The Mysterious Midwives in Egypt (Copy)

(15) The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, (16) saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” (17) The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live.

(15) שפרה SHIPHRAH — This was Jochebed...פועה PUAH — This was Miriam...

It could be like Rashi said, or it could be the other way around. However, it makes the most sense to say like Rashi said.

(15) למילדת “to the midwife;” there is a disagreement in the Talmud regarding the identity of these two women. According to one opinion they were Yocheved and her daughter Miriam. According to the second opinion, they were mother-in- law Yocheved, and her daughter-in-law. Elisheva, wife of Aaron. (Talmud Sotah, folio 11)

-An alternate interpretation: this interpretation takes its cue from the fact that the Torah spelled the word מילדת in the singular mode instead of with the letter ו, seeing that there were two women. According to the spelling there was only a single midwife, Yocheved. Miriam was a teenager not capable yet of acting as a midwife, rather she acted as a bleater.

The Midwives were actually Egyptians, because if they were Jews- why would the Torah feel the need to tell me "they feared G-d?!"

שפרה SHIPHRAH — This was Jochebed; she bore this additional name because she used to put the babe after its birth into good physical condition (משפרת) by the care she bestowed upon it (Sotah 11b)...פועה PUAH — This was Miriam, and she bore this additional name because she used to Call aloud and speak and croon to the babe just as women do who soothe a child when it is crying (Sotah 11b).

(15) למילדת Another interpretation is that it means to help the infant cry while still inside its mother’s womb encouraging it to emerge from the womb as fast as possible.

(13) And the king of Egypt said to the midwives, etc. Who are the midwives. Rav says a woman and her daughter in law - Yocheved and Elisheva bat Aminadav. And Rabi Shmuel bar Nachman says a woman and her daughter Yocheved and Miriam. That one of their names was Shifra - she beautified the baby when it would come out full of blood. Puah - that she squirted wine into the babies mouth after it came out of its mother. Another thing, Shifra: that B"Y were fruitful and multiplied under her. Puah: that she would cause the newborn to cry out when it was thought to be stillborn. Another thing, Shifra that she beautified her actions before Hashem Another thing, Puah - that she appeared to B"Y for Hashem - she taught B"Y. Puah - she was insolent (hofi’ah panim) toward Pharaoh and looked down her nose at him. She told him: “Woe to you on the day of judgment, when God will come to demand punishment of you.” Pharaoh immediately became enraged and wanted to kill her. Shifra, that she beautified her daughters words to Paraoh and mollified him and said to him: “Do you take notice of her? She is a baby, and knows nothing” (Ex. Rabbah, loc. cit.). Rav Chanina the son of Rav Yitzchak said: Shifra: that she supported Yisrael for Hashem that for them the world was created that it says, By His breath He made the heavens. In another midrashic account, she was called Puah because of her insolence which, in this depiction, was directed against her father Amram. When Pharaoh ordered the Israelite boys to be cast into the Nile, Amram said: “Shall an Israelite lie with his wife for nothing?” He immediately separated from Jochebed and divorced her. When the Israelites saw this action by Amram, who was the head of the Sanhedrin at the time, they also divorced their wives. Puah told her father: “Father, your decree is harsher than that of Pharaoh! He only decreed against the males, but you have decreed against both the males and the females. It is doubtful whether the decree of the wicked Pharaoh will come to pass, but you are righteous, and so your decree will be fulfilled.” Amram immediately took back his wife, and following his lead, all the other Israelite men did the same. Miriam was accordingly given the name of Puah, since she was insolent (hofi’ah panim) to her father.