Michael Walzer, Exodus & Revolution
https://books.google.de/books/about/Exodus_Revolution.html?id=Sq8UPQAACAAJ&redir_esc=y
with the critique, Edward W. Said,
"Michael Walzer's 'Exodus and Revolution': A Canaanite Reading," Grand Street. Vol. 5, No. 2 (Winter, 1986), pp. 86-106
(15) למילדות העבריות; the ones who were Jewish.
(טו) וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ שִׁפְרָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית פּוּעָֽה׃ (טז) וַיֹּ֗אמֶר בְּיַלֶּדְכֶן֙ אֶת־הָֽעִבְרִיּ֔וֹת וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָאָבְנָ֑יִם אִם־בֵּ֥ן הוּא֙ וַהֲמִתֶּ֣ן אֹת֔וֹ וְאִם־בַּ֥ת הִ֖יא וָחָֽיָה׃ (יז) וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱ-לֹקְים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים׃ (יח) וַיִּקְרָ֤א מֶֽלֶךְ־מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֔ת וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֔ן מַדּ֥וּעַ עֲשִׂיתֶ֖ן הַדָּבָ֣ר הַזֶּ֑ה וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים׃ (יט) וַתֹּאמַ֤רְןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה כִּ֣י לֹ֧א כַנָּשִׁ֛ים הַמִּצְרִיֹּ֖ת הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת כִּֽי־חָי֣וֹת הֵ֔נָּה בְּטֶ֨רֶם תָּב֧וֹא אֲלֵהֶ֛ן הַמְיַלֶּ֖דֶת וְיָלָֽדוּ׃ (כ) וַיֵּ֥יטֶב אֱ-לֹקְים לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֑ת וַיִּ֧רֶב הָעָ֛ם וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ מְאֹֽד׃
(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. (18) So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” (19) The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” (20) And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly.
Josephus, Antiquities 2:206-207
[The King of Egypt commanded] … that the midwives of the Egyptians(τὰς Αἰγυπτίων μαίας) should watch carefully the pangs of childbirth of the Hebrew women and should observe closely their deliveries. For he ordered that they should be delivered of children by these who because of kinship were not likely to transgress the wish of the king. Those, however, who disregarded the decree and dared secretly to save the child that had been born to them, he ordered to be put to death together with their offspring
cf. LXX, “the midwives of the Hebrew women (μαίαις τῶν εβραίων)”
(genitive construct, semikhut;
note that this is counter to the vocalization of MT לַֽמְיַלְּדֹ֖ת הָֽעִבְרִיֹּ֑ת, attributive adjective)
(ב) שפרה. יוֹכֶבֶד, עַל שֵׁם שֶׁמְּשַׁפֶּרֶת אֶת הַוָּלָד (שם): (ג) פועה. זוֹ מִרְיָם, שֶׁפּוֹעָה וּמְדַבֶּרֶת וְהוֹגָה לַוָּלָד (שם), כְּדֶרֶךְ הַנָּשִׁים הַמְּפַיְּסוֹת תִּינוֹק הַבּוֹכֶה. (ד) פועה לְשׁוֹן צְעָקָה, כְּמוֹ "כַּיּוֹלֵדָה אֶפְעֶה" (ישעיה מ"ב):
(ראו שמות ב:א וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִ֖ישׁ מִבֵּ֣ית לֵוִ֑י וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִֽי)
(ראו סוטה יא: ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדות העבריות וגו’ – רב ושמואל, חד אמר: אשה ובתה, וחד אמר: כלה וחמותה. מ”ד אשה ובתה, יוכבד ומרים; ומ”ד כלה וחמותה, יוכבד ואלישבע.)
(2) 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). (ST: cf. Exod 2:1 וַיֵּ֥לֶךְ אִ֖ישׁ מִבֵּ֣ית לֵוִ֑י וַיִּקַּ֖ח אֶת־בַּת־לֵוִֽי)
(3) 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).
(Sotah 11b: ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדות העבריות וגו’ – רב ושמואל, חד אמר: אשה ובתה, וחד אמר: כלה וחמותה. מ”ד אשה ובתה, יוכבד ומרים; ומ”ד כלה וחמותה, יוכבד ואלישבע.)
במילדות בפועה ובשפרה המצריות נ’א [=נאמר] כן ויאמר מלך מצרים למילדות [ותיר]אן המילדות את האי’ם [=האלהים] ויקרא מלך מצרים למילדות כל ה’פ [=הפרשה]
(ראו ילקוט שמעוני רמז: 9
יש נשים חסידות גיורות: הגר, אסנת, צפרה, שפרה, פועה, בת פרעה, רחב, רות, ויעל אשת חבר הקיני:)
It was said so regarding the midwives, Puah and Shifra the Egyptians (Exodus 1:15-18) “and the king of Egypt said to the midwives… but the midwives feared God… and the king of Egypt called to the midwives, etc.”
(cp. Yalkut Shimoni on Joshua, 247:9 There are righteous convert women: Hagar, Asenath, Ziporah, Shifrah, Pua’ah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Rahab, Ruth, and Yael, the wife of Hever the Kenite. )
(ח) וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֶל־עַמּ֑וֹ הִנֵּ֗ה עַ֚ם בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רַ֥ב וְעָצ֖וּם מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃ (י) הָ֥בָה נִֽתְחַכְּמָ֖ה ל֑וֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּ֗ה וְהָיָ֞ה כִּֽי־תִקְרֶ֤אנָה מִלְחָמָה֙ וְנוֹסַ֤ף גַּם־הוּא֙ עַל־שֹׂ֣נְאֵ֔ינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּ֖נוּ וְעָלָ֥ה מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (יא) וַיָּשִׂ֤ימוּ עָלָיו֙ שָׂרֵ֣י מִסִּ֔ים לְמַ֥עַן עַנֹּת֖וֹ בְּסִבְלֹתָ֑ם וַיִּ֜בֶן עָרֵ֤י מִסְכְּנוֹת֙ לְפַרְעֹ֔ה אֶת־פִּתֹ֖ם וְאֶת־רַעַמְסֵֽס׃ (יב) וְכַאֲשֶׁר֙ יְעַנּ֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ כֵּ֥ן יִרְבֶּ֖ה וְכֵ֣ן יִפְרֹ֑ץ וַיָּקֻ֕צוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (יג) וַיַּעֲבִ֧דוּ מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃ (יד) וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים וּבְכָל־עֲבֹדָ֖ה בַּשָּׂדֶ֑ה אֵ֚ת כָּל־עֲבֹ֣דָתָ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־עָבְד֥וּ בָהֶ֖ם בְּפָֽרֶךְ׃
(8) A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. (9) And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. (10) Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.” (11) So they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor; and they built garrison cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. (12) But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites. (13) The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites (14) the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field.
(י) הבה נתחכמה לו לא ראה פרעה וחכמי יועציו להכותם בחרב, כי
תהיה בגידה גדולה להכות חנם העם אשר באו בארץ במצות המלך הראשון.
וגם עם הארץ לא יתנו רשות למלך לעשות חמס כזה, כי עמהם הוא מתייעץ, ואף כי בני ישראל עם רב ועצום ויעשו עמהם מלחמה גדולה.
אבל אמר שיעשו דרך חכמה שלא ירגישו ישראל כי באיבה יעשו בהם, ולכך הטיל בהם מס, כי דרך הגרים בארץ להעלות מס למלך כמו שבא בשלמה (מ''א ט כא):
ואחרי כן צוה בסתר למילדות להרוג הזכרים על האבנים, ואפילו היולדות עצמן לא ידעו בהם ואחרי כן צוה לכל עמו כל הבן הילוד היאורה תשליכוהו אתם. והענין שלא רצה לצוות לשרי הטבחים אשר לו להרגם בחרב המלך או שישליכו הם אותם ליאור, אבל אמר לעם כאשר ימצא כל אחד ילד יהודי ישליך אותו ביאור, ואם יצעק אבי הילד אל המלך או אל שר העיר יאמרו שיביא עדים ויעשה בו נקמה. וכאשר הותרה רצועת המלך היו המצרים מחפשים הבתים ונכנסים שם בלילות ומתנכרין ומוציאים הילדים משם, כי על כן נאמר ולא יכלה עוד הצפינו (להלן ב ג):
ונראה שעמד זה ימים מעטים, כי בלדת אהרן לא היתה הגזרה, וכשנולד משה נראה שנתבטלה, אולי בת פרעה בחמלה עליו אמרה לאביה שלא יעשה כן, או כאשר נשמע כי מאת המלך נהיה הדבר ביטל אותו, או שהיה על פי האצטגנינות כדברי רבותינו (שמו''ר א כט), כי הכל התחכמות עליהם שלא יודע החמס וזה טעם מאמר האומרים למשה רבינו אשר הבאשתם את ריחנו לתת חרב בידם (להלן ה כא), כי עתה יוסיפו בשנאתם אותנו, וימצאו טענה כי אנחנו מורדים במלכות ויהרגו אותנו בחרב לעיני הכל, לא יצטרכו עוד לעשות במרמה:
NB:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputation_of_Barcelona
10: "Let us scheme against them" Pharaoh and his advisers did not decide to smite them with the sword,
because that would be a great betrayal, to smite a nation that has come to the land on the command of the first king.
Even the common people wouldn't give consent to the king to do such a crime, for he advises with them,
and additionally the nation of Israel was numerous and mighty and would fight back in a great war.
Rather he advised that they should act cleverly so that Israel should not feel that he is acting out of hate, and therefore he levied a tax on them, for it is common for foreigners to pay a tax to the king, as is seen by Solomon (Kings 1, 9:21)
Afterwards, he secretly ordered the midwives to put to death the male children on the birthstools when even the mothers themselves did not know what was going on. The he commanded all of his people that they should cast every male child into the river.
He did not give such an order to his chief executioners to slay them by the sword at the royal bidding or to cast them into the river, but he told the people to do so, and that if the father of the child were to protest to the king or his representative they should ask him to bring evidence to substantiate his accusation and for vengeance to be done. And when the king allowed matters to take their course the Egyptians searched Jewish homes and even took the children from there. That is the implication of the statement, "and they could no longer hide him".
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/leibowitz-nehama
Nehama Leibowitz was born in 1905 in Riga, Latvia, to Mordechai and Freyda Leibowitz. She grew up in a home filled with Jewish and general culture, competing in her father’s Bible quizzes against her brother, Yeshayahu, who later became a famous and controversial Israeli philosopher. In 1919 the family moved to Berlin, where Leibowitz taught, wrote articles and studied for her doctorate. She married her uncle, Lipman Leibowitz, who was many years her senior, and on the day she finished her doctorate they fulfilled their dream and moved to Israel (c. 1930)...
N. Leibowitz, New Studies in Sefer Shemot, p. 36
“If we accept that the midwives were Egyptian, a…very vital message becomes apparent. The Torah indicates how the individual can resist evil. He need not shirk his moral responsibility under cover of ‘superior orders.’ The text contrasts the brutal decrees of enslavement and massacre initiated by Pharaoh and supported by government and people with the godfearing ‘civil disobedience’ of the midwives. Neither moral courage not sheer wickedness are ethnically or nationally determined qualities. Moab and Ammon produced a Ruth and Naamah respectively, Egypt two righteous midwives.
(1) ותחיין את הילדים This may mean THEY MAINTAINED THE CHILDREN IN LIFE — they provided them with food (Sotah 11b).
"RADICAL EVIL":
Arendt,
In the Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Arendt borrows Kant's term ‘radical evil’ to describe the evil of the Holocaust. However, Arendt does not mean what Kant means by ‘radical evil’ (see section 2.2 for Kant's view of radical evil). Instead, Arendt uses the term to denote a new form of wrongdoing which cannot be captured by other moral concepts. For Arendt, radical evil involves making human beings as human beings superfluous. This is accomplished when human beings are made into living corpses who lack any spontaneity or freedom. According to Arendt a distinctive feature of radical evil is that it isn't done for humanly understandable motives such as self-interest, but merely to reinforce totalitarian control and the idea that everything is possible (Arendt 1951, 437–459; Bernstein 2002, 203–224).
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concept-evil/
- Arendt, H., 1951 [1985], The Origins of Totalitarianism, San Diego: A Harvest Book, Harcourt, Inc.
Kant 1793, Bk I, 24–26.
Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, T. M. Greene and H. H. Hudson (trans.), La Salle, Illinois: The Open Court Publishing Co., 1960.
Nehama Leibowitz,
http://www.nechama.org.il/guidance/120.html
Studies in Sefer Shemot, p. 25ff:
The above passage admittedly expresses Pharoah's desire to solve his "Jewish problem"...
... Pharoah, King of Egypt, the cradle of civilization, science and art could not exterminate innocent people.
Ramban outlines the stages of Pharoah's policy. First a tax on foreignors--not of money but of labour--which was customary. If the labour exceeded the bounds of the humane who was to measure it? If the victims complained, the accusation of "you are lazy, you are lazy (Exod 5:17) could always be hurled at them- Since slavery however ruthless would not be the "final solution", he advocated facilitating the process by the killing of the male children at birth by the midwives when "even the mothers would not know what was going on". Even if suspicion was aroused as a result of the enormous rise in male child mortality who would be able or dare to point an accusing finger at Pharoah?
Only when the heroism of the midwives foiled his plan did he come out into the open and "commanded all his people" to kill every male child.
The originality of Ramban's interpretation lies in his explanation of this command. The text states that Pharoah commanded "all his people" rather than "his princes and servants". This was not therefore a royal edict, but behind-the-scenes provocation. The government gave no order but merely closed its eyes whilst the Egyptian masses "spontaneously" vented their indignation on the foreigners. Although Egyptian law protected strangers, in practice there would be no redress.