"The child grew up;" Chazal (Shemos Rabah 1 26) interpret that he grew faster than the norm. What does this indicate?
Maharal (Gevuros Hashem Ch. 18, p. 81): This shows the stature of Moshe Rabeinu. Most people are but an individual segment of the whole (Klal); as such, they grow only partially (relative to their potential). Moshe was an independent whole, apart from everyone else. Thus, he grew fully. 1
Maharal connects this idea with the Gemara that Moshe was ten Amos tall (Shabbos 92a).
Why, exactly, did Bisyah call him "Moshe"?
Rashi: Because she drew him out of the water.
Seforno: She really ought to have called him 'Mashuy' (drawn out). She called him "Moshe" (draw out) to hint to him that just as Hashem arranged for him to be saved, so too, will he go on to save others.
Hadar Zekenim and Riva: She ought to have called him 'Nimsheh' (drawn). She called him "Moshe" (draw), to refute the astrologers who said that he will be smitten via the river. 'I saved him from the river!' 1
Moshav Zekenim #1: She ought to have called him 'Mashuy' or 'Nimsheh' (drawn). She called him "Moshe" (draw) because he would later bring water for others from the rock.
And the punishment will occur at Mei Merivah, when he brings water from the rock.
The Torah consistently refers to Moshe only by that name, the name given to him by Pharaoh's daughter. The Midrash says this shows us the reward for Gemilus Chasadim. What does this mean?
Maharal (Gevuros Hashem Ch. 18, p. 82): "[The Torah's] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all of its paths are peace" (Mishlei 3:17). Even Hashem Himself addressed Moshe by that name when teaching him Torah. Bisyah was Gomeles Chesed, and the Torah is "Toras Chesed" (Mishlei 31:26). 1
The Torah begins and ends with Gemilus Chasadim (Sotah 14a). This is the Torah's essence, and the root and end-goal for all its details. See Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv ha'Torah Ch. 4; and Nesiv Gemilus Chasadim Ch.1). Thus, Moshe's primary name was established through this trait. (EK)
"From the water, I took him out." Bisyah uses the general term 'water,' when she should have said more specifically, '... from the Nile.' What is the deeper meaning?
Maharal (Gevuros Hashem Ch. 18, p. 82): Water is the classic example of Chomer; it lacks any form. This name indicates Moshe's stature. He would be 'drawn out' from the water, 1 in the sense of being above and apart from any Chomer (physicality); and he would attain the level of Tzurah. 2
Chazal find a hint to Moshe's name in the events leading up to the Mabul (Chulin 139b). Water's nature is to wipe away any Tzurah (refer to Bereishis 6:17:1.1:3). Moshe is water's opposing force; in Moshe's merit the Mabul was delayed for 120 years. Also refer to 1:22:2.4.
In Maharal's terminology, Chomer means raw material or potential. Tzurah means that the material has taken on a function-specific form, or that the potential has been actualized. Almost all earthly creations are Chomer that has assumed a certain Tzurah. Moshe, however, came close to the level of the heavenly beings (Mal'achim), which are purely Tzurah without Chomer (see Maharal). Also refer to 2:2:1.2:3.
What was Moshe doing in the royal palace? Why did Hashem bring it about that Moshe was raised by Pharaoh's own daughter?
Oznayim la'Torah: The future king of Yisrael was learning the tactics of kingship, under the tutorship of none other than Pharaoh. 1
Maharal #1 (Gevuros Hashem Ch. 18, p. 81): In a similar vein, the Midrash says that Mashiach is currently dwelling amongst Edom! A new Tzurah can only take effect when the old Tzurah disappears. The new Tzurah therefore tags closely behind it. 2
Maharal #2 (ibid. p. 82): The sovereignty of Yisrael, in its sanctity, emerge specifically out of unholy sovereignty. That is why Moshe sprouted in the house of Pharaoh. 3
Oznayim la'Torah: In spite of the frantic efforts of Pharaoh to get rid of the menace to his country - by having every baby boy born on that fateful day drowned in the River Nile - to no avail. His own daughter saved the one baby who was destined to fill that role, and brought him to her father to play with and to educate on how to lead to freedom the people that he had worked so hard to enslave! This teaches us the futility of planning against the wishes of Hashem!
This was also the symbolism in Yaakov's grabbing on to Esav's heel; refer to Bereishis 25:26:1.4:1. (CS)
Maharal: This is comparable to a fruit which develops inside a shell; when it has grown sufficiently, the peel wastes away (revealing the fruit).
Bisyah was an Egyptian. Why did she give Moshe a Hebrew name?
Da'as Zekenim #1, Hadar Zekenim, Riva and Moshav Zekenim: She called him an Egyptian name, but the Torah translated it into Hebrew.
Da'as Zekenim #2: She learned Hebrew after the Ivriyos came to Egypt. And so we find that Pharaoh called Yosef 'Tzafenas Pa'ne'ach.' 1
Oznayim la'Torah (citing the Ha'amek Davar in the name of a certain Gadol): "Moshe" in Egyptian means 'son of the king;' and when Bisyah added "Ki Min ha'Mayim Meshisihu," she merely meant to say that since she drew him from the water, she was entitled to call him by any name that suited her.
This seems unlike Rashi brings from Sotah 36b, that Pharaoh did not know Lashon ha'Kodesh. Refer to Bereishis 50:6:1:1. (PF).
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "Meshisihu - ... But I say that its root is Mem-Shin-Hei, meaning 'taking out.'" Didn't Rashi already present this translation?
Gur Aryeh: Rashi began with the Targum of this word, "Shechalteih," which means 'to take out (or draw out)' in Aramaic. As for Leshon Kodesh, Rashi initially cited Menachem, that "Meshisihu" means 'to move,' or 'to remove.' Rashi now differs with Menachem; even in Leshon Kodesh it means 'to take out.'
Rashi writes: "... If [the word 'Meshisihu'] was from [root Mem-Vav-Shin, meaning] 'to move,' it would have to say 'Hamishosihu' ... or 'Mashtihu.' When would each of these two forms be used?
Gur Aryeh: When verb Mem-Vav-Shin is in causative form (Hif'il), it reads 'Hamishosi[hu],' in the same form as "Hakimosi" (6:4). When it is in simple (Kal) form, it reads 'Mashti[hu]' (as in Zecharyah 3:9). (Our verb 'Meshisihu' follows neither; therefore, it must be from a different root, Mem-Shin-Hei.)
