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Sotah 12b

סוטה י״ב ע״ב

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

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Topic

The rescue of משה from the river (שמות 2:5-9): בת פרעה, her maidens, the astrologers' decree, משה's nursing, and מרים.

Overview

This amud goes through the story of משה's rescue from the river (שמות 2), one phrase at a time. בת פרעה went down to the river to wash away her father's idol worship. Her maidens tried to stop her from saving משה, and גבריאל struck them down. רבי יהודה and רבי נחמיה argue whether אמתה means her maidservant or her arm. If it means her arm, it stretched out by a miracle. The גמרא explains why משה is called both ילד and נער, and how בת פרעה knew he was a Hebrew. Her word זה was a prophecy she did not understand: Pharaoh's astrologers misread a sign about water and canceled their decree once משה was put in the river. Two אמוראים give the date of that day, and a leap year makes both fit the three months of hiding. The amud ends with משה refusing Egyptian nurses, מרים and יוכבד, and the start of an explanation of why מרים is called 'the sister of אהרן.' That explanation continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

אֲגַם, כְּדִכְתִיב:

A marsh, as it is written:

״קָנֶה וָסוּף קָמֵלוּ״.

"The reeds and willows shall wither."

״וַתֵּרֶד בַּת פַּרְעֹה

"And the daughter of Pharaoh came down

לִרְחוֹץ עַל הַיְאֹר״,

to bathe in the river,"

The steps (39)

  1. ProofProof that סוף means a marsh
  2. Statementבת פרעה went down to wash away idol worship
  3. StatementThe maidens' 'walking' hints at their death
  4. StatementThe maidens try to stop בת פרעה from saving משה
  5. Conclusionגבריאל strikes the maidens down
  6. StatementArm or maidservant: the meaning of אמתה
  7. ProofThe reason behind each opinion
  8. ChallengeChallenge to the maidservant view: weren't they all killed?
  9. Resolutionגבריאל left one maidservant
  10. ChallengeChallenge to the arm view: why not just say 'her hand'?
  11. ResolutionHer arm miraculously stretched
  12. ProofSupport: miraculous stretching elsewhere
  13. ChallengeWhy 'she saw him' and not just 'she saw'?
  14. ResolutionShe saw the שכינה with him
  15. ChallengeWhy is the baby called both child and lad?
  16. ResolutionA child's body with a lad's voice
  17. RejectionThat would give משה a defect
  18. ResolutionHis mother made him a little wedding canopy
  19. QuestionHow did בת פרעה know he was Hebrew?
  20. ResponseShe saw he was circumcised
  21. Statementבת פרעה prophesied without knowing it
  22. ProofPeople can see the future without understanding it
  23. StatementThe astrologers see a sign and decree that all baby boys be drowned
  24. StatementThe decree is canceled, but the astrologers misread the sign
  25. ProofA פסוק hints that מי מריבה is the water the astrologers saw
  26. Proofמשה tells Israel they were all saved because of him
  27. Statementמשה was put in the river on the twenty-first of ניסן
  28. StatementAnother view: משה was put in the river on the sixth of סיון
  29. ChallengeDoes the twenty-first of Nisan fit the three months of hiding?
  30. ResolutionIt was a leap year
  31. QuestionWhy did the nurse have to be Hebrew?
  32. Responseמשה refused to nurse from Egyptian women
  33. ProofSupport from a פסוק in ישעיהו
  34. Statementמרים went quickly like a young woman
  35. Statementמרים hid her words
  36. Statementבת פרעה prophesied without knowing it
  37. Statementצדיקים get back what they lost and are paid too
  38. QuestionWhy is מרים called the sister of אהרן?
  39. Responseמרים prophesied before משה was born