Exodus 1:22

Pharaoh charged all his people. The failure of all his plans to weaken the Hebrew people drove the king to acts of open violence. This new decree placed a responsibility on every Egyptian to make the desire of the king his own. The task of exterminating the Hebrews was now shifted from the taskmasters and the midwives to the common people.

Every son. It has been argued that the great number of Israelites at the Exodus precludes any such murderous command ever having been issued. However, it is probable that many Egyptians, who may not have been hostile toward the Israelites, ignored it, or that it remained in force but a short time. Pharaoh may have rescinded the edict upon realizing more fully the advantages to be derived from free slave labor, or as his building plans grew in extent. Since there were so many able-bodied men leaving Egypt 80 years later, this cruel requirement cannot have continued in force for long.

The objection is sometimes raised that it is most unlikely any monarch would have ordered such wholesale and cold-blooded destruction of innocent children. It is to be observed, however, that in ancient times human life, particularly that of anyone of another race or nation, was lightly regarded. It was a common thing to massacre prisoners taken in war, to annihilate entire populations, and to sacrifice unwanted children to the gods.