ספר שמות פרק א
(כב) וַיְצַו פַּרְעֹה לְכָל עַמּוֹ לֵאמֹר כָּל הַבֵּן הַיִּלּוֹד הַיְאֹרָה תַּשְׁלִיכֻהוּ וְכָל הַבַּת תְּחַיּוּן:
ספר שמות פרק ב
(א) וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ מִבֵּית לֵוִי וַיִּקַּח אֶת בַּת לֵוִי:
(ב) וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתֵּרֶא אֹתוֹ כִּי טוֹב הוּא וַתִּצְפְּנֵהוּ שְׁלשָׁה יְרָחִים:
(ג) וְלֹא יָכְלָה עוֹד הַצְּפִינוֹ וַתִּקַּח לוֹ תֵּבַת גֹּמֶא וַתַּחְמְרָה בַחֵמָר וּבַזָּפֶת וַתָּשֶׂם בָּהּ אֶת הַיֶּלֶד וַתָּשֶׂם בַּסּוּף עַל שְׂפַת הַיְאֹר:
(ד) וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה מַה יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ:
(ה) וַתֵּרֶד בַּת פַּרְעֹה לִרְחֹץ עַל הַיְאֹר וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ הֹלְכֹת עַל יַד הַיְאֹר וַתֵּרֶא אֶת הַתֵּבָה בְּתוֹךְ הַסּוּף וַתִּשְׁלַח אֶת אֲמָתָהּ וַתִּקָּחֶהָ:
(ו) וַתִּפְתַּח וַתִּרְאֵהוּ אֶת הַיֶּלֶד וְהִנֵּה נַעַר בֹּכֶה וַתַּחְמֹל עָלָיו וַתֹּאמֶר מִיַּלְדֵי הָעִבְרִים זֶה:
Exodus 1:22-Pharaoh commanded his people that every male born must be cast into the Nile-letting only the females survive.
Exodus 2:5
NJPS: The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the Nile…
Jerusalem Bible: … came down to bathe at the Nile
Neither translation is precise. The Hebrew text renders a reading wherein the daughter of Pharaoh descended to bathe upon the Nile. A quick check with a Bible Concordance reveals that in biblical usage one always washes in water or in a river –never on or upon a body of water. This verse would seem to be anomalous. (Compare to 2Kings 5:10, Leviticus 8:6, Song of Songs 5:12, etc.) Often, translations that try to “smooth over a difficult read”, actually deprive the reader of small but precious subtexts and insights.
Rashi and the Talmud below – each solve the problem differently.
רש”י על שמות פרק ב פסוק ה
(ה) לרחץ על היאור – סרס המקרא ופרשהו ותרד בת פרעה על היאור לרחוץ בו:
Rashi: Switch the order of words to explain the verse- Daughter of Pharaoh descended upon the Nile to wash [in it]—(not as stated in its order in the verse-daughter of Pharaoh descended to wash upon the Nile).
Talmud Tractate Sotah 12a: [the verse] teaches us that she descended in order to cleanse herself concerning (the word על can mean concerning as well as upon physically) the idolatry of her father…
Taking license with the Talmud’s translation of the word על as concerning, what might be an alternative object of her concern and need for cleansing other than the Nile as an object of idolatry?
When one looks at the last verse in the previous chapter (only five verses earlier), one is struck by the reverse symmetry of Pharaoh’s action and that of his daughter. Pharaoh casts male Hebrew babies into the Nile; his daughter draws one Hebrew baby out of the Nile. As strongly indicated by verse 6, she does this not despite his Hebrew origin but precisely because of it. A whole new way of reading this extraordinary act on the part of Pharaoh’s daughter comes into view by noticing the linguistic anomaly and tweaking the Talmudic interpretation in order to explain the anomaly as providing a secondary reading (or subtext) to this verse that explains her guilt concerning and motivation to reverse the deeds of her father. Pharaoh’s daughter needed to cleanse herself concerning [her father’s murderous decree of] the Nile.
One footnote: When I made aliyah more than thirty years ago, one of my first jobs was teaching Torah in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion to an Ulpan for potential converts. Unlike today, when most converts in Israel are immigrants from the former Soviet Union, in those days prior to the fall of Communist Russia, candidates for conversion were usually European volunteers on Israeli kibbutzim. Many came from Germany and one did not have to guess what brought them to volunteer in Israel. “The daughter of Pharaoh descended to cleanse herself concerning the Nile.”
