Why Miriam Was Named for the Bitterness of Egyptian Bondage

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bo 7:4

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

Another interpretation (of Song of Songs 2:11): "For behold, the winter is past." These are the two hundred and ten years (RaDU) that our ancestors were in Egypt. "The rain is over and gone." These are the eighty-six years during which the servitude was made harsh upon Israel in Egypt, from the time Miriam was born. Therefore she was called by the name Miriam, on account of the bitterness (merur).

Themes

RedemptionEgyptMusicWomenWisdom

Biblical References

Continue Reading

Midrash AggadahMiriam Stands at a Distance and Prophesies Israel's Savior"And his sister stood at a distance." The sages read every word of that verse as prophecy. She stood as the Presence stands; she was a sister as one calls WisdoMekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelWhich Had Not Risen to Become Chametz Before They Were RedeemedThe Mekhilta draws a teaching from a small detail in the Exodus narrative. Scripture states (Exodus 12:34) "And the people took their dough before it leavened,"Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelRabbi Shimon Ben Yochai Offered His Own Parable to Explain the SameRabbi Shimon ben Yochai offered his own parable to explain the same prophecy from Jeremiah, that a future redemption would overshadow the memory of the Exodus. Mekhilta DeRabbi YishmaelThe Torah Mentions Redeeming the First-born of the Unclean Beast inThe Torah mentions redeeming "the first-born of the unclean beast" in (Numbers 18:15), which could suggest that every unclean animal's firstborn must be redeemePesikta de-Rav KahanaA Locked Garden and How Israel Guarded Their Purity in EgyptThe nations taunted Israel as they left Egypt: after generations under Egyptian masters, who could say whose children these really were? The sages answer with aYalkut Shimoni on TorahBy the Merit of the Righteous Women Israel Was RedeemedPharaoh broke the men of Israel in the fields and counted on the breaking. But Rabbi Akiva taught that the redemption was already being seeded, and the seeds we