midwives provided resulted in G'd dealing well with the midwives. G'd enabled the midwives to continue their economically expensive efforts to feed the many newly born babies. Had G'd not helped them economically, they would not have had the wherewithal to supply all that food which resulted in the increase of the numbers of Israelites. The Torah reports the reward G'd provided for the midwives themselves only in the next verse where we are told that He built houses for them.

When it speaks in terms of “he did.” Meaning: he himself underwent the action [i.e. a transitive verb].

V. 20. וייטב א׳ למילדות. Siehe oben zu V. 17.

וייטב אלוקים, “G–d dealt well, etc.” Rashi explains this as a reference to the “houses” that G–d built for the midwife. This does not sound plausible, seeing that there is a whole verse between that statement and this verse. We must understand this statement as referring to something in our verse, i.e. the continued increase in the number of Hebrews. When the midwife(es) had told Pharaoh that the Jewish women were so lively that they had no need for midwives to assist them, Pharaoh had called them liars. When Pharaoh realised this, he was forced to agree that a single or even two midwives would not be able to suppress the increase of the Jews in Egypt.

וייטב אלוהים למילדות, “G-d dealt kindly with the midwives.” How did this “goodness” of G-d become evident? Pharaoh did not suspect that the midwives had deliberately let the boys live, but he figured that the contribution by two midwives to the increase in the Israelite population would not be significant, in light of the many Jewish mothers that were giving birth all the time. Therefore he accepted their explanations at face value.

וייטב אלהים למילדת THEREFORE GOD DEALT WELL WITH THE MIDWIVES — What was the good He dealt out to them? The next verse gives the reply to this —

Do not reject my [explanation] because of the words וילך . . . These words [seem problematic because they] also are vocalized with a צירי yet they mean that he himself underwent the action.

The Torah may also have hinted that when G'd realised the degree of piety demonstrated by the midwives, He decided to reward them by providing them with unlimited opportunities to continue their good work. The word וייטב is followed by וירב העם to show cause and effect. The "good" G'd did for the midwives was that they saw their efforts rewarded by an increase in the Israelite population. Who knows if leaders such as Moshe and Aaron were not provided by G'd for Israel as a direct reward for the selfless efforts of Yocheved and Miriam (the two midwives)? From a mystical dimension, Moses is perceived as a soul embracing all of Israel, i.e. our souls are "branches" of Moses' soul as per Isaiah 63,11 where Moses is equated with G'd's people Israel.

According to Rashi who describes the "good" G'd did for the midwives as the houses G'd is reported to have provided for them as mentioned in the next verse, we could say that the Torah first had to mention that the people kept increasing as providing a caste of Priests as well as Royalty, would not make much sense unless there were a sufficient number of Israelites to warrant all this.