Bible Dictionary
BIRTH-STOOL
A birth stool or seat used by Hebrew women in Egypt. The Hebrew term has a dual form, perhaps referring to a construction of two parts like the two discs of a potter's wheel.
Definition
A birth-stool was a seat used by Hebrew women in Egypt during childbirth. Its Hebrew name is also used for the potter’s wheel and occurs in a dual form.
Biblical Usage
The birth-stool appears in the account of Pharaoh’s oppression of the Hebrew women and his command to the midwives concerning male births.
Historical Background
The dual form may indicate that the birth-stool, like the potter’s wheel, consisted of two parts or discs.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>burth'-stool: Found only in Ex 1:16, in connection with Hebrew women in Egypt when oppressed by Pharaoh. The Hebrew ('obhnayim) here rendered "birth-stool" is used in Jer 18:3, and is there rendered "potter's wheel." The word is used in both places in the dual form, which points, no doubt, to the fact that the potter's wheel was composed of two discs, and suggests that the birth-stool was similarly double.</p><p>See STOOL.</p>