Komentarz do Wyjścia 1:16

בילדכן WHEN YE DO THE OFFICE OF A MIDWIFE — This word (the Piel) has the same force as בהולידכן (the Hiphil): when you assist them to give birth.

על האבנים; on the birth-chair. We encounter this expression משבר meaning birth-chair in Kings II 19,3 באו בנים עד המשבר, “the babes have reached the birth-stool.” The expression אבנים also occurs in Jeremiah 18,3 where it describes a tool similar to round millstones.

ויאמר…וראיתן על האבנים, He said: "look at the birthstool, etc." Why did Pharaoh have to instruct the midwives to look at the birthstool? Was it not enough to instruct them to kill male babies? It is true that our sages in Sotah 11 say that Pharaoh gave the midwives a sign which would alert them to the approaching birth of a male baby i.e. if the head of the baby was facing downwards, whereas if the head faced upwards this was an indication that a baby girl was about to be born. I have never understood why the midwives would need to be told such a sign [After all they were supposed to be the experts, not Pharaoh. Ed.]. Another thing we have to know is why Pharaoh did not decree death on all Jewish babies. It is most unlikely that he was motivated by a desire to ensure that some Jews would survive. Why did he not command the midwives simply: "kill them," without suggesting that they do something first which would eventually result in the death of these boy babies? What is the precise meaning of "If it turns out to be a daughter, let her live?" If Pharaoh himself had only decreed death on the males, why would the midwives need to be told to let the girls live? Surely midwives would not murder voluntarily!

Only in regard to the male children because his astrologers. . . We might suggest that Pharaoh’s decree was to prevent Bnei Yisrael from multiplying [and not because of his astrologers]. However, then Pharaoh should have killed the females. For if Pharaoh kills the males and leaves the females, as long as one male remains he could impregnate many females. (Re”m) But it seems to me [to explain Rashi otherwise]: If Pharaoh’s decree was only to prevent Bnei Yisrael from multiplying, why did he innovate the decree pertaining to the midwives? He was concerned about them multiplying because of “he will join our enemies and fight against us,” and this problem was removed by the decree of [appointing] the conscription officers. Rather, this new decree was “Because his astrologers. . .” (Nachalas Yaakov) See further elaboration there.

וראיתן על האבנים , you are to closely inspect the birth stools. Pharaoh gave the midwives a sign how to recognise if the approaching birth would be that of a male baby or a female. If a male, the face would be turned downwards and if a female the baby’s face would be looking upwards, as each would do during marital intercourse. [This editor finds it hard to believe that professional midwives needed instruction on this subject from Pharaoh. Ed.]

על האבנים UPON THE STOOLS — the seat for the woman in the act of childbirth; in another passage (Isaiah 37:3) Scripture terms it מַשְׁבֵּר. Similar is, (Jeremiah 18:3) “He was at work on the אבנים" — the place of the vessels of (being produced by) the craftsmanship of the potter.

וחיה. The stress is on the first syllable, just as in shavah from shav. We encounter the use of this term in Genesis 11,12 where the Torah, when telling us about the age of Arpachshad when he sired children, writes: ארפכשד חי, ”Arpachshad had lived, etc.” The parallel construction in the feminine mode is chayah. However, in a verse in Kohelet 6,6 אילו חיה אלף שנים, “if he were to live for 1000 years,” the stress is on the last syllable of the word chayah and is in the masculine mode, just like עשה or עלה, which being verbal modes are in the masculine mode, the letter ה at the end notwithstanding.

And she will live ( וְתִחְיֶה ). Rashi is answering the question that וְחָיָה (lit. “and he will live”) is in the masculine form, as is seen in many places, [and thus it does not fit the subject (girl) of the verse]. But this וְחָיָה is in the feminine form, and is like the term וְתִחְיֶה . For there is a difference. The word in our verse has the accent on the next-to-last syllable, on the ח , thus it is in the feminine form. But when the accent is on the last syllable, on the י , it is in the masculine form. We find [examples of the masculine form] in Megillas Esther (4:11) where it is written: אֶת שַׁרְבִיט הַזָּהָב וְחָיָה [the accent is on the י ]. And the same is in Koheles (6:6): וְאִלּוּ חָיָה אֶלֶף שָׁנִים . Another explanation: [Rashi is emphasizing that] since the letter ו begins the word וְחָיָה , this switches it to the future tense.

We must assume that Pharaoh wanted to ensure that his plan would succeed. Which expectant mother would expose her unborn child to be killed by inviting the midwife? Pharaoh therefore told the midwives to behave in a manner which could not arouse any suspicion. By having a look at the birthstool to determine if a girl or a boy was about to be born, they would be able to kill the baby prior to its being born and tell the mother that the baby had been stillborn. The midwives would announce this before the baby had left the mother's womb. How did the midwives know all this? This is where the sign mentioned in the Talmud comes in. Pharaoh told the midwives how to make sure beforehand. When he said והמתן אותו "and you shall kill it," the extra letter ו indicates that they should only kill after first having made sure that it was a male baby. The baby was to be killed before it could be heard at the moment of birth.

אם בן הוא והמיתן אותו, “if it is a son, you are to kill him;“ when the Egyptians realised that they could not prevent the Israelites from continuing to increase at an alarming rate, they decided to at least kill their males who might grow up and fight them.

'אם בן הוא וגו IF IT BE A SON etc. — He was particular only about the male children because his astrologers had told him that there was to be born to a Hebrew woman a son who would become their deliverer (Exodus Rabbah 1:18).

The words אם בת היא mean that Pharaoh was anxious to avoid having the mothers think that the midwives were implicated in murder; therefore as long as the mothers felt that some of their babies survived birth they would not grow suspicious of the midwives. Presumably the midwives were not even to reveal that the stillborn baby had been a boy. In this fashion suspicions could be long delayed.

ואם בת היא וחיה, “but if it is a daughter, let her live;” women are not in the habit of fighting during a war. They therefore did not need to be afraid of them.

וחיה has the same meaning as ותחיה THEN SHE SHALL LIVE.

Pharaoh displayed a double portion of shrewdness since it was also his objective to prevent the Jews from emigrating. As the proportion of females would increase they would be forced to look for Egyptian husbands due to the dearth of eligible Jewish males. Once the two peoples began to merge through intermarriage there was no longer any fear that they would try to emigrate. Moreover, from a mystical point of view, intermarriage results in holy souls becoming so intertwined with souls of impure origin that any eventual separation would become well nigh impossible. After all, our sages are on record in Vayikra Rabbah 32,5 that the Jewish people could not be redeemed from Egypt until 4 conditions existed, one of which was careful abstention from all kinds of incest and sexual licentiousness. Kabbalists interpret the words גן נעול in Song of Songs 4,12 as "chaste as a garden locked," i.e. that if the Jews had intermarried in Egypt they would never have been redeemed.