- Hebrew name
- שְׁמוֹת
- Book
- Exodus
- Verses
- Ex 1,1–6,1
- Haftara
- Is 27,6–28,13
The book opens with names — it is their title — then with their erasure: a pharaoh "who knew not Joseph" reduces people to a labor force. Against this, two midwives, Shifra and Poua, disobey; the text names them, while it does not name the pharaoh. Jewish memory has retained this asymmetry: the resisters are named, the tyrants are functions.