Shemos 2:2 · unit 3 — she hid him three months

Parashas Shemos

The Complete Passuk

וַתַּ֥הַר הָאִשָּׁ֖ה וַתֵּ֣לֶד בֵּ֑ן וַתֵּ֤רֶא אֹתוֹ֙ כִּי־ט֣וֹב ה֔וּא וַֽתִּצְפְּנֵ֖הוּ שְׁלֹשָׁ֥ה יְרָחִֽים׃

The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months.

Chabad.org — 2:2

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Sotah 12a (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 12a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text

ותצפנהו שלשה ירחים — דלא הוו מנו מצרים אלא משעה דאהדרה עמרם, והיא הות מתעברא ביה תלתא ירחי מעיקרא.

English: “And she hid him three months” — because the Egyptians counted only from the time Amram remarried her, while she had already been pregnant with him for three months beforehand.

On the daf / in context: The three-month concealment is explained by the gap between the actual conception (before the separation ended) and the official remarriage date used by the Egyptians.

Type of Learning

Custom — chronological calculation.

What Is Learned

Chazal teach that the three months of concealment correspond to the period the Egyptians could not yet have expected a birth from the remarriage.