Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song (15:1). The Rabbis noted that the word shirah (song) appears ten times in the Hebrew Scriptures. The Song at the Sea (Exodus 15) is the second instance. According to M’chilta, an early commentary on Exodus, nine of these songs were sung in the past, but the tenth is for the “Age to Come.” This passage also reports that “for all the songs referring to previous events the noun used (shirah) is in the feminine” (Shirta 1). In a revelatory exposition of rabbinic sexual politics, the sages explained that “even as a female gives birth, so the achievements of the past were followed by subjugation.” That is, just as a woman who emerges from a successful labor is still subject to the authority of her husband, so Israel, despite small victories, has consistently been subjected to foreign conquest. However, in the case of the future song, predicted in “Sing unto יהוה a new song” (Isaiah 42:10), the masculine noun shir is used. This indicates “that just as no male gives birth, so the triumph which is yet to come will not be succeeded by subjugation” (M’chilta, Shirta 1).
Then Miriam the prophet (15:20). Miriam is called “the prophet” in this verse, although she never prophesies in the Bible. The M’chilta says she predicted the birth of Moses to her father, who praised her when Moses was born—but then blamed her when they were forced to expose him in the basket (Shirta 10; also BT Sotah 12a–13a, referring to Exodus 2:1–3).
and all the women went out after her in dance with hand-drums (15:20). The Rabbis speculated as to where the women obtained the musical instruments they played when they danced at the sea. Like a mother who remembers to pack all the necessities for a family trip, the women’s confidence that God would deliver them made them bring these instruments along: “But where did the Israelites get hand-drums and flutes in the wilderness? It was simply that the righteous were confident and knew that God would perform miracles and mighty deeds when they left Egypt, so they prepared hand-drums and flutes” (M’chilta, Shirta 10). Although the M’chilta calls the righteous tzaddikim (masculine plural), the medieval commentator Rashi, in his remarks on this verse, made a point of calling them tzadkaniot (feminine plural), referring to the women.
And Miriam chanted for them (15:21). Interpreters visualized two choral groups at the sea chanting the same song, both led by prophets: the men by Moses, the women by Miriam. Just as Moses recited the Song among the men, so it was Miriam who recited among the women: “Sing to יהוה for He has triumphed gloriously” (M’chilta, Shirta 10).
In rabbinic literature, Miriam and Moses often appear in parallel, with Miriam given an equal status to Moses. In a midrash in the 13th-century-C. E. Midrash HaGadol, Joseph explains two dreams of Pharaoh in which the number three appears. According to Joseph’s interpretation, the double appearance of this number refers to the three patriarchs and to the three leaders who would redeem the people from Egypt: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Furthermore, the miraculous well of Miriam, which accompanied the people of Israel though the wilderness and sustained them because of Miriam’s righteousness (BT Taanit 9a; B’midbar Rabbah 1.2), was among the ten miraculous entities created by God during the twilight on the eve of the first Sabbath (Mishnah Avot 5:6). This well complements the manna, which was given to the people because of Moses’ righteousness. The Talmud (BT Taanit 9a, among many other sources) explains as follows: “Rabbi Yose the son of Rabbi Judah says, ‘Three good leaders had arisen for Israel—namely, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam—and for their sake three good things were given: the well, the clouds of glory, and the manna. The first was given for the merits of Miriam, the second for those of Aaron, and the third for those of Moses.’” The well disappeared at Miriam’s death, but one tradition says a vessel of water from Miriam’s well is one of three concealed objects that Elijah will restore in the messianic age, along with vessels of manna and of sacred oil (M’chilta, Vayassa 6).
—Claudia Setzer