Shemos 1:17 · unit 2

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 baraisa — Sotah 11b (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 11b

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sotah 11b

ותחיין — תנא: לא דיין שלא המיתו אותם אלא שהיו מספיקות להם מים ומזון.

English: “And they kept them alive” — it was taught: Not only did they not kill them, but they supplied them with water and food.

On the daf / in context: The verb “vathechayena” is stronger than mere non-compliance. The midwives actively sustained the infants they had been ordered to destroy. This positive act closes the first aliyah’s narrative of resistance.

Type of Learning

Custom — intensifying reading of vathechayena.

What Is Learned

Chazal teach that the midwives went beyond passive refusal: they provided the infants with the means of life.

← PREV ↑ Master Index NEXT →