Women of the Exodus

(15) And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; (16) and he said: ‘When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, ye shall look upon the birthstool: if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.’ (17) But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive. (18) And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them: ‘Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men-children alive?’ (19) And the midwives said unto Pharaoh: ‘Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwife come unto them.’ (20) And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. (21) And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that God made them houses.

Shiphrah, This is Yocheved, she is given this second name, because she makes better the birthing process.

Puah. This is Miriam. She is called Puah because she speaks and sings to the baby like a woman who makes the crying baby feel better...Puah meaning one who cries out.

And the king of Egypt said to the Jewish midwives... Rav and Shmuel - one said it was a woman and her daughter and the other said that it was a mother and her daughter in law. The one who said woman and her daughter it is referring to Yocheved and Miriam the one who said woman and her daughter in law is referring to Yocheved and Elisheva bat Aminadav (She is Nachshon's sister.) There is a baraita that supports this perspective because there is a baraita that says Shifra is Yocheved. And why is she called Shifra - because she beautified the newborn infant. Another reason, is that Bnei Yisrael were fruitful and multiplied in her time. Puah is Miriam and why is she called Puah because she cried and talked and cooed to the newborn infant in the manner of women who soothes a crying infant. Another reason, Puah because she spoke with Ruach Hakodesh and she said in the future my mother will give birth to a son that will save the Jewish people.

And the king of Egypt said to the midwives...Who are the midwives. Rav says a woman and her daughter in law - Yocheved and Elisheva bat Aminadav. And Rabbi 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 God's breath God 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.

(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, to help the infant cry while still inside its mother’s womb encouraging it to emerge from the womb as fast as possible.

(20) And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances.

(8) And he made the laver of brass, and the base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the serving women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting.

(13) And when the Israelite women conceived, they would return to their homes. When they were about to go into labor, the women would go out into the fields and give birth in the apple orchards, as it is written: "I woke you under the apple [tree]" (Song of Songs 8:5). And the Lord Blessed be God would send an angel from the heavens who cleaned them and made them beautiful, just as a new mother grooms her infant, as it is written: "And as for your birth, on the day you were born..." (Ezekiel 16:4), and God grants them two round cakes, one of oil and the other of honey, as it is written: "And God suckled him [The Children of Israel] with honey from the rock..." (Deuteronomy 32:13). And as soon as the Egyptians would become aware of this, they sought to kill them. And a miracle happened, and the children were swallowed up by the earth, and bulls would come and plow the ground above them, as it is written: "Upon my back the plowers plowed" (Psalms 129:3). And once the Egyptians would pass, the infants would rise up from the mud like grass from the field, as it is written: "I have made you grow like the plantlings in the field..." (Ezekiel 16:7) And when the babes grew, they would flock to their homes in great droves, as it says: "And you came in all your finest and dressiest," (Ezekiel 16:7) - do not read "finest and dressiest" but rather "flocked in droves." And when the Lord Blessed be God revealed God's self at the Sea of Reeds, they were the first to recognize God instantly, as it says: "THIS is my God, and I will praise God." (Exodus 15:2).

(24) And it came to pass on the way at the lodging-place, that the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. (25) Then Zipporah took a flint, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and cast it at his feet; and she said: ‘Surely a bridegroom of blood art thou to me.’ (26) So God let him alone. Then she said: ‘A bridegroom of blood in regard of the circumcision.’

(3) (Exodus 18:3) "and her two sons … in a foreign land": R. Yehoshua says "foreign": as stated (i.e., literally). R. Elazar Hamoda'i says: in a land of foreign (gods, i.e., idolatry); Moses said: Since the whole world serves idolatry, I will serve Him who spoke and brought the (whole) world into being. But when Moses said to Yitro: 'Give me your daughter Tzipporah as a wife' Yitro answered: 'If you do what I ask of you, I will give her to you as a wife'. Moses: 'What do you ask?' Yitro: 'Your first son must serve idolatry. All others will be for (G-d) in heaven.' Moses accepted. Yitro: Swear. And he swore, as it is written (Exodus 2:21) "Vayoel Moses, etc.", this being an expression for swearing, as in (I Samuel 14:24) "Vayoel Saul the people" (in context: "And Saul beswore the people.") And it is written (II Kings 5:3) "Hoel (in context: "Swear") and take two talents, etc." Therefore, the angel came forward to kill Moses (viz. Exodus 4:24), whereupon (Ibid. 25) "Tzipporah took a flint and cut off the foreskin of her son … (26) "And he (the angel) let go of him." R. Elazar b. Azaryah says: Repulsive is the foreskin, by which the wicked are demeaned, viz. (Jeremiah 9:25) "for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised of heart." R. Yishmael says: Great is circumcision over which thirteen covenants were made. R. Yossi Haglili says: Great is circumcision, which overrides the Sabbath, which is liable to kareth (cutting-off). R. Yehoshua b. Korcha says: Great is circumcision, laxity in which did not permit all of Moses' merits to protect him for even a short time. R. Nechemiah says: Great is circumcision, which overrides plague-spots (viz. Devarim 24:8). Rebbi says: Great is circumcision, all of Moses' merits not standing for him in his duress. When the L-rd told him "Take out My people, the children of Israel from the land of Egypt," because he was lax for a short time in (the) circumcision (of his son), the angel sought to kill him, viz. (Exodus 4:24) "and he was on the way in the lodging, etc." R. Yossi says: G-d forbid that that tzadik should be lax in circumcision for even a short while, but Moses thought: Circumcising him (his son) and journey (to Egypt) — that would involve a risk of life (for the child.) Shall he wait and circumcise — the L-rd has said to him: "Go and take My people Israel out of Egypt." But (his lapse was that) he preoccupied himself with his lodging before circumcising, wherefore the L-rd sought to kill him, viz.: "And he was on the way in the lodging, etc." R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: The angel did not seek to kill Moses, but the child, viz. (Ibid. 25) "for you are a groom of blood to me." Who is called a "groom" (in this context), the child or Moses? The child.

(24) He sought to put him to death: [the angel] sought to kill Moshe since he had not circumcised his son Eliezer, and because he had been negligent he was worthy of the death penalty. It was taught: Rabbi Yosse said – Heaven forbid! Moshe was not [simply being] negligent; rather, he [had a thoughtful consideration] ‘if I circumcise my son and head out on the road the baby will be at risk for [the next]three days. [On the other hand] if I circumcise him and stay [in Midyan] for three days [I will be going against that which] the Holy One has commanded me to do [when G-d said] “Go, return to Egypt!” If so (if his considerations were plausible) why was he punished?! Because [when they reached the place] he dealt first with the issue of lodging [and not circumcision]. In Masechet Nedarim (31a): The angel became like a kind of a serpent and was swallowing him [Moshe] from his head down to his hips, then back, then swallowing him from his feet up to that same place. Tziporah understood that [the attack] was due to milah circumcision.

(24) ויפגשהו ה', in this instance a reference to the Lord’s angel. Moses’ sin consisted of needlessly slowing down the carrying out of his mission by taking his wife and children along.

after she had been sent away: When the Holy One of Blessing said to him in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt” (Exod. 4:19), “and Moses took his wife and his sons, etc.” (4:20), and Aaron went forth “and met him on the mount of God”(4:27), he [Aaron] said to him [Moses], “Who are these?” He [Moses] replied, “This is my wife, whom I married in Midian, and these are my sons.” "And where are you taking them?" he [Aaron] asked. “To Egypt,” he replied. He [Aaron] retorted, “We are suffering with the first ones, and you come to add to them?” He [Moses] said to her [Zipporah], “Go home to your father.” She took her two sons and went away. — [from Mechilta]

(24) ויהי בדרך במלון, Rashi explains that because he busied himself with the lodging first teaches inside the explanation that he should have circumcised him first thing. This seems questionable, seeing that immediately after leaving the inn the baby would be exposed to the dangers of traveling in the desert!

We must therefore answer that this baby was in the place they lodged after Moses met Aharon, and he said “We are suffering with the first ones, and you come to add to them?” He did so although members of the tribe of Levi such as Moses and Aaron were not required to perform menial labor in Egypt, because in any instance he did not want them to come to a place where they would see Israel suffering, and from there Tziporah returned with her sons. And if this is so, since they thought that they would return, there was no excuse for not performing the circumcision before dealing with the lodging. Tzipporah would have stayed on at the inn until the infant had recovered from the circumcision. This is why Moses was punished.

(24) ויהי בדרך במלון, when he was on the way from the desert to Midian with his wife and children. The Torah tells of this incident after concluding the report of how G-d appointed Moses as the leader of the Jewish people.

(24) ויפגשהו ה', God encountered him on the 8th day on which he should have circumcised his son occurred because on that day the presence of the Lord, שכינה is present in the brit (circumcision), as with (Abraham) he was circumcised "and God appeared to him" (Gen. 18:1). Perhaps this is the source of the practice to place a chair of honor in the place where a the circumcision is happening.

(24) [When the time passed without Eliezer being circumcised] The angel in charge of circumcision requested to kill Moses for being negligent.

(25) ותאמר כי חתן דמים אתה לי. I have done this seeing that when I became married to you and you were my bridegroom you stipulated that our sons would have to be circumcised and that we would extract a certain amount of blood as the mark of the covenant with G-d. Tzipporah said all this to the angel who wanted to kill her husband in his defense.

(24) And it happened in the way - They had a tradition that an eight-day son should not be circumcised if he was sick or traveling since there wasn't a possibility for delaying the travel. And this was because Moses could not be delayed in his Divine mission. He saw by his own counsel not to circumcise, since the youngster would be in danger if he was put to travel. And behold, HaShem sent an angel to remind Moses to pause himself and circumcise the child and go on his way on his own. And the youngster would stay with his mother until he healed, and behold the reason of "he met him" is that sickness from HaShem came to Moses because he didn't think of it. And this is "he sought to kill him" if he didn't circumcise his son. And due to the trembling that seized him he wasn't able to circumcise his son, and Tzipporah circumcised him, because he revealed to her the secret. And do not be surprise to read "HaShem met him" because it was an angel/messenger of HaShem. And like [this verse, we have] "And HaShem walks in front of them during the day" (Exodus 13:21) and there it is written "And God's angel traveled" (Exodus 14:19). And Rav Shmuel ben Chofni says God forbid that God would want to kill Moses, who goes in a Divine mission to save his people! He just wanted to kill Eliezer. And the sign is that "he met him" and "he wanted to kill him", and after "him" is explained to be Eliezer, because it is written "the foreskin of her son", and this is not explicit in the beginning, since his name had not been given yet. And like [this verse, we have] "And it was on her giving birth, and he put his hand" (Genesis 38:28)

(3) and her two sons—of whom one was named Gershom, that is to say, “I have been a stranger in a foreign land”; (4) and the other was named Eliezer, meaning, “The God of my father was my help, and God delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh.”