Why would Pharaoh want to kill only the male children?

If Pharaoh simply wanted to reduce Israel’s population, he would not have made any distinction between the boys and the girls. Similarly, his plan was not driven by economic reasons, since the Israelite men were essential to his labor force. But targeting the boys would weaken the military strength of Israel (see Exodus 1:10). It would also allow the women to be taken as wives by the Egyptians so that they could produce children for Egypt instead. Perhaps their astonishing fertility (Exodus 1:7) was attractive in this regard.¹

Whatever Pharaoh’s earthly reasons, his attack on the Israelite boys is ultimately satanic. In Genesis 3:15, God promised a male child who would crush the head of the serpent and said that there would be enmity between this child and the offspring of Satan. As the seed of the serpent, Pharaoh is trying to prevent the coming of this deliverer by killing the boys. In light of this passage, it is unsurprising that Pharaoh would want to assimilate the women into Egypt (see Genesis 12:10–20, a passage that foreshadows the exodus). The serpent has gone after the woman ever since the beginning, either to deceive (Genesis 3:1) or destroy (Revelation 12:13–17). What better way to prevent the birth of the redeemer than by taking the women to produce seed for the serpent instead!