“His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter: Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” (Exodus 2:7). “His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, etc.” Why did Miriam say: “From the Hebrew women”? Was it prohibited for Moses to nurse from the milk of a gentile woman? That is not what we learned: A Jewish woman may not nurse the son of a gentile woman, but a gentile woman may nurse the son of a Jewish woman on [the Jewish woman’s] property (Avoda Zara 26a).
Why did she say so? It is because [Pharaoh’s daughter] had passed Moses around to all the Egyptian women to nurse him, but he rejected them all. Why did he reject them? The Holy One blessed be He said: Shall the mouth that is destined to speak with Me imbibe an impure substance?
That is what is written: “To whom will one teach knowledge, [and who can understand a lesson? Those weaned from milk, detached from breasts”] (Isaiah 28:9). To whom will [God] teach knowledge? To those weaned from milk, etc. Alternatively, why did he reject their breasts?
The Holy One blessed be He said: This one is destined to speak with Me. Tomorrow the Egyptian women will say: ‘This one who is speaking with the Divine Spirit, I nursed him.’ “Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Go. The girl went and called the mother of the child” (Exodus 2:8).
“The girl [alma] went.” Why did the verse call her alma? It is because she went with alacrity.57Alma typically refers to a young adult woman. Rabbi Shmuel said: It is because she was guarded in her words.58She did not tell Pharaoh’s daughter that she was the child’s sister and that she was calling child’s mother.
“Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. The woman took the child and she nursed him” (Exodus 2:9). “Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Take [heilikhi].” Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: She prophesied, but she did not know what she prophesied: Heilikhi, he is yours.59The term heilikhi is interpreted as though it was two words: Hei likhi, this is yours.
“And I will give you your wages.” Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: It is not enough for the righteous that their lost items are returned to them; they also receive a reward. “The woman took the child and she nursed him.” At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He gave her a partial reward. She had sustained the children, and likewise, the Holy One blessed be He returned her son to her and gave her wages.