Blessings to You Ado-nai Our God Sovereign of the Universe who made us holy with the mitzvoth and instructed us to busy ourselves with the study of Torah (i.e. to 'soak' ourselves in the study of Torah).
שֶׁבַע נְבִיאוֹת מַאן נִינְהוּ שָׂרָה מִרְיָם דְּבוֹרָה חַנָּה אֲבִיגַיִל חוּלְדָּה וְאֶסְתֵּר שָׂרָה
§ The Gemara asks with regard to the prophetesses recorded in the baraita: Who were the seven prophetesses? The Gemara answers: Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, and Sarah.
(5) "She rises while it is still night" - this is Batya, the daughter of Pharaoh. She was a gentile and became a Jewess and they mentioned her name among the proper [women], since she took care of Moshe. Therefore she merited and entered the Garden of Eden in her lifetime. "She sets her mind on a field and acquires it; [she plants a vineyard from the produce of her hand]" - this is Yocheved, that from her came Moshe who is equivalent to all of Israel, which is called a vineyard, as it states (Isaiah 5:7), "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the House of Israel." "She girds her loins with strength" - this is Miriam, as before Moshe was born, she said, "In the future, my mother will give birth to the savior of Israel." Once he was born and the yoke upon them became heavier, her father got up and bopped her on the head. He said to her, "Where is your prophecy?" And he got up and spit in front of her face. And nonetheless, she exerted herself about her prophecy, as it is written (Exodus 2:4), "And his sister stood from a distance."
שמות ט״ו:כ׳
(כ) וַתִּקַּח֩ מִרְיָ֨ם הַנְּבִיאָ֜ה אֲח֧וֹת אַהֲרֹ֛ן אֶת־הַתֹּ֖ף בְּיָדָ֑הּ וַתֵּצֶ֤אןָ כָֽל־הַנָּשִׁים֙ אַחֲרֶ֔יהָ בְּתֻפִּ֖ים וּבִמְחֹלֹֽת׃
Exodus 15:20
(20) Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance with timbrels.
רבנו בחיי, שמות ט״ו:כ׳:א׳
(א) ותקח מרים הנביאה. על דרך הפשט אמר אחות אהרן כדי שיהיו שלשת האחים משה אהרן ומרים נזכרים בשירה הזאת, ועוד כי דרך הכתוב ליחס האדם על גדול האחים כענין שכתוב (בראשית לו) ואחות לוטן תמנע. ואפשר עוד לומר שהזכיר אחות אהרן כדי שיסמיכנו לתוף שהוא כנגד צדק וכתיב באהרן (איוב כט) צדק לבשתי וילבשני, בשכבר ידעת כי במזמור (תהלים קנ) הללו אל בקדשו יש בו עשר הלולים ויש בו תשעה מיני זמר מכוונים למשכיל כנגד תשעת הגלגלים, התוף הוא כנגד צדק, ומחול כנגד מאדים, וזהו שאמר אהרן את התוף.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 15:20:1
(1) ותקח מרים הנביאה, “Miriam the prophetess took, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the text the reason the Torah added the words “sister of Aaron,” — something we were well aware of — was to ensure that the three siblings Moses, Aaron, and Miriam should all have their names associated with this song. Another reason is connected with good form. It is customary that when the name of a person is introduced we relate it to his or her oldest brother as we find in Genesis 36,22: “the sister of Lotan was Timnah.” It is also possible that Aaron was mentioned in order for her to obtain permission to use the percussion instrument drum, seeing a drum is an instrument connected with the planet (zodiac sign) Jupiter. Each of the planets had a musical instrument which was specifically associated with that planet, the drum being that associated with Jupiter. We have a verse in Job 29,14 צדק לבשתי וילבשני, “I clothed myself in righteousness and it robed me.” This verse is understood to refer to Aaron’s priestly garments. The word צדק then appears both as meaning “Jupiter” and as meaning “Aaron.” Miriam had to obtain Aaron’s permission to use the drum. You are aware that Psalm 150 contains 10 “hallelujahs” of G’d but only nine musical instruments corresponding to nine celestial bodies — horn, harp, lyre, timbrel, dance (מחול), lute, pipe, cymbals, loud-clashing cymbals. [More on this subject on Exodus 32,19.] The words אהרון את התוף are a clear allusion that there was a conceptual linkage between Aaron and the instrument called תוף.
רבנו בחיי, שמות ט״ו:כ׳:ג׳
(ג) ומה ששורה הנבואה על אשה נראה לומר שאין לתמוה שהרי מין האדם היא ואדם נקראת שנאמר (בראשית ה) ויקרא את שמם אדם. והנה מזה אמרו שרה היתה נביאה כמרים או גדולה ממנה שנקראת יסכה על שם שסוכה ברוח הקדש, ודרשו רז"ל (בראשית כא) כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה וגו', מלמד שהיה אברהם טפל לשרה בנבואה, אבל הכתוב לא הזכיר נבואה עד מרים, או מטעם מדרש שהזכרתי, או מטעם שרצה להמתין עד זמן הגלות השכינה שעליו אמרו רז"ל ראתה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראה יחזקאל, והודיענו כי מרים הנביאה מקלסת לשכינה וכל הנשים אחריה ואומרת השירה הזו בעצמה כמשה ובני ישראל.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 15:20:3
(3) We need to understand why the prophetic spirit was entrusted to a woman rather than to a man. Actually, there is hardly anything surprising in this; after all woman is as much part of the species as is man. Did not the Torah refer to both of them as אדם in Genesis 5,2? Our sages (Megillah 14) claim that Sarah was not inferior to Miriam in her prophetic qualities seeing the Torah refers to her as יסכה (Genesis 11,29) which means means that she saw things with her Holy Spirit. Shemot Rabbah 1,1 claims that the word in Genesis 21,12 where G’d told Avraham to listen to all that Sarah would tell him prove that as a prophet Avraham was junior to Sarah. This is the view of the Midrash. The fact is that the Torah itself does not mention prophecy in connection with a woman until Miriam. The reason that this is the time the matter of Miriam’s prophecy was revealed is either to teach us that she possessed this gift prior to Moses’ birth or because the Torah wanted to wait with telling us this until the Shechinah itself had been exiled. The Torah wanted to allude to the statement we have already quoted that the quality of the prophetic visions granted even to women at the bottom of the social register at the time of the crossing of the sea surpassed that of the visions granted to the great prophet Ezekiel. Hence the Torah saw fit to record that not only Miriam but all her colleagues broke out in song and dance praising the Lord. The Midrash (Mechilta Shirah 3) means that Miriam and her colleagues broke out in that song spontaneously; they did not paraphrase the words Moses had composed but composed their own.
רבנו בחיי, שמות ט״ו:כ׳:ד׳
(ד) ועוד תמצא עקרים גדולים שבתורה מפורשים ע"י נשים כענין העוה"ב הנקרא צרור החיים ע"י אביגיל, וענין תחיית המתים וסדרי תחנה על ידי חנה, וענין הגלגול ע"י התקועית וכל זה יורה שאין האשה דבר טפל לגמרי אבל יש לה עקר. ודרשו רז"ל במסכת מגילה שבע נביאות הן אלו הן, שרה, מרים, חנה, דבורה, חולדה, אביגיל, אסתר, וזה כנגד שבע מדות המקבלות וזה מבואר.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 15:20:4
(4) There are numerous other fundamental aspects of Torah which have been taught to the people by women. One such fundamental concept is the spelling out of the existence of spiritual life after death which Abigail mentioned to David when she explained to him that by not taking revenge on her wicked husband Naval he would merit to be accorded special status in that hereafter (See Samuel I 25,29 where participation in the hereafter is called והיתה אדוני צרורה בצרור החיים את ה' אלו-היך, “and may the soul of my lord be joined to the bundle of life in the care of the Lord”). Another major contribution about fundamentals of our faith was provided by Chanah (mother of the prophet Samuel) when she referred to the resurrection in her prayer of thanksgiving after Samuel had been born and she brought him to the High Priest Eli (Samuel I 2,6); compare Rosh Hashanah 17. The fundamental belief in transmigration of souls was taught by the woman from Tekoah (Samuel II 14,14) when she told David that “G’d would not take away life from a person in such a way that nothing remains, etc.” All of these examples I mention to show that woman is not to regarded as a mere subsidiary to the male. She is a mainstay of the tenets of Judaism in a number of spheres. [Perhaps the fact that the author enumerates only examples connected with life and earth is due to the fact that it is woman’s domain to bring forth life on earth. Ed.] Our sages in Megillah 14 have taught that there were a total of seven women-prophetesses: Sarah, Miriam, Chanah, Devorah, Chuldah, Avigail and Esther. The number corresponds to the seven attributes which are of a passive nature (חסד, גבורה, תפארת, נצח, הוד, יסוד, מלכות).
רבנו בחיי, שמות ט״ו:כ׳:ה׳
(ה) בתפים ובמחולות. היו הנשים האלו גדולות בחכמה, וכמו שדרשו רז"ל ראתה שפחה על הים מה שלא ראה יחזקאל והיו מהן שהיתה כוונתן לשמים ומהן שהיתה כוונתן רעה לכך היו יוצאות במחולות בשכבר ידעת כי המחול כנגד מאדים ומזה תמצא במעשה העגל (שמות לב) וירא את העגל ומחולות ושם אאריך בזה בעזה"י.
Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 15:20:5
(5) בתופים ובמחולות, “with drums and dances.” The women mentioned here were extremely wise as we mentioned earlier. They had experienced visions not granted to the greatest prophets bar Moses. Some of them were motivated by pure motives, others had unacceptable motives. The ones who engaged in dancing had unacceptable motives as the “dance” as a musical instrument was the one associated with the planet Mars, a symbol of warfare, violence. The negative impact of that “instrument” became evident at the time of the golden calf where the Torah reports the woshippers as indulging in מחולות, (Exodus 34,19). I will have more to say on that subject in my commentary on that verse.
רש"י על שמות ט״ו:כ׳:א׳
(א) ותקח מרים הנביאה. הֵיכָן נִתְנַבְּאָה? כְּשֶׁהָיְתָה אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, קוֹדֶם שֶׁנּוֹלַד מֹשֶׁה, אָמְרָה עֲתִידָה אִמִּי שֶׁתֵּלֶד בֵּן וְכוּ' כִּדְאִיתָא בְּסוֹטָה. (דף י"ב). דָּ"אַ — אֲחוֹת אַהֲרֹן, לְפִי שֶׁמָּסַר נַפְשׁוֹ עָלֶיהָ כְּשֶׁנִּצְטָרְעָה נִקְרֵאת עַל שְׁמוֹ:
Rashi on Exodus 15:20:1
(1) ... Another explanation of אחות אהרן, the sister of Aaron: because he jeopardised his life for her by entreating on her behalf and so possibly incurring God’s displeasure when she was stricken with leprosy, she is called by his name (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:1; cf. Rashi Genesis 34:25).
Miriam is referred to as Aharon's sister because she was equal to him in prophecy, and not Moshe.
הטור הארוך, שמות ט״ו:כ׳:א׳
(א) אחות אהרן. מפני שהוזכרו משה ומרים בשירה ולא הוזכר אהרן הזכירו כאן ואמר אחות אהרן דרך כבוד לו שהוא אחיה הגדול מתיחסת אליו שגם הוא נביא ויתכן שדרך הכתוב ליחס אל האחים כמו ואחות לוטן תמנע:
Tur HaAroch, Exodus 15:20:1
(1) אחות אהרן, “Aaron’s sister.” The reason Miriam is described thus is because both Moses and Miriam had already been mentioned in a “single breath,” as it were in connection with the song, the Torah looked for a way to also have Aaron mentioned in this context. It was a way of giving honour to Aaron, her older brother. After all, Aaron too possessed the rank of being a prophet. It is also possible that it is the norm of Torah verses to relate women to their brothers, as for instance in Genesis 36,22 ואחות לוטן תמנע, “Timna was Lotan’s sister.”
3.
שמות ט״ו:כ״א
(כא) וַתַּ֥עַן לָהֶ֖ם מִרְיָ֑ם שִׁ֤ירוּ לַֽה' כִּֽי־גָאֹ֣ה גָּאָ֔ה ס֥וּס וְרֹכְב֖וֹ רָמָ֥ה בַיָּֽם׃ (ס)
Exodus 15:21
(21) And Miriam chanted for them: Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; Horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.
כלי יקר על שמות ט״ו:כ׳:ג׳
(ג) ומ"ש ותען להם מרים. להן מבעי ליה למימר, אלא לפי שעל הים באו הנשים למדריגת האנשים בהשגת הנבואה ע"כ נאמר להם כמדברים לזכרים, וכן לעתיד נאמר (ירמיה לא כב) נקיבה תסובב גבר.
Kli Yakar on Exodus 15:20:3
At this moment at the sea, the women were at the same level as the men in obtaining prophecy, so it was as if they were saying what the men were, but in the future (as prophecized in Jeremiah) the Female shall encircle the male.
רש"י על שמות ט״ו:כ״א:א׳
(א) ותען להם מרים. מֹשֶׁה אָמַר שִׁירָה לָאֲנָשִׁים – הוּא אוֹמֵר וְהֵם עוֹנִין אַחֲרָיו – וּמִרְיָם אָמְרָה שִׁירָה לַנָּשִׁים (סוטה ל'):
Rashi on Exodus 15:21:1
(1) ותען להם מרים AND MIRIAM SANG UNTO THEM — Moses sang the Song to the men — he sang it and they repeated it after him; and Miriam sang the Song to the women and they repeated if after her (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:2).
(ג) בתפים ובמחלת. מֻבְטָחוֹת הָיוּ צַדְקָנִיּוֹת שֶׁבַּדּוֹר שֶׁהַקָּבָּ"ה עוֹשֶׂה לָהֶם נִסִּים וְהוֹצִיאוּ תֻפִּים מִמִּצְרָיִם (מכילתא):
Rashi on Exodus 15:20:3
(3) בתפים ובמחלת WITH TIMBRELS AND WITH DANCES — The righteous women in that generation were confident that God would perform miracles for them and they accordingly had brought timbrels with them from Egypt (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:2).
(א) כי - רק טובה רבה עשיתי לך אשר העליתיך והוצאתיך על ידי אדם שתוכל לדבר עמו ולומר לו כל צרכיך, ושיודיעך דרכי, והם: משה - שבא אל פרעה ואהרן - שהתנבא על ישראל לפני בא משה, ומרים - שהתנבאה לנשים. גם התורה נתנה על יד משה ואהרן שהיה לו לפה ושניהם למדו המצות לאנשים ומרים לנשים, אשר דבר השם עמו פנים אל פנים, כאשר ידבר איש אל רעהו פה אל פה ולא בחלום במראה ולא בחידות והיא טובה גדולה ונפלאה, כי הדברים ברורים כאב לבנו ורב לתלמידו.
Ibn Ezra on Micah 6:4
...I've done a great thing for You (the Israelites) to bring you up and liberate you from Egypt with the help of...Miriam...who prophesied to the women...And Miriam taught mitzvoth to the women...
1) MIRYAM'S PROPHECY
(a) She said, my mother will have a son who will save Yisrael.
(b) When Moshe was born, the house filled with light. Her father kissed her on the head - 'your prophecy has been fulfilled,'
1. When they put Moshe in the river, he hit her on the head - 'where is your prophecy?!'
2. "His sister stood afar, to know what will happen to him" - to know, what will happen to her prophecy.
...
Though the meaning of the term prophet is here indeterminate, Miriam is the first woman ever to bear it. She becomes thereby the archetype of the female prophetic tradition, even as Moses heads the male (compare Deut 34:10). Contrary to the impression that her one stanza sung at the sea (Exod 15:1–18) is but an abridgement of the lengthy song attributed to Moses (Exod 5:1–31), historical and literary studies show that the latter version is itself the Song of Miriam. It belongs to a corpus of women’s traditions that include the long Songs of Deborah (Judg 5:1–31) and Hannah (1 Sam 2:1–10).
After the episode at the sea, Miriam surfaces in the wilderness narratives. Accompanied by her brother Aaron, she speaks out against Moses (Num 12:1–6), faulting him for marrying a Cushite woman. But the text fails to explain the issue. The woman is not named. She may be Zipporah, the known wife of Moses (Exod 2:21, 18:2), or another woman. The meaning of “Cushite” is uncertain. It may refer to the African country of Cush (see Gen 10:6; 1 Chr 1:8) or to Midian, the region east of the Gulf of Aqabah from which Zipporah came (see Exod 3:1, 18:1; Hab 3:7). Most probably, the attack implicates Miriam in a struggle over the priestly leadership of Moses.
Miriam with Aaron also challenges the prophetic authority of Moses. She asks, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” (Num 12:2). She understands leadership to embrace diverse voices, female and male. But the price of speaking out is severe. Though God rebukes both Miriam and Aaron, the deity punishes only her. Metaphorically, the divine nostril burns in anger to leave her stricken with scales like snow. Aaron pleads with Moses on her behalf, and Moses appeals to God. God responds by confining her outside the camp for seven days. This period of time verifies her cleanliness but does not restore her to wholeness. Whatever her particular disease, Miriam remains a condemned woman, a warning for generations to come (see Deut 24:8–9). After her punishment, she never speaks, nor is she spoken to. Indeed, she disappears altogether from the narrative until the announcement of her death and burial at Kadesh (Num 20:1).
Negative as well as positive traditions about Miriam testify to her prominence, power, and prestige in early Israel. She participates with Moses and Aaron to lead the Israelite community during the exodus and the wanderings. Her role in saving her baby brother and in celebrating the crossing of the sea highlights her concern for her people. Later they reciprocate. Despite the instructions of God and Moses, the people refuse to continue the march in the wilderness until the diseased Miriam is restored (Num 12:15). Three references to them at her death further underscore their loyalty to her.
Nature also honors Miriam. At her triumphal entry, the living waters of the Red Sea surround her (Exod 15:19–20); at her demise the wells in the desert dry up (Num 20:2). Centuries later, prophecy remembers her as the equal of Moses and Aaron in representing God before the people (Mic 6:8). Moreover, prophecy includes her, though not by name, within its eschatological vision. Jeremiah says that in days to come, Israel will have a new exodus. It will go forth again with drums, dances, and merrymakers (Jer 31:4). As the inaugurator of a performance and composition tradition of song, drums, and dances in Israel, Miriam continues to resonate throughout its musical life (see Pss 68:25; 81:2; 150:4).
Unlike most women in the Bible, Miriam is never called wife or mother. She has neither husband nor children. Jewish traditions, however, cannot tolerate her status as single. The historian Josephus deems Hur the husband of Miriam (Antiquities 3.54; see Exod 17:10–12). Rabbinic sources give her Caleb for a husband and Hur for a son (but compare 1 Chr 2:19).
In the New Testament Miriam’s afterlife continues through her name and her deeds. The Greek name Mary is the equivalent of the Hebrew Miriam. In singing a song of deliverance (Luke 1:46–55), in embodying a demonic or diseased condition (Luke 8:2), and in challenging male authorities (Matt 28:10; Luke 24:10; John 20:11–18), the various Marys of the Gospels reflect their namesake.