Literally, the Hebrew says that God “made houses for them” or “made households for them.” Certainly, this means the midwives were blessed with children of their own. But more than that, the words indicate that these families were established in Israel throughout the generations (see 1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7:11; 1 Kings 2:24, where “making a house” is used in this sense; likewise, “house” is often used to refer to a dynasty of several generations, as in 1 Kings 12:26, Isaiah 7:2). If, as suggested earlier, these midwives were Egyptian, this reward is all the more striking—these foreigners were blessed by God and made part of his people. In any case, it was a fitting reward. The midwives who risked their lives to preserve the families of God’s people were themselves given families.
21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.