The Hidden Glitter of a Holy Midwife

There is a name spoken only once in all of Scripture, yet it shimmers with a light that refuses to be extinguished. The word Pûwʻâh appears but a single time in the sacred canon, a solitary gem set within the tapestry of Israel's deliverance. Its root, the sages teach, comes from a verb meaning to glitter or to sparkle — a brilliancy that is not of this world. This is the name of a woman who stood at the threshold of life when death itself had been decreed against the seed of Abraham. Her name is Puah, and her story is a whisper of the Messiah who would one day glitter from within the shadows of Egypt.

The Naming of a Hidden Heroine

We are not told who gave Puah her name, nor do we hear the voice of her father or mother blessing her at birth. Yet the name itself carries its own testimony. In the paleo-Hebrew script, the letter pey is a mouth, and ayin is an eye — together they speak of one who sees and speaks with clarity. The ancient rabbis observed that a name is not merely a label but a prophecy, a window into the soul's purpose. Puah's name, meaning brilliancy, suggests that she was born to reflect a light that would cut through the darkness of Pharaoh's decree. She appears alongside Shiphrah in the book of Exodus, and together these two women become the invisible hands that preserve the hope of Israel. You must understand that their naming was not accidental — the Holy One of Israel engraves purpose into every syllable He allows to be spoken over a life.

The Defining Moment: Fear of God Over Fear of Man

Puah's first and only appearance in Scripture is her defining moment, and it is a moment of breathtaking courage. Exodus 1:15-17 records that the king of Egypt commanded these midwives to kill every Hebrew son at birth. Yet the text declares with simplicity and power: "But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive." This was not a small act of rebellion. It was a declaration that the fear of the Eternal outweighs the terror of any earthly throne. Puah and Shiphrah stood between the decree of a tyrant and the covenant of Abraham, and they chose the covenant. The rabbis of old taught that the Holy One counts a single act of righteousness as more precious than all the gold of Egypt. In that moment, Puah glittered — not with the shine of jewels, but with the radiance of a soul that knows its Creator.

No Fall, Only Faithfulness

Unlike so many figures in Scripture, Puah's story contains no failure, no fall, no moment of wandering from the path. She appears, she acts, and she is blessed. Exodus 1:20-21 tells us that because the midwives feared God, He made them houses — households that would endure through generations. This is a profound lesson for you: faithfulness does not always require a dramatic redemption arc. Sometimes the greatest testimony is simply that you stood where others would have fallen. Puah did not waver, and the Holy One did not forget. Her house was built not of stone or mortar, but of the living promise that those who honor God will themselves be honored. The early church understood this as a foretaste of the reward that awaits those who suffer for righteousness' sake, as Yeshua taught in the Beatitudes.

The Covenant of Hidden Light

The promise attached to Puah's life is subtle yet eternal. She received no land, no throne, no public monument. Her covenant was written in the lives she spared. Every child who survived because of her courage carried within him the seed of the covenant — the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jewish tradition holds that the midwives were not merely preserving infants; they were preserving the very Word of God, which would one day take on flesh. The sages teach that when you save a single life, it is as if you have saved an entire world. Puah saved many worlds. And in doing so, she became a living link in the chain that would lead from the slave pits of Egypt to the hill of Golgotha. Her covenant was not written on parchment but engraved in the souls of the children she delivered.

The Gematria of Glory

The name Pûwʻâh carries a gematria of one hundred and sixty-one. The rabbis of old delighted in the hidden mathematics of Scripture, seeing in numbers the fingerprints of the Divine. The number one hundred and sixty-one is the sum of kaph (20), pey (80), ayin (70), and heh (5) — but more significantly, it is also the value of the Hebrew word nehash, meaning serpent, and of kadosh, meaning holy. Do you see the mystery? Puah's name connects the serpent of the garden with the holiness of God. She stood against the serpent's ancient seed — the power of Pharaoh who sought to crush the head of the Deliverer. Her gematria whispers of Genesis 3:15, where the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head. Puah was a midwife of that Seed, a guardian of the promise that would one day glitter in the manger of Bethlehem.

Puah as a Shadow of the Messiah

How does this hidden midwife point to Yeshua? Consider this: Puah's name means brilliancy, and the prophet Malachi spoke of the Messiah as the "Sun of Righteousness" who would rise with healing in His wings (Malachi 4:2). Yeshua Himself declared, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Puah glittered with a borrowed light, but she pointed to the One who is light itself. She preserved the physical life of Israel so that the spiritual Life of the world could one day be born. The apostolic tradition teaches that every act of obedience in the Tanakh is a thread woven into the garment of the Messiah. Puah's hands, which caught the newborn Hebrew boys, were preparing the way for the hands that would one heal the sick and raise the dead. She is a type of those who work in obscurity but whose labor echoes into eternity.

A Charge to You, Beloved

So what does Puah say to you today? She says that your hidden acts of faithfulness are not hidden from the Holy One. You may never have your name inscribed in a history book; you may never stand on a stage or receive the applause of men. But if you fear God more than you fear the powers of this age, your house will be built. The children you nurture, the lives you protect, the light you carry in secret — all of it is seen by the One who sits above the cherubim. Puah glittered in the shadows of Egypt, and her light has not been extinguished. Go now and do likewise. Let your fear of God be greater than your fear of any Pharaoh. Let your hands be open to receive the vulnerable. And let your life be a brilliancy that points to the coming of the Sun of Righteousness, who is Yeshua the Messiah. May the blessing of the midwives rest upon you, and may your house be made strong in the covenant of Abraham.