במדבר, פרק כ״ו, פסוק נ״ט

Tracing the lineage of the nation's first leaders, Aaron, Moses, and Miriam, reveals important historical and familial details about the beginning of the Israelite exile. At the center of this family tree is their mother, Jochebed. Emphasizing her origins clarifies that she was the actual daughter of Levi, rather than a later descendant. This distinction is necessary because she is mentioned elsewhere as Amram's aunt, which could easily cause confusion regarding her exact bloodline [העמק דבר].

The location and timing of her birth carry special significance. The primary approach among commentators is that while she was born in Egypt, she was conceived before the family arrived. According to this tradition, she was born exactly at the gateway, between the walls of the country. This precise timing was orchestrated by God to complete the count of seventy family members who descended to Egypt, as the detailed list of names only accounts for sixty-nine. God deliberately delayed her birth until that exact moment of arrival, making Levi the only son of Jacob to have a daughter immediately upon reaching their destination [רמב״ן, הטור הארוך]. A different perspective suggests that being born in Egypt does not necessarily mean she was conceived beforehand. In this view, she could have been both conceived and born in Egypt, much like other children [רלב״ג].

A mystery also surrounds the identity of Jochebed's mother, as she appears to be left unnamed. One approach explains this as a brief, condensed phrasing, meaning simply that Levi's unnamed wife gave birth to Jochebed [שד״ל, רש״י, בכור שור, מזרחי, ברכת אשר, הדר זקנים]. However, a fascinating tradition suggests that a word typically read as a simple pronoun is actually the proper name of Levi's wife: Otah [תורה תמימה, פענח רזא, דעת זקנים, הכתב והקבלה, הדר זקנים, ברכת אשר]. This idea is supported by subtle grammatical nuances in the original language, such as a missing punctuation mark that usually indicates a pronoun, alongside reading notes that isolate the word [פענח רזא]. According to this tradition, her original name was Adina, but she became known as Otah based on an Aramaic word meaning "to come." This new name forever memorialized the historic moment of their arrival, as she gave birth to Jochebed right at the threshold of their exile [הכתב והקבלה].