Sotah

And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river.  R. Johanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai: It teaches that she went down there to cleanse herself of her father's idols;  and thus it says: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion etc.  And her maidens walked along etc.  R. Johanan said: The word for 'walk' means nothing else than death; and thus it says: Behold I am going to die.  And she saw the ark among the reeds.  When [the maidens] saw that she wished to rescue Moses, they said to her, 'Mistress, it is the custom of the world that when a human king makes a decree, though everybody else does not obey it, at least his children and the members of his household obey it; but thou dost transgress thy father's decree!' Gabriel came and beat them to the ground. And sent her handmaid to fetch it  — R. Judah and R. Nehemiah [differ in their interpretation]; one said that the word means 'her hand' and the other said that it means 'her handmaid'. He who said that it means 'her hand' did so because it is written ammathah;  he who said that it means 'her handmaid' did so because the text has not yadah [her hand]. But according to him who said that it means 'her handmaid', it has just been stated that Gabriel came and beat them to the ground!  — He left her one, because it is not customary for a king's daughter to be unattended. But according to him who said that it means 'her hand', the text should have been yadah! — It teaches us that [her arm] became lengthened; for a master has said: You find it so  with the arm of Pharaoh's daughter and similarly with the teeth of the wicked, as it is written: Thou hast broken [shibbarta] the teeth of the wicked,  and Resh Lakish said: Read not shibbarta but shirbabta [thou has lengthened]. She opened it and saw the child  — it should have been 'and saw'. R. Jose b. R. Hanina said: She saw the Shechinah with him. And, behold, the boy wept  — he is called a 'child' and then a 'boy'! — A Tanna taught: He was a child but his voice was like that of a grown boy; such is the view of R. Judah. R. Nehemiah said to him, If so, you have made our master Moses into one possessed of a blemish;  but it teaches that his mother made for him a canopy [such as is used at the marriage] of boys  in the ark, saying: 'Perhaps I may not be worthy [to be present at] his marriage-canopy'. And she had compassion on him and said: Of the Hebrews' children is this.  How did she know it? — R. Jose b. R. Hanina said: Because she saw that he was circumcised. 'Is this' — R. Johanan said: It teaches that she unwittingly prophesied that 'this' one will fall [into the river] but no other will fall.  That is what R. Eleazar said: What means the text: And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter?  They foresee and know not what they foresee; they mutter and know not what they mutter. They saw that Israel's saviour would be punished through water; so they arose and decreed, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river.  After they had thrown Moses [into the water], they said: 'We do not see that sign any longer';  they thereupon rescinded their decree. But they knew not that he was to be punished through the water of Meribah.  That is what R. Hama b. Hanina said: What means the text: These are the waters of Meribah, because they strove?  These are [the waters] about which Pharaoh's magicians saw and erred; and concerning this Moses said: Six hundred thousand footmen etc.  Moses said to Israel, 'On my account were all of you delivered [from drowning by the edict of Pharaoh]'. R. Hanina b. Papa said: That day  was the twenty-first of Nisan,  and the Ministering Angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Lord of the Universe! Shall he who will utter a song to Thee by the Red Sea on this day be punished on this day?' R. Aha b. Hanina said: That day was the sixth of Sivan,  and the Ministering Angels spoke before the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Lord of the Universe! Shall he who will receive the Torah on Mount Sinai on this day be punished on this day?' It is quite right according to him who said that it was the sixth of Sivan, for then it occurred three months [after his birth]; for a master has said: Moses died on the seventh of Adar  and was born on the seventh of Adar, and from the seventh of Adar to the sixth of Sivan is three months. But according to him who said that it was the twenty-first of Nisan, how could it have been?  — That year was a leap year;  the greater part of the first [Adar] and the greater part of the last [Nisan] and a full month in between. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call thee a nurse of the Hebrew women?  Why just 'of the Hebrew women'? — It teaches that they handed Moses about to all the Egyptian women but he would not suck. He  said: Shall a mouth which will speak with the Shechinah suck what is unclean! That is what is written: Whom will He teach knowledge etc.?  — To whom will He teach knowledge and to whom will He make the message understandable? To them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Go etc.  R. Eleazar said: It teaches that she went quickly like a young woman.  R. Samuel b. Nahmani said: [She is called] the maid ['almah] because she made the words secret. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away.  R. Hama b. Hanina said: She prophesied without knowing what she prophesied — Heliki ['take away'] — behold what is thine [ha sheliki]. And I will give thee thy wages.  R. Hama b. Hanina said: Not enough that the righteous have their loss restored to them but they also receive their reward in addition. And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took etc.  The 'sister of Aaron' and not the sister of Moses! — R. Amram said in the name of Rab, and according to others it was R. Nahman who said in the name of Rab: It teaches that she prophesied while she yet was the sister of Aaron only