English: R. Chanina said: what is meant by “these are the waters of Merivah”? These are what Pharaoh’s astrologers saw and erred: they saw that Yisrael’s redeemer would be struck through water, so he said every boy born cast into the Nile; they did not know it was on account of the waters of Merivah that he would be struck.
Type of Learning
Reading “heimah” as pointing to a known earlier error.
What Is Learned
The decree to drown the infants misread a prophecy that referred to Merivah, not the Nile.