Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
Ver. 20. Dealt well with the midwives.] God is a liberal paymaster: and his retributions are more than bountiful. "Be ye therefore steadfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." 1Co 15:58
And the people multiplied.] Sic divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur: humana sapientia, dum reluctatur, comprehenditur, as Gregory hath it. a "There are many devices in the heart of a man: but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand." Pro 19:21 Among the Romans, the more children any man had, the more he was freed from public burdens. And of Adrian the Emperor it is storied, that when those that had many children were accused of any crime, he mitigated their punishment according to the number of their children. b But these poor Israelites were otherwise used.
a Greg., Moral.
b Dio, in Adriano.