“And these are the names … And it was, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses.” (Shemot, 1:1,21) It is the nature of human fear that when one experiences it he has no peace of mind, for fear is the opposite of peace of mind. However, with the fear of God, one experiences confidence and comfort. “And He made them houses,” teaches of this, for “houses” teaches of an organized, settled mind; and then it follows that when they had a settled mind from the fear of E-lohim they had no fear from the decree of Pharaoh. This is “and He made them houses.” This is the explanation of the verse (Bereshit, 49:13), “Zevulun shall dwell on the ocean shore, and he shall be a shore for ships,” for “ocean” teaches of fear and “ship” teaches of a settled mind. As it is said in the Gemara (Bava Metsia, 9b), “a ship is at rest.”
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת וכו' וַיְהִי כִּי יָרְאוּ הַמְיַלְּדוֹת וכו' וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים. דְּהִנֵּה יִרְאַת בָּשָׂר וָדָם כְּשֶׁאָדָם מִתְיָירֵא מִפְּנֵי אָדָם אֵין בּוֹ יִישּׁוּב הַדַּעַת, כִּי יִרְאָה הוּא הֵיפֶךְ מִזֶּה, אַךְ יִרְאַת הַש"י יֵשׁ בָּהּ נַיְיחָא. וְעַל זֶה מוֹרֶה "וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים" כִּי בַּיִת מוֹרֶה עַל יִישּׁוּב הַדַּעַת, וּמִמֵּילָא כַּאֲשֶׁר הָיָה לָהֶם יִישּׁוּב הַדַּעַת מֵחֲמַת יִרְאַת אֱלֹקִים לֹא הָיָה לָהֶם שׁוּם פַּחַד מִגְּזֵירַת פַּרְעֹה, וְזֶהוּ "וַיַּעַשׂ לָהֶם בָּתִּים", וְזֶה פֵּירוּשׁ הַפָּסוּק (בראשית מ"ט,י"ג) "זְבוּלֻן לְחוֹף יַמִּים יִשְׁכֹּן וְהוּא לְחוֹף אֳנִיּוֹת", יָם מוֹרֶה עַל יִרְאָה וָאֳנִיָּה מוֹרֶה עַל יִישּׁוּב הַדַּעַת, וְהוּא שֶׁבְּיִרְאָתוֹ נִמְצָא יִישּׁוּב הַדַּעַת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ בַּגְּמָרָא (בבא מציעא ט':) "סְפִינָה מֵינָח נָיְיחָא".
“And these are the names … And it was, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses.” (Shemot, 1:1,21)
It is the nature of human fear that when one experiences it he has no peace of mind, for fear is the opposite of peace of mind. However, with the fear of God, one experiences confidence and comfort. “And He made them houses,” teaches of this, for “houses” teaches of an organized, settled mind; and then it follows that when they had a settled mind from the fear of E-lohim they had no fear from the decree of Pharaoh. This is “and He made them houses.” This is the explanation of the verse (Bereshit, 49:13), “Zevulun shall dwell on the ocean shore, and he shall be a shore for ships,” for “ocean” teaches of fear and “ship” teaches of a settled mind. As it is said in the Gemara (Bava Metsia, 9b), “a ship is at rest.”