A frequent misinterpretation of this verse is to treat it as a general endorsement of civil disobedience or deception against any government policy one opposes, ignoring the specific context of Pharaoh's genocidal order that directly violated God's prohibition against murder; in reality, the midwives' courageous stand was grounded solely in their fear of God confronting an unambiguous moral evil, not a license for subjective rebellion or casuistry in less clear situations.
Exodus 1:17
King James Version (1769)
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
Exodus 1:17 reveals the core truth that genuine fear of God takes precedence over obedience to human authority when the two conflict, as exemplified by the Hebrew midwives who refused Pharaoh's command to kill newborn Hebrew boys, choosing instead to preserve innocent lives out of reverence for the divine moral order that values life and justice above tyrannical decrees.