Shemos 1:17 · unit 1

Parashas Shemos · Passuk 1:17

The Complete Passuk

וַתִּירֶ֤אןָ הַֽמְיַלְּדֹת֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֱלֹהִ֔ים וְלֹ֣א עָשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ן מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרָ֑יִם וַתְּחַיֶּ֖יןָ אֶת־הַיְלָדִֽים׃

Chabad.org — 1:17

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to R’ Yosei bar Chanina — Sotah 11b (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 11b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sotah 11b

כאשר דבר אליהן — להן מבעי ליה. א״ר יוסי ב״ר חנינא: מלמד שתבען לדבר עבירה ולא נתבעו.

English: “As he spoke to them (aleihen)” — it should have said “to them (lahen).” R’ Yosei bar Chanina said: This teaches that he solicited them for an immoral act and they were not solicited.

On the daf / in context: The preposition “aleihen” is read as carrying a sexual connotation. Pharaoh’s demand is therefore understood as twofold: the killing of the male infants and a personal immoral demand upon the midwives themselves, both of which they refused.

Type of Learning

Custom — diyuk from the preposition aleihen.

What Is Learned

Chazal teach that the midwives’ fear of God protected them from both the royal decree of infanticide and an additional personal demand of the king.

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