Sotah 11b — the Talmud in English

And we expound: what is the meaning of the expression

“with parekh,” Rabbi Elazar said

that it is an acronym of

“with a soft mouth,”

and its explanation is that the Egyptians drew the Children of Israel into [the labor] with soft speech. And as payment of wages, until they accustomed them to the labor of their own will, and afterward they compelled it upon them.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said

that “with parekh” is in the language of

“with breaking,”

and its explanation is: with the breaking of body and loins.

“And they embittered their lives with hard labor, with mortar and with bricks,”

and we explain the duplication of the labors in the verse:

At first

they made them work

with mortar and with bricks, and in the end, with every labor in the field,

[And in Tanḥuma, the portion of Vayetze, we expound that when they returned in the evening from their work with mortar and bricks, the Egyptian came and took them out to work in his house and field as he wished; and perhaps this too is the intention of the Gemara].

And the continuation of the verse is

“all their labor with which they made them work with parekh,”

and the explanation of “with parekh” written in this verse is:

Rabbi Yonatan said that they were

the Egyptians

exchanging

and giving Israel to work in

men’s work for women, and women’s work for men.

And it is a great difficulty to engage in labors to which one is unaccustomed.

And we explain that this explanation of the word “with parekh” fits even

according to the one who says

who explained

there

above, that in the verse “The Egyptians made the Children of Israel work with parekh,” the intention is that they drew them into work

with a soft mouth,

but

here, certainly

the intention of the word “with parekh” is

“with breaking,”

for in this verse it is written: “And they embittered their lives with hard labor.”

Rav Avira expounded: In the merit of the righteous women who were in that generation, Israel were redeemed from Egypt.

As they said, that

when they went to draw water, the Holy One, blessed be He,

would

arrange small fish for them in their jars, and they would draw half water and half fish, and they would come and set

—place on the stove for cooking—

two pots, one of

water

hot,

in order to wash their husbands’ feet in the field,

and one of fish

which cause a person’s body to grow and increase,

and they would carry

the pots

to their husbands in the field,

where they worked with parekh.

And they would wash them

—their husbands’ feet—

and feed them, and give them drink, and have intercourse with them between the lips

—in the depression between the great fields, which is a secluded place. And as

it is said: “If you lie between the lips, etc.,”

and we expound

in the merit of

the women who fulfilled

“you will lie between the lips,”

and did not set their eyes upon another when their husbands were in the field,

Israel merited the spoils of Egypt,

for God placed favor in their eyes of the Egyptians, so that they lent them silver and gold vessels, and so they expound the end of the verse:

as it is said: “The wings of a dove”

—these are Israel, who were called “My dove, My perfect one”

and the Maharsha

wrote that they resemble a dove, which mates only with its partner—

“covered with silver, and its pinions with yellow gold.”

And when they became pregnant, they came to their homes,

and when the time of their births arrived

—the time of their giving birth—and they feared Pharaoh’s decree that they would cast their children into the Nile,

they went and gave birth in the field beneath

a

apple tree, as it is said: “Beneath the apple tree I awakened you,”

to emerge from your mother’s womb; and it concludes: “There your mother was in labor with you,” meaning that the pangs of childbirth seized her.

And the Holy One, blessed be He, sends from the heights above one who cleanses

—cleans—

and beautifies them

—repairs and arranges their limbs which become dislocated during the birth—

like a midwife

who delivers

who beautifies the newborn, as it is said: “And when I passed by you and saw you, behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness,”

you had no midwife to cut the newborn’s umbilical cord,

“and with water you were not washed to smoothness”

—to smooth the flesh of the newborn.

And He gathers for them

the Holy One, blessed be He,

two round cakes

like round loaves,

one of oil

to anoint their bodies,

and one of honey,

to nurse them and feed them,

as it is said,

“He suckled him with honey from the rock and oil

from the flinty rock”; and since we do not find these miracles among the praises with which the Land of Israel was praised, we expound this verse as speaking of the miracles performed for those born in Egypt.

And when they recognize them

—the Egyptians discover their existence—

the Egyptians come to kill them, and

then

another

miracle

is performed for these infants, and they are swallowed into the ground,

but the Egyptians think that this is merely sorcery,

and

therefore

they bring oxen and plow over them

as

it is said: “Upon my back plowers have plowed,”

for sorcery is effective only in the world and to the extent of a handhold; therefore they attempted to kill them with a plow which penetrates the ground more deeply than the measure within which sorcery is effective, but they did not succeed.

After the Egyptians departed, they would sprout and emerge like the grass of the field, as it is said: “I have given you to be numerous like the plants of the field,”

and the intention is the form of their ascent from the ground, which resembled the growth of the plants of the field, [and it is not speaking of their wondrous multiplication, concerning which the comparison is to sand or stars and not to plants, Maharsha].

And when they grew, they came in flocks, flocks, to their homes, as it is said: “And you increased and grew and came with ornaments of ornaments,”

and we expound

“Do not read ‘with ornament of ornaments,’

but ‘with flocks of flocks’; and when the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed upon the sea, they

—these infants who had grown in the fields—

recognized Him first,

for they had already seen His Presence when He caused them to grow,

as it is said: “This is my God, and I shall glorify Him,”

and it implies: This is the one whom I had already seen.

“And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, etc.,”

and

Rav and Shmuel

disagreed as to who the midwives were,

one said

that they were

a woman and her daughter, and one said, a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law,

and we explain their names according to each view:

according to the one who says “a woman and her daughter,”

these are

Yokheved and Miriam; and according to the one who says “a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law,”

these are

Yokheved and Elisheva,

the wife of Aaron.

It was taught in accordance with the one who says “a woman and her daughter,” for it was taught: Shifra is Yokheved

and why was her name called Shifra?

Because

she beautified the newborn,

cleaning it and arranging its limbs in their places.

Alternatively, Shifra, because Israel increased and multiplied in her days, [and in the Midrash it reads concerning her]

[and in the Midrash the text reads “because she caused them to increase”].

Puah is Miriam, and why was her name called Puah?

Because

she would coo

—entertain the newborn with words and calm it—

Alternatively, Puah, because she would cry out

—shout—

with the Divine Spirit, saying: “My mother is destined to give birth to a son who will save Israel.”

“And he said: When you help the Hebrew women give birth,”

and you see upon the stones; and we explain:

What are “stones”? Rav Ḥanan said: He gave them a great sign

—Pharaoh gave the midwives a sign by which they could recognize the moment of birth and take the child to cast it into the Nile, so that the woman giving birth would not precede them and conceal it and say that it had been stillborn—

he said to them: At the time when

the woman giving birth

kneels to give birth, her thighs become cold like stones.

And there are those who say:

The explanation of why the time of birth was called “upon the stones”

is as it is written: “And I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was performing his work upon the stones,”

and we compare the women giving birth:

Just as this potter,

when he makes vessels, places

one thigh here and one thigh here, and the anvil

upon which the material for forming the vessel rests, stands

in the middle

between his thighs,

so too a woman,

when she gives birth,

has one thigh here and one thigh here, and the newborn in the middle,

and this moment is compared to the potter “upon the stones.”

“If it is a son, then you shall kill him.” Rabbi Ḥanina said: He gave them a great sign,

for when he is “upon the stones,” they can distinguish whether he is a son or a daughter, even without holding him, because

a son is face downward,

whereas

a daughter is face upward.

“And the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had spoken to them,”

Pharaoh; and we ask: Why was “to them” written, when

“to them” should have been required

to be written? From this we expound that the expression “to them” hints at matters of intercourse, as it is said: “And he came to her.” From here

Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Ḥanina said: This teaches that he solicited them

Pharaoh

for a sinful act, but they did not submit to the solicitation,

and they did not answer him.

“And they kept the children alive,”

and we infer that it would have been appropriate to write that they did not kill the children in accordance with Pharaoh’s command, whereas “and they kept alive” implies that they raised them; and we expound:

A tanna taught: It was not enough for them that they did not kill them; rather, they supplied them with water and food.

“And the midwives said to Pharaoh: For the Hebrew women are not like

the Egyptian women, for they are lively.”

And we inquire about it:

What is “lively”? If we say, lively

—midwives—

literally,

what did they answer him regarding his question why they did not kill the children at their birth? After all,

is it so that a living creature

—a midwife who gives birth by herself—

does not need another living creature to deliver her?

Rather,

so

they said to him: This nation is compared

to an animal

in the field,

and the animals of the field give birth without the assistance of a midwife.

And we find that they were likened to animals, as it is written concerning

Judah, “a lion cub,” and concerning

and concerning

Dan, “Dan shall be a serpent”; Naphtali, “a hind let loose”; Issachar, “a strong-boned donkey”; Joseph, “a firstborn bull”; Benjamin, “a wolf that tears.”

And concerning the entire people of Israel, the expression of an animal was stated, for the tribe

concerning whom it is written as above—

it is written concerning him, and

also a tribe

concerning whom it is not written

in particular, nevertheless

it is written

concerning all of them together,

“Your mother was like a lioness; among lions she crouched,” and so forth,

and the meaning of the verse is that the entire congregation of Israel is called a lioness among lions.

“And it came to pass, when the midwives feared God, that He made houses for them.”

Rav and Shmuel

disagreed as to which houses God made for them',

one

of them

said, “houses of priesthood and Levite status,”

and one said, “houses of royalty,”

and we explain where we find that priesthood and royalty came forth from them.

The one who says

that He made for them

“houses of priesthood and Levite status,”

his reference is to

Aharon and Moshe,

who descended from Yocheved.

And the one who says, “houses of royalty,”

explained that the reference is to

David,

the king, who

also descended from Miriam, as it is written, “And Azubah died”;

she was Miriam, who was Kalev’s wife, and as will be explained below, she became afflicted with leprosy and they all abandoned her,

“and Kalev took Ephrath for himself,”

she being Miriam by her new name after she was healed, and Kalev took her again,

“and she bore him Hur,” and it is written, “and David was the son of an Ephrathite man,”

meaning that he came from Ephrath, who was Miriam.

“And Kalev the son of Hetzron begot Azubah a wife, and Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shovav, and Ardon.”

And we raise a difficulty, for in this verse in Chronicles it is stated that Kalev was

“the son of Hetzron,”

whereas in the Book of Numbers it is written that Kalev was

“the son of Yefuneh.”

And we explain: in truth, Kalev was the son of Hetzron; and why was he called the son of Yefuneh? Because

“he was a son who turned away from the counsel of the spies,”

for he did not speak evil of the Land together with them.

And we raise another objection:

but still

it is difficult, for we find that

“he is the son of Kenaz,” as it is written, “And Otni’el the son of Kenaz, the brother of Kalev, captured it,”

and it is explicit that his father was called Kenaz and not Hetzron.

And we answer:

Rava said:

Kalev

was his stepson,

the son of his wife,

for he was [the son] of Kenaz,

and Otni’el was his brother only from his mother, and not from his father.