Sotah 11b

סוטה י״א ע״ב

Learn Sotah 11b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The slavery in מצרים, the righteous women who earned the redemption, and the Hebrew midwives

Overview

The גמרא keeps explaining the פסוקים at the start of ספר שמות about the slavery in מצרים. רבי אלעזר and רבי שמואל בר נחמני argue whether בְּפָרֶךְ means 'with a soft mouth' or 'with crushing.' רבא and רבי יונתן add that the work grew harsher over time and that men's and women's jobs were swapped. רב עוירא then teaches that ישראל were redeemed in the merit of the righteous women. He tells how they cared for their husbands in the fields, gave birth under the apple tree, and how הקדוש ברוך הוא protected the babies until they recognized Him at the sea. Next the גמרא discusses the midwives שפרה and פועה: who they were (יוכבד with מרים or with אלישבע), פרעה's signs to them, and how they refused him and kept the babies alive. Their excuse that Jewish women are חיות is explained as 'like animals,' which give birth without help. Their reward of 'houses' is explained as כהונה and לויה or מלכות through דוד. The amud ends by working out who כלב's father was: חצרון, with 'בן יפנה' as a nickname and קנז as his stepfather.

Opening lines

The steps (40)

1. StatementTwo meanings of the word בְּפָרֶךְ
2. StatementThe work started with bricks and grew to all field labor
3. StatementSwapping men's work and women's work
4. ConclusionEven רבי אלעזר agrees the second בְּפָרֶךְ means crushing
5. StatementRedeemed in the merit of righteous women
6. StatementThe miracle of the fish in the water jugs
7. StatementThe women care for their husbands in the fields
8. StatementThe reward: the plunder of מצרים
9. StatementGiving birth secretly under the apple tree
10. StatementHeaven sends help to clean the newborns
11. StatementTwo stones of oil and honey to feed the babies
12. StatementThe ground swallows the babies to save them
13. StatementThe babies sprout up like grass
14. StatementThe grown babies come home in big groups
15. StatementThese children recognized הקדוש ברוך הוא first at the sea
16. StatementWho were the two Hebrew midwives? רב and שמואל disagree
17. ResponseNaming the midwives on each side
18. ProofA ברייתא supports the mother-and-daughter view: שפרה is יוכבד
19. StatementA second reason for the name שפרה
20. Statementפועה is מרים, named for soothing the newborn
21. StatementSecond reason for the name פועה: מרים's prophecy
22. QuestionWhat does the word אׇבְנָיִם mean?
23. Responseרבי חנן: the thighs turn cold as stones
24. ResponseAnother view: אׇבְנָיִם like the potter's wheel
25. Statementרבי חנינא: how to tell a boy from a girl at birth
26. QuestionWhy does the פסוק say אֲלֵיהֶן instead of לָהֶן?
27. Responseפרעה tried to make the midwives sin
28. StatementThe midwives even fed the babies
29. QuestionWhat does חָיוֹת mean?
30. RejectionIt cannot mean actual midwives
31. ResponseThe Jewish nation is compared to animals
32. ConclusionEvery tribe is compared to an animal
33. StatementWhat houses did ה׳ make for the midwives
34. ResponsePriesthood and Levites means אהרן and משה
35. Proofדוד comes from מרים
36. StatementA פסוק about כלב's family
37. ChallengeIsn't כלב the son of יפנה
38. Resolutionיפנה is a nickname
39. ChallengeBut כלב is called the son of קנז
40. Resolutionכלב was קנז's stepson