Puah

The name belongs to two unrelated figures in scope. One is a Hebrew midwife under Pharaoh; the other is the father of the judge Tola.

The Hebrew Midwife

The opening of Exodus names two midwives by name as the king of Egypt sets out to control the Israelite birthrate: "And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah" (Ex 1:15). Puah is paired with Shiphrah and stands at the front of the Exodus story as one of the two women whose names are recorded at the moment Pharaoh issues his demand.

The Father of Tola

The other Puah surfaces in the period of the judges. "And after Abimelech, there arose to save Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in the hill-country of Ephraim" (Jdg 10:1). Here Puah is named only in his son's patronymic — Tola son of Puah, of the tribe of Issachar — placing this figure in the genealogy that links the deliverer to his Issacharite line.