Parshat Shemot5 min read

The Room Filled With Light When Moses Was Born

Amram gave up on children under Pharaohs decree. Miriam forced him back to hope, and Moses was born in a room filled with light.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. Amram Closed the Future
  2. Miriam Rebuked Her Father
  3. The Second Wedding Rose Up
  4. The Prophecy Was Kissed and Struck
  5. Miriam Waited by the River

The room filled with light before the river could take him.

Yocheved looked at the newborn and saw that he was good. The word reached backward to the first day, when God saw the light and called it good. In a slave house under Pharaoh's decree, creation seemed to begin again in the face of one child.

But the light had almost never come.

Amram Closed the Future

Pharaoh had ordered every Hebrew boy thrown into the Nile.

Amram heard the decree and made a decision that sounded righteous because it was wrapped in grief. Why bring children into a world where sons would be drowned? He separated from Yocheved. If no child was born, no child could be taken.

The men of Israel followed him. Amram was the leader, and his fear carried authority. Houses grew quiet. Marriages loosened. The decree that began in Pharaoh's palace entered Hebrew homes by imitation. Egypt had commanded death for the boys. Amram's answer threatened boys and girls alike, because no children would come at all.

Miriam Rebuked Her Father

Miriam was young enough to be dismissed and clear enough to be dangerous.

She went to her father and told him his decree was harsher than Pharaoh's. Pharaoh had condemned the males. Amram had condemned everyone. Pharaoh could murder children in this world. Amram was preventing them from entering any world at all.

Worse, Amram was righteous. His decisions mattered. If he closed the door on birth, others would close it after him. His despair had become law for families who still needed someone to choose life before there was proof that life could survive.

Amram listened to his daughter.

The Second Wedding Rose Up

He brought Yocheved back.

The return was not hidden. Yocheved was carried on a palanquin as if the community needed to see hope lifted in public. Aaron and Miriam danced before her. Angels sang over the remarriage, calling her a joyful mother of children while Pharaoh's river waited for Hebrew sons.

The other men saw and returned to their wives. One girl's rebuke had reopened houses across Israel. Pharaoh had tried to make the future end at the Nile. Miriam made the future pass through a wedding procession.

Three months later, the light came.

The Prophecy Was Kissed and Struck

Miriam had said her mother would bear the child who would save Israel.

When Moses was born and the house filled with light, Amram kissed his daughter on the head. Her prophecy had breath now. It had fingers, a mouth, a newborn cry, and brightness spreading across the room.

Then the decree found them again.

The child could not be hidden forever. Yocheved placed him in a basket and set him among the reeds of the Nile, the very water Pharaoh had chosen for Hebrew death. Amram's hope broke open. He struck Miriam on the head and asked where her prophecy was now.

The same head received the kiss and the blow.

Miriam Waited by the River

Miriam did not leave.

She stood at a distance, watching the basket move in the reeds. Her father had kissed her when the room shone and struck her when the river swallowed the child from view. Miriam stayed between those two moments. She watched to see whether the light in the house had been a promise or only a wound made brighter.

Then Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe.

The child was drawn from the water. Miriam moved at the right instant and offered to find a Hebrew nurse. The mother who had placed him in the Nile received him back into her arms. Pharaoh's house would raise the redeemer Pharaoh had tried to drown.

The light had not lied. It had only passed through water first.

That waiting was its own courage. Miriam had no army, no decree, no adult authority left to hide behind. She had only the prophecy that had already been mocked by water. A child can run from a river carrying a basket away. Miriam stayed. She made herself a witness until heaven gave her the next move, with reeds moving around the basket and Egypt watching from the bank.

Because she waited, Yocheved nursed her own son. Because she spoke, Israel's marriages had reopened. Because the light filled one room, Pharaoh's river began to carry the child who would one day split a sea and lead the slaves out alive.

MosesMiraclesEgyptWomenExodus
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From the tradition

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Sotah 12aTalmud Bavli, Sotah

The Gemara comments: The language of another verse is also precise based on this explanation, as it is written: “And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him” (Joshua 14:6). Although his father was Jephunneh, he is known as “the Kenizzite,” although he was not actually a son of Kenaz. The Gemara accepts this proof and states: Conclude from it that Rava’s explanation is correct. The verse states: “And Caleb, the son of Hezron, begot children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth, and these were her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon” (I Chronicles 2:18).

The Gemara analyzes the verse: The verse refers to the wife of Caleb by the name Azubah. The Sages teach that this is Miriam. And why is she called Azubah? As everyone initially abandoned her [azavuha] and did not want to marry her because she was sickly and unattractive.

The verse additionally states: “And Caleb, the son of Hezron, begot children [holid] of Azubah his wife” (I Chronicles 2:18). The Gemara asks: Why use the term “holid,” begot children? But doesn’t this verse state that he married her? Rabbi Yoḥanan says: This teaches us that with regard to anyone who marries a woman for the sake of Heaven, as he married her due to her righteousness without concern for her appearance, the verse ascribes him credit as if he gave birth to her.

The same verse refers to Miriam additionally as Jerioth, which the Gemara explains was appropriate, for her face was like extremely pallid curtains [yeriot]. The verse continues: “And these were her sons [vaneha].” The Gemara explains: Do not read it as vaneha, her sons; rather, read it as boneha, her builders. In other words, the rest of the names in the verse are not the names of her children, but rather appellations for her husband, whose marriage to her built her, as it were.

The first appellation for Caleb, “Jesher,” is referring to his actions, as he set himself straight [yisher] and did not join in the counsel of the spies. The second appellation, “Shobab,” is referring to the fact that he broke [sibbev] his evil inclination by rebelling against the other spies. The third appellation, “and Ardon [veArdon],” is referring to the fact that he ruled [rada] over his evil inclination.

And some say: Because the face of his wife Miriam became beautiful like a rose [vered] after they were married, she was also called Vardon, due to her rose-like complexion. The Gemara interprets an additional verse as referring to Caleb. It is stated: “And Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah” (I Chronicles 4:5). Ashhur is Caleb.

And why was he called Ashhur? Because his face became blackened [husheḥaru] from the extensive fasts that he accepted upon himself so that he would not be entrapped by the counsel of the spies. “The father of” is also referring to Caleb, as he became like a father to his wife. The next word in the verse, “Tekoa,” is an additional reference to Caleb, as he attached [taka] his heart to his Father in Heaven.

The phrase in the verse “had two wives” actually means it is as if Miriam became like two wives, because she changed over the course of time. And therefore the two names written in the verse: “Helah and Naarah,” were not two separate women, Helah and Naarah. Rather, initially Miriam was sickly [ḥela] and forlorn, and ultimately she was healthy and beautiful like a young woman [na’ara]. The Gemara expounds the following verse as referring to Miriam: “And the children of Helah were Zereth [Tzeret] and Zohar and Ethnan” (I Chronicles 4:7).

She was now called “Tzeret,” for she became so beautiful that she was like a rival [tzara] to other women, as they were jealous of her beauty. She is called “Zohar,” as her face shined like the sun does at noon [tzohorayim]. She is called “Ethnan,” as any man that saw her would be aroused so much that he would bring a gift [etnan] to his wife to entice her. § The Gemara returns to the discussion of the bondage in Egypt.

“And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying: Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive” (Exodus 1:22). Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: The use of the phrase “every son that is born” indicates that he decreed even on his own nation that all their male babies must be killed. 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.

The verse states: “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took for a wife a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1). The Gemara asks: To where did he go? Rav Yehuda bar Zevina says: He went according to the advice of his daughter Miriam, as the Gemara will proceed to explain. 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). The verse is referring to Jochebed as “a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1). The Gemara asks: Is it possible that this is Jochebed? Jochebed was then 130 years old and the verse still calls her a daughter?

Jochebed’s age is established based on a tradition concerning the number of the descendants of Jacob who came to Egypt, as follows: While the verse states that Leah had thirty-three descendants (Genesis 46:15), only thirty-two were enumerated. This was explained as Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: The “daughter of Levi” is Jochebed, whose conception was on the road, as the family of Jacob descended to Egypt, and she was born between the walls, i.e., in Egypt, as it is stated: “And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt” (Numbers 26:59).

This interpolation concerning her birth is interpreted: Her birth was in Egypt, but her conception was not in Egypt. Since the Jewish people were in Egypt for two hundred ten years and Moses was eighty years old at the time of the exodus, Jochebed was one hundred thirty years old when Moses was born. In light of this, the Gemara is asking how the verse can refer to her as a daughter. Rabbi Yehuda says: The signs of a young woman were born in her when her husband remarried her, and she became like a young girl again. § The verse states concerning Moses: “And the woman conceived, and bore a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months” (Exodus 2:2).

The Gemara asks: But Jochebed was pregnant with Moses for three months at the outset, before Amram remarried her, as will be explained further. Rav Yehuda bar Zevina said: The intention of the verse is to juxtapose her giving birth to her becoming pregnant. Just as her becoming pregnant was without pain, so too, her giving birth was without pain. From here it is derived concerning righteous women that they were not included in the verdict [pitkah] of Eve that a woman will suffer pain during childbirth (see Genesis 3:16).

The verse states with regard to the birth of Moses: “And the woman conceived, and bore a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly [tov] child, she hid him three months” (Exodus 2:2). It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Meir says: “Tov” is his, Moses’, real name, as it was given to him by his parents when he was born. Rabbi Yehuda says: His name was Toviya. Rabbi Neḥemya says: They said he was good because they saw that he was fit for prophecy.

Others say: They said he was good because he was born when he was already circumcised. 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). The verse continues: “And she hid him three months” (Exodus 2:2).

The Gemara explains that she was able to hide him for three months because the Egyptians counted the nine months of her pregnancy only from the time her husband took her back, but she was pregnant with Moses for three months from the outset of her remarriage. The next verse states: “And when she could no longer hide him” (Exodus 2:3). The Gemara asks: Why couldn’t she hide him any longer? Let her continue to hide him.

Rather, anywhere that the Egyptians heard that a baby was born and they wanted to locate the baby, they would bring another baby there in order that it could be heard crying, and the two babies would cry together, as it is written: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards; for our vineyards are in blossom” (Song of Songs 2:15). The infants who were used to uncover the hidden babies are referred to as little foxes.

The verse states: “And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with bitumen and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the willows by the river’s bank” (Exodus 2:3). The Gemara asks: What is different about bulrushes that she decided to use them? Rabbi Elazar says: From here it is derived concerning righteous people that their money is more precious to them than their bodies, as she took an inexpensive material to build the ark.

And why do they care so much about their money? Because they do not stretch out their hands to partake of stolen property. Therefore, their own property is very precious to them. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says an alternative reason for her taking bulrushes for the ark: She took a soft material like bulrush, which is able to withstand an impact both before a soft item and before a hard item.

She feared that if she would have made the box from a hard material like wood, if it were to collide with a hard item in the water it might break. The verse continues: “And daubed it with bitumen and with pitch” (Exodus 2:3). A Sage teaches: She daubed bitumen on the interior and pitch on the exterior, so that righteous person, i.e., Moses, would not smell a foul odor, such as that of pitch. The verse continues: “And she put the child therein, and laid it in the willows [bassuf]” (Exodus 2:3). Rabbi Elazar says: This means she placed him in the Suf Sea, i.e., the Red Sea. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says:

Full source
Sotah 11bTalmud Bavli, Sotah

with rigor [befarekh]” (Exodus 1:13). Rabbi Elazar says: The word befarekh is a conjugation of the words: With a soft mouth [bifeh rakh], as the Egyptians enticed the Jewish people into slavery, gradually subjugating them until they had lost their freedom completely. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says: The word befarekh should be understood as: With crushing [bifrikha], as the Egyptians subjugated Israel with backbreaking labor.

The next verse states: “And they made their lives bitter through hard service, with mortar and brick, and with every laborious service in the field” (Exodus 1:14). Rava says: The verse mentions specifically mortar and brick and then all forms of labor, as initially the Egyptians had them work with mortar and bricks, and ultimately they subjugated them “and with every laborious service in the field.”

The verse concludes: “In all their service, wherein they made them serve with rigor” (Exodus 1:14). Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that Rabbi Yonatan says: The meaning of befarekh is that the Egyptians would exchange the responsibilities of men and women, giving men’s work to women and women’s work to men, requiring everyone to do work to which they were unaccustomed. And even according to the one who says that there, in the previous verse, bifarekh indicates that the Egyptians enslaved the Jews with a soft mouth, here, in this verse, which describes the physical hardship of the labor, the word befarekh certainly means with crushing labor. § Rav Avira taught: In the merit of the righteous women that were in that generation, the Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt.

He tells of their righteous actions: At the time when these women would go to the river to draw water, the Holy One, Blessed be He, would materialize for them small fish that would enter into their pitchers, and they would therefore draw pitchers that were half filled with water and half filled with fish. And they would then come and place two pots on the fire, one pot of hot water for washing their husbands and one pot of fish with which to feed them.

And they would then take what they prepared to their husbands, to the field, and would bathe their husbands and anoint them with oil and feed them the fish and give them to drink and bond with them in sexual intercourse between the sheepfolds, i.e., between the borders and fences of the fields, as it is stated: “When you lie among the sheepfolds, the wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her pinions with the shimmer of gold” (Psalms 68:14), which is interpreted to mean that as a reward for “when you lie among the sheepfolds,” the Jewish people merited to receive the plunder of Egypt, as it is stated in the continuation of the verse, as a reference to the Jewish people: “The wings of the dove are covered with silver, and her pinions with the shimmer of gold” (Psalms 68:14).

And when these women would become pregnant, they would come back to their homes, and when the time for them to give birth would arrive they would go and give birth in the field under the apple tree, as it is stated: “Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother was in travail with you; there was she in travail and brought you forth” (Song of Songs 8:5). And the Holy One, Blessed be He, would send from the heavens above an angel who would clean and prepare the newborns, just as a midwife prepares the newborn, as it is stated: “And as for your birth, on the day you were born, your navel was not cut nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all” (Ezekiel 16:4).

This indicates that there were no midwives to take care of the Jews born in Egypt. And then, the angel would gather for them two round stones from the field and the babies would nurse from that which would flow out of them. One of the stones flowed with oil and one of the stones flowed with honey, as it is stated: “And He would suckle them with honey from a crag and oil from a flinty rock” (Deuteronomy 32:13).

And once the Egyptians would notice them, realizing that they were Jewish babies, they would come to kill them. But a miracle would occur for them and they would be absorbed by the earth. And the Egyptians would then bring oxen and would plow upon them, as it is stated: “The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows” (Psalms 129:3). After the Egyptians would leave, the babies would emerge and exit the ground like grass of the field, as it is stated: “I caused you to increase even as the growth of the field” (Ezekiel 16:7).

And once the babies would grow, they would come like many flocks of sheep to their homes, as it is stated in the continuation of the verse: “And you did increase and grow up and you came with excellent beauty [ba’adi adayim]” (Ezekiel 16:7). Do not read the verse as: “Ba’adi adayim,” “with excellent beauty.” Rather, read it as: Be’edrei adarim, meaning: As many flocks. And when the Holy One, Blessed be He, revealed Himself at the Red Sea, these children recognized Him first, as it is stated: “This is my God, and I will glorify Him” (Exodus 15:2).

They recognized Him from the previous time that He revealed Himself to them in their infancy, enabling them to say: “This is my God.” § The verse states: “And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah” (Exodus 1:15). Rav and Shmuel disagree as to the proper interpretation of this verse. One says that these midwives were a woman and her daughter, and one says that they were a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law.

According to the one who says that they were a woman and her daughter, the women were Jochebed, the mother of Moses and Aaron, and her daughter, Miriam. And according to the one who says that they were a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law, the verse is referring to Jochebed and her daughter-in-law Elisheba, the wife of Aaron. It is taught in a baraita according to the one who says that they were a woman and her daughter, because it is taught in a baraita: With regard to Shiphrah, who is referred to in the verse, this is really a reference to Jochebed.

And why was she called Shiphrah? Because she would prepare [mishapperet] the newborn. Alternatively, she is referred to as Shiphrah because the Jewish people increased and multiplied [shepparu verabbu] in her days, due to her assistance. The baraita continues: With regard to Puah, who is referred to in the verse, this is really a reference to Miriam.

And why was she called Puah? Because she would make a comforting sound [po’a] as she would remove the child from the womb of the mother. Alternatively, the word Puah is related to one of the verbs that describe speaking, as she would speak [po’a] through divine inspiration and say: In the future, my mother will give birth to a son who will save the Jewish people. The next verse relates the instructions of Pharaoh to the midwives: “And he said: When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you look upon the stones [ovnayim], if it be a son, then you shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live” (Exodus 1:16).

The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “stones”? Rabbi Ḥanan says: Pharaoh transmitted a great sign to them. He said to them: At the time when a woman crouches to give birth, her thighs become as cold as stones, and, therefore, this shall be for you a sign that the woman is about to give birth. And there are those who say an alternative explanation for ovnayim: As it is written: “So I went down to the potter’s shop, and behold, he was at his work on the wheels [ovnayim]” (Jeremiah 18:3).

Just as this potter sits so that one thigh is here and one thigh is there and the block upon which he works is in the middle, so too, a woman giving birth also has one thigh here and one thigh there and the newborn is in the middle. The verse continues: “If it be a son, then you shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live” (Exodus 1:16). Rabbi Ḥanina says: Pharaoh transmitted to them a great sign to enable them to know the gender of the infant from the beginning of the birth process: A boy is born with his face downward; a girl is born with her face upward.

Pharaoh provided them with this sign so that they could kill the boys secretly even before the mother realized what was happening. The next verse states: “But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke about them [aleihen], but they kept the male children alive” (Exodus 1:17). The Gemara comments: It should have stated: “Spoke to them [lahen].” Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: This teaches that Pharaoh proposed to them to engage in a sinful act, i.e., sexual intercourse, with him, but they did not accept his overtures.

The word aleihen is often used in reference to sexual intercourse, for example: “And brought her to him; and he consorted with her [eileha]” (Genesis 29:23), and that is its connotation here as well. The verse concludes: “But they kept the male children alive” (Exodus 1:17). A Sage teaches: It is not only that they did not kill the children as Pharaoh had commanded them, but that they would even provide for them water and food, as the phrase “But they kept the male children alive” indicates.

After being questioned by Pharaoh concerning their failure to obey his command, the midwives responded, as it is written: “And the midwives said to Pharaoh: Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively [ḥayot], and are delivered before the midwife comes to them” (Exodus 1:19). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “ḥayot”? If we say that the Hebrew women are like ḥayot, meaning actual midwives for themselves, and therefore they do not need assistance from others, is that to say that a midwife does not need the assistance of another midwife in order to help her give birth?

Rather, the midwives said to Pharaoh: This nation is compared to an animal [ḥayya], and animals give birth without a midwife. For example, with regard to Judah it is written: “Judah is a lion’s whelp” (Genesis 49:9); with regard to Dan it is written: “Dan shall be a serpent in the way” (Genesis 49:17); with regard to Naphtali it is written: “A hind let loose” (Genesis 49:21); with regard to Issachar it is written: “A large-boned donkey” (Genesis 49:14); with regard to Joseph it is written: “His first bullock” (Deuteronomy 33:17); with regard to Benjamin it is written: “A ravenous wolf” (Genesis 49:27).

The Gemara comments: Concerning those individuals where a comparison to an animal is written with regard to him, it is already written with regard to him. And concerning those where no specific metaphor comparing them to an animal is written with regard to him explicitly, in any case a general comparison is written about the Jewish people: “How your mother was a lioness; among lions she crouched, in the midst of the young lions she reared her whelps” (Ezekiel 19:2), indicating that all the Jewish people are compared to animals.

The verse relates the midwives’ reward: “And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses” (Exodus 1:21). Rav and Shmuel disagree as to the precise interpretation of these houses: One says that God made the houses of the priesthood and the Levites descend from the midwives, and one says that God made the houses of royalty descend from them. The one who says that it is referring to the houses of the priesthood and the Levites is referring to Aaron and Moses, who were sons of Jochebed.

And the one who says that it is referring to houses of royalty is referring to David, who also comes from Miriam, as it is written: “And Azubah,” the wife of Caleb, “died, and Caleb took to him Ephrath, who bore him Hur” (I Chronicles 2:19) and, as will be explained further, Ephrath is Miriam. And it is written: “David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah” (I Samuel 17:12). Therefore, he was a descendant of Miriam.

The Gemara discusses the family of Caleb: In Chronicles it says: “And Caleb, the son of Hezron, begot children of Azubah his wife, and of Jerioth, and these were her sons: Jesher, and Shobab, and Ardon” (I Chronicles 2:18). The Gemara asks: Was Caleb actually the son of Hezron? Wasn’t he the son of Jephunneh, as the verse states in Numbers 13:6? The Gemara answers: He was the son of Hezron, but he is called “son of Jephunneh” as an appellation indicating that he was a son who turned away [sheppana] from the counsel of the spies.

The Gemara asks: But it is still difficult. Hezron could not be his father, as Caleb was the son of Kenaz, as it is written: “And Othniel, the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it” (Judges 1:13). This would mean that Caleb was also a son of Kenaz. Rava said: Caleb was the stepson of Kenaz, as he and Othniel shared a mother but had different fathers.

Full source
Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 166:1Yalkut Shimoni on Torah

"And the woman conceived and bore a son" (Exodus 2:2). But she had already been carrying him three months from the outset. Rather, Scripture compares her giving birth to her conceiving: just as her conceiving was without pain, so too her giving birth was without pain. From here we learn of righteous women who were not included in the decree of Eve.

"And she saw him, that he was good" (Exodus 2:2). Rabbi Meir says, "Good" was his name. Rabbi Yehudah says, He was fit for prophecy. Rabbi Nehemiah says, His name was Toviah. Others say, He was born already circumcised. And the sages say, At the hour Moses was born, the whole world was filled with light. It is written here "that he was good," and it is written there, "And God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4).

The rabbis said to Rabbi Perida: Rabbi Ze'ira, the grandson of Rabbi Avtolas, who is tenth in descent from Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah, who is tenth in descent from Ezra, is standing at the gate. He said to them, What is all this? If he is a man of Torah, that is fine; if he is of distinguished lineage and a man of Torah, that is fine and fine; but if he is of lineage and not of Torah, may fire consume him. They said to him, He is a man of Torah. He said, Let him enter and come in. He saw that the man's mind was troubled, and he opened and expounded thus.

"Let the Majestic One come and exact recompense for the majestic from the majestic in the majestic." "Majestic" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, "The LORD on high is mighty" (Psalms 93:4). "Recompense for the majestic" - these are Israel, as it is written, "the majestic in whom is all my delight" (Psalms 16:3). "From the majestic" - these are the Egyptians, as it is written, "they sank like lead in the majestic waters" (Exodus 15:10). "In the majestic" - these are the waters, as it is said, "mightier than the breakers of the sea" (Psalms 93:4).

"Let the beloved son of a beloved come and build for the beloved, in the portion of the beloved, that the beloved may find atonement through it." "Let the beloved come" - this is Solomon, as it is written, "and He called his name Yedidyah" (2 Samuel 12:25). "Son of a beloved" - this is Abraham, as it is written, "What has my beloved to do in my house?" (Jeremiah 11:15). "And build for the beloved" - this is the Temple, as it is written, "How beloved are your dwellings" (Psalms 84:2). "For the beloved" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, "Let me sing for my beloved" (Isaiah 5:1). "In the portion of the beloved" - this is Benjamin, as it is said, "Of Benjamin he said, the beloved of the LORD" (Deuteronomy 33:12). "That the beloved may find atonement through it" - these are Israel, as it is written, "I have given the beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies" (Jeremiah 12:7).

"Let the good come and receive the good from the Good for the good." "Let the good come" - this is Moses, as it is written, "and she saw him, that he was good." "And receive the good" - this is the Torah, as it is written, "for I give you good doctrine" (Proverbs 4:2). "From the Good" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, "The LORD is good to all" (Psalms 145:9). "For the good" - these are Israel, as it is written, "Do good, O LORD, to the good" (Psalms 125:4).

"Let this one come and receive this from this One for this people." "Let this one come" - this is Moses, as it is written, "for this Moses" (Exodus 32:1). "And receive this" - this is the Torah, as it is written, "and this is the Torah" (Deuteronomy 4:44). "From this One" - this is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is written, "This is my God and I will glorify Him" (Exodus 15:2). "For this people" - these are Israel, as it is written, "this people whom You have acquired" (Exodus 15:16).

"And she hid him three months" - because the Egyptians counted for her only from the time she was remarried, but she had already been carrying him three months from the outset.

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Midrash Aggadah, Exodus 2:2Midrash Aggadah

"And the woman conceived and bore a son" (Exodus 2:2). But was she not already pregnant for three months? Rather, Scripture likens her giving birth to her conceiving: just as her conceiving was without pain, so too her giving birth was without pain. From here we learn concerning the righteous women that they were not included in the decree of Eve.

"And she saw him, that he was good" (Exodus 2:2): Toviah was his name. Another interpretation: he was fit for prophecy. Another interpretation: he was born already circumcised. Another interpretation: at the hour when Moses was born, the house was filled with light, and therefore it says "that he was good"; it is written here "that he was good," and it is written there "And God saw the light, that it was good" (Genesis 1:4).

"And she hid him three months" (Exodus 2:2): for the Egyptians counted only from the hour that he had taken her back, but she had been pregnant three months beforehand.

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