Birthing Resistance: Ethical Decision-Making,Discomfort and Adaptability in Afro-Feminist,Womanist and Intersectional Readings of Exodus 1:15–22

Abstract

This article explores the themes of ethical decision-making, discomfort and adaptability through an Afro-feminist, Womanist and intersectional reading of Exodus 1:15–22, the narrative of the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah. In the face of Pharaoh’s genocidal decree, these women exercise moral defiance, strategic resistance and adaptive agency, embodying principles central to African and Black feminist traditions. Their refusal to comply with systemic oppression highlights the necessity of ethical courage in the face of power, a theme that resonates with contemporary struggles for justice and equity. Through a hermeneutic of discomfort, this study interrogates how ethical decision-making often requires embracing vulnerability and risk, particularly for marginalized women navigating intersecting oppressions. Engaging Afro-feminist and Womanist thought, the article situates Shiphrah and Puah within an African cultural lens, drawing parallels with historical and contemporary African women who resist patriarchal and colonial structures. Emphasizing adaptability as a survival strategy, challenges traditional readings of the text to offers an alternative theological vision of using a hermeneutic of discomfort to celebrate embodied resistance, communal care and the power of disobedience in the service of life. This study contributes to feminist biblical scholarship by demonstrating how an intersectional approach to the Old Testament elevates narratives of subversive agency and ethical resilience, offering valuable insights for contemporary struggles for justice and liberation.