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Sotah 12a

סוטה י״ב ע״א

Learn Sotah 12a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Drashos on the names of כלב and מרים, and the story of עמרם, יוכבד and the birth and hiding of משה.

Overview

The גמרא first proves from the word 'הקנזי' that כלב was raised by קנז, his stepfather. It then reads the names in פסוקים in דברי הימים as hints to כלב and his wife מרים. עזובה, יריעות, חלאה and נערה tell how מרים went from sick and abandoned to healthy and beautiful. ישר, שובב, אשחור and תקוע praise כלב, and רבי יוחנן learns that whoever marries a woman לשם שמים is considered as if he gave birth to her. The גמרא then returns to מצרים: פרעה made three decrees, each harsher than the one before. עמרם divorced his wife because of the decree, but מרים convinced him to take her back, and he made a full new wedding. The פסוקים about משה's birth teach that יוכבד became young again at 130, gave birth without pain, and hid משה for three months. The amud ends with drashos about the reed basket and its coatings, and a disagreement about the word 'בסוף' that continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

דַּיְקָא נָמֵי

It is also precise

דִּכְתִיב ״הַקְּנִזִּי״.

as it is written: "the Kenizzite."

שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ.

Conclude from it.

״עֲזוּבָה״ — זוֹ מִרְיָם,

"Azubah" — this is Miriam,

The steps (42)

  1. ProofThe word 'הקנזי' supports רבא
  2. Statementעזובה is מרים
  3. QuestionWhy does the verse say 'fathered'?
  4. ResponseMarrying for the sake of Heaven is like giving birth
  5. Statementיריעות describes מרים's face
  6. StatementRead it as 'her builders,' not 'her sons'
  7. Statementישר, שובב, and ארדון describe כלב
  8. StatementAnother view: ארדון refers to מרים's rose-like face
  9. Statementאשחור, father of תקוע, is כלב
  10. Statementמרים was like two different women
  11. Statementצרת, צהר, and אתנן describe מרים's beauty
  12. Statementפרעה decreed even against his own people
  13. Statementפרעה's three decrees
  14. QuestionWhere did the man from לוי go?
  15. ResponseHe went by his daughter's advice
  16. Statementעמרם divorces his wife, and everyone follows
  17. Challengeמרים: your decree is harsher than פרעה's
  18. ChallengeA צדיק's decree always comes true
  19. Conclusionעמרם takes his wife back, and everyone follows
  20. ChallengeWhy does the verse say 'took' instead of 'returned'?
  21. ResolutionHe made her a full new wedding
  22. ChallengeHow can a 130-year-old woman be called 'a daughter'?
  23. ProofProof that יוכבד was born as the family entered Egypt
  24. ResolutionShe became young again
  25. ChallengeShe was already pregnant, so why say 'she conceived'?
  26. ResolutionThe birth is compared to the conception: both without pain
  27. ConclusionRighteous women were not under חוה's curse
  28. Statementטוב was משה's real name
  29. StatementFit for prophecy, or born circumcised
  30. StatementThe house filled with light
  31. ProofThe word 'טוב' links to the light of creation
  32. StatementHow she could hide him for three months
  33. ChallengeWhy couldn't she keep hiding him?
  34. ResolutionThe Egyptians used crying babies
  35. ProofThe little foxes
  36. QuestionWhy a basket of reeds?
  37. Responseצדיקים value their money
  38. QuestionWhy do they care so much?
  39. ResponseBecause they never take what isn't theirs
  40. ResponseA second reason for using reeds: soft material survives bumps
  41. StatementWhy the bad-smelling pitch went on the outside
  42. StatementWhat does 'בסוף' mean? רבי אלעזר says ים סוף