Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 2:5/אבן עזרא על שמות ב׳:ה׳
אותרד. מארמונה:
1AND THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH CAME DOWN. From her palace.
בלרחוץ. מנהג המצריות היה והזכיר דבר נערותיה שהולכות על מקום היאור כמו ויד תהיה לך (דבר' כג יג) בעבור ששלחה אמתה, והיא אחת הנערות לקחת התיבה כי בת המלך לא תכנס אל מקום הסוף, כי במקום רחוק מן היבשה הושמה התיבה שלא יגיע אליה כל עובר, ועוד כי אין מדרך הדקדוק להיות זרועה, כי המ"ם רפה, ומ"ם אמה ארכו (למטה ל, ב) דגוש, ועוד כי אמה ארכו מדה לא זרוע:
2TO BATHE IN THE RIVER. As was the custom of Egyptian women. Scripture notes that her maidens walked by the riverside — the meaning of yad (side, place) here is the same as that of yad (place) in Thou shalt have a place (Deut. 23:13)97 means a hand. However, here as in Deut. 23:13 it means a place. Thus yad ha-ye’or means side of the river (place of the river), not hand of the river. — because it goes on to say that she sent her handmaid (Amatah), who was one of the maidens, to fetch the ark.98 (her handmaid) means her arm. For a princess would not go among the flags, and the ark was placed far from the shore so that no one passing by would touch it. Furthermore, from a grammatical point of view the word amah (handmaid) cannot mean an arm, because its mem does not have a dagesh while the mem of ammah (cubit) in A cubit shall be the length thereof (Gen. 30:2) does.99 (cubit) means an arm. Additionally, ammah (cubit) in A cubit shall be the length thereof refers to a measure and not to an arm.100 with ammah, ammah does not mean her arm. It means her cubit.