The Nativity of Moses

(2) The woman became pregnant and bore a son. She saw him—that he was goodly, so she hid him, for three months. (Fox)

And the Rabbis say: At the time when Moses was born, the entire house was filled with light, as it is written here: “And when she saw him that he was a goodly [tov] child,” and it is written there: “And God saw the light, that it was good [tov]” (Genesis 1:4).

(8) A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. (9) And he said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us. (10) Let us deal shrewdly with them (lit "him"), so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they (lit he) may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground.”

(Ex. 1, 8) ...

Come on, let us deal wisely with him. It should have been with them, [plural]. Said Chama b. R. Chanina: "This means that he said to them: 'Come on, let us deal wisely with the Redeemer of Israel. ...

R. Chiya b. Aba said in the name of R. Jochanan: "The following three Bil'am, Job and Jethro — were the advisers of Pharaoh, concerning his decree to throw in the river the children of Israel. Bil'am, who gave this advice, was killed; Job, who kept silence, was punished with chastisement; and Jethro, who ran away, was rewarded by having his decendants placed among the Sanhedrin, in the chamber of Temple

(15) The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives (alt Midwives of the Hebrews), one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, (16) saying, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool. if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” (17) The midwives, fearing God, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. (18) So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live?” (19) The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women: they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.” (20) And God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and increased greatly. (21) And [God] established households for the midwives, because they feared God. (22) Then Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, “Every boy that is born you shall throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”

(1) לכל עמו This may be translated AND PHARAOH GAVE COMMAND REGARDING ALL (לכל) HIS PEOPLE — Regarding them, too, he made a decree (Sotah 12a). For on the day when Moses was born his astrologers said to him, “To-day their deliverer has been born, but we know not whether he is born of an Egyptian father or of an Israelite; but we see by our astrological art that he will ultimately suffer misfortune through water”. Pharaoh therefore made a decree that day regarding the Egyptians also, as it is said here, “Every son that is born [ye shall cast into the river]”, and it is not stated “[every son] who is born to the Hebrews”. They (the astrologers), however, were not aware that Moses was ultimately to suffer misfortune through the waters of Meribah and not through the waters of the Nile (Exodus Rabbah 1:18; Sotah 12a; cf. also Rashi on Numbers 20:13).

The Hebrew midwives - the understanding of our sages, o blessed memory, and Onkelos, and Rashbam, and Ramban and Ra"z is that those midwives were from the seed of Israel,

and the understanding of the Alexandrian translator, and[Eusebius Sophronius] Hieronymos, and Yoseohus Flavius, and Don Itzchak [Abrabanel] is that they were Egyptian, these midvives of the Hebrews. And this is right, since how does it make any sense that [Pharaoh] would order Jewish women to destroy all the children of their own people and believe that they won't reveal such a thing? ... and my dear student, R. Yaakov Chay Pardo, may the tzadik's memory bring blessings to us, adds that if they were from another people it made more sense to say they did this out of fear and not of love, since if they were Jewish what need would there be to remind us that they feared God, since all humans love the children of their own people. Also, what they point out that the names Shifra and Puah are not Egyptian, but come from Hebrew roots, this is not relevant, since they would come from the Land of Goshen, that is closer to the land of Israel (see Gen. 46:34), and it is possible that they just spoke a language closer to Hebrew like Cannanite, and so their names would be closer to Hebrew and Cannanite.

And Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says further: He decreed three decrees. Initially, he commanded the midwives only with regard to Jewish infants: “You shall look upon the stones. If it be a son, then you shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live” (Exodus 1:16). And afterward, he decreed with regard to the Jewish infants: “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river” (Exodus 1:22). And ultimately, he decreed even on his own nation that Egyptian infant boys should be cast into the river as well.

And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them … ye shall look upon the birthstool; if it be a son (Exod. 1:15–16). Why were they commanded to do that? Because the astrologers had told him: “The redeemer of Israel will be born on that day, but we do not know whether he will be born to an Egyptian woman or an Israelite.” At the time he assembled every Egyptian and said to them: “Loan me your sons for a day,” as is said: Every son that is born ye shall cast (ibid., v. 22). It does not say “every child of an Israelite” but rather: Every son that is born, whether Egyptian or Israelite, ye shall cast into the river.

(1) COME, LET US DEAL WISELY WITH HIM. ...
It appears that this [decree to drown the Israelite children] lasted but a short time, for when Aaron was born [three years before Moses],Ibid., 7:7. the decree was not yet in existence,This would explain why his mother did not have to seek a way to preserve his life. and when [shortly after] Moses was born, it appears that the decree was revoked.

Perhaps it was through Pharaoh’s daughter, who, in her compassion for the child Moses, said to her father that he should not act in that way.

It may be that when it became known that this decree was enacted by the king, he revoked it, or again it may be that it was revoked on account of the astrologers, as is the opinion of the Rabbis,36“When Moses was thrown into the waters, the astrologers said to Pharaoh, ‘Their deliverer has already been cast into the waters.’ Immediately, they voided the decree” (Shemoth Rabbah 1:29). See also Rashi to Verse 22 here. since it was all done dexterously by them in order that the crime not be known.

if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live. This is similar to the fear that Avram had when he went down to Egypt with Sarai, his wife (Genesis 12: 12) "they will kill me and you (Sarai) will they let live" This was the custom it would seem. And the verse follows its dictum, the stories of the patriarchs are a sign to their children.

‎ And in the night that Abram was born, all the servants of Terah and all the wise men and the ‎astrologers of Nimrod came, and they ate and drank in the house of Terah and they were ‎greatly rejoiced all night. And when the wise men and the astrologers left Terah's house they ‎lifted up their eyes unto heaven on that night to observe the stars; and behold a very large ‎star came from the rising of the sun and ran about in the heavens and swallowed up four stars ‎from the four winds of heaven. And the wise men and the astrologers were greatly astonished ‎at that spectacle, and the wise men reflected over the matter and they knew its meaning at ‎once. And they said to each other: This cannot be otherwise but in reference to the child that ‎was born unto Terah, that he will be great and that he will be increased and exceedingly ‎multiplied, and that he will inherit all the earth, he and his children forever, and that he and his ‎seed will slay great kings and possess themselves of their lands. And all the wise men, and all ‎the astrologers, went quietly to their homes that night. And in the morning they arose, and all ‎the wise men and all the astrologers assembled in the house appointed for their meetings, ‎and they spoke among themselves saying: Behold the sight we have seen last night is not ‎known, and it hath not been communicated unto the king. And now if the king should come to ‎the knowledge of that matter at some future time, then he will say unto us: Why have ye ‎withheld from me all those things? and all of us will have to die on that account. And now ‎come and let us impart to the king all about the sight we have seen last night, as well as its ‎interpretation, so that we may be free of all responsibility. And they did accordingly, and they ‎went unto the king, and coming unto his presence, they bowed down before him to the ‎ground and saluted him saying: May the king live, may the king live! We have been informed ‎that a son hath been born unto Terah thy chief commander, and we went unto his house last ‎night, and we were eating and drinking and rejoicing in his house all night. And when we, thy ‎servants, departed from the house of Terah, so that each of us should go to his home for the ‎rest of the night, we lifted up our eyes towards heaven and beheld a very great star coming ‎from the side of the rising of the sun in a very swift course, and it swallowed up four great ‎stars from the four winds of the heaven. And we, thy servants, were greatly astonished at that ‎strange sight which we have seen, and we were greatly terrified thereat. And we passed our ‎judgment over that strange phenomenon, and we discovered in our wisdom the ‎interpretation of that spectacle in its correctness. For this all was seen on account of the child ‎which was born unto Terah, meaning, that he would become great and very numerous, and ‎powerful, and that he would slay all the kings and inherit their lands, he and his children and ‎his seed forever. And now, oh king our lord, we have informed thee correctly of what we have ‎seen concerning that child, and if it so please the king we would say, that the king give unto ‎Terah the value of that child, and we will slay him ere he grows up and increases in the land, to ‎bring about the great evil, whereby we are all to be driven from the earth, and we, and our ‎children, and our seed perish through his wickedness. ‎

(1) A certain member of the house of Levi went and took [into his household as his wife] a woman of Levi. (2) The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. (3) When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. (4) And his sister stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him. (5) The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile, while her maidens walked along the Nile. She spied the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to fetch it. (6) When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.” (7) Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child for you?” (8) And Pharaoh’s daughter answered, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. (9) And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. (10) When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who made him her son. She named him Moses, explaining, “I drew him out of the water.” (11) Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his kinsfolk and witnessed their labors. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. (12) He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (13) When he went out the next day, he found two Hebrews fighting; so he said to the offender, “Why do you strike your fellow?” (14) He retorted, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Moses was frightened, and thought: Then the matter is known! (15) When Pharaoh learned of the matter, he sought to kill Moses; but Moses fled from Pharaoh. He arrived in the land of Midian, and sat down beside a well.

A Sage teaches: Amram, the father of Moses, was the great man of his generation. Once he saw that the wicked Pharaoh said: “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive” (Exodus 1:22), he said:

We are laboring for nothing by bringing children into the world to be killed. Therefore, he arose and divorced his wife. All others who saw this followed his example and arose and divorced their wives. His daughter, Miriam, said to him: Father, your decree is more harsh for the Jewish people than that of Pharaoh, as Pharaoh decreed only with regard to the males, but you decreed both on the males and on the females. And now no children will be born. Additionally, Pharaoh decreed to kill them only in this world, but you decreed in this world and in the World-to-Come, as those not born will not enter the World-to-Come. Miriam continued: Additionally, concerning Pharaoh the wicked, it is uncertain whether his decree will be fulfilled, and it is uncertain if his decree will not be fulfilled. You are a righteous person, and as such, your decrees will certainly be fulfilled, as it is stated with regard to the righteous: “You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you” (Job 22:28).

Amram accepted his daughter’s words and arose and brought back, i.e., remarried, his wife, and all others who saw this followed his example and arose and brought back their wives. The Gemara asks: If Amram remarried Jochebed, rather than say: “And took for a wife a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1), it should have stated: “And returned for a wife the daughter of Levi.” Rav Yehuda bar Zevina says: He performed an act of marriage just as one would do for a first marriage. He sat her on a palanquin [appiryon], and Aaron and Miriam danced before her, and the ministering angels said: “A joyful mother of children” (Psalms 113:9).