Mesorat%20hashas for Sotah 60:17

היה רבי מאיר אומר מנין שאפי' עוברים שבמעי אמן אמרו שירה שנאמר

[According to this explanation] Moses said: 'I will sing unto the Lord' and they responded, 'I will sing unto the Lord'; Moses said: 'For He hath triumphed gloriously' and they responded, 'For He hath triumphed gloriously'. R. Nehemiah declares: Like a school-teacher<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Whose class was usually in the Synagogue and so he acted as Precentor. ');">¹⁶</span> who recites<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' The word pores is lit., 'divide', and its exact meaning is disputed. V. Elbogen. Der judische Gottesdienst, pp. 514ff and the references cited there. ');">¹⁷</span> the <i>Shema'</i> in the Synagogue, viz., he begins first and they respond after him.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Elbogen takes this to mean that the Precentor and Congregation read the verses alternately. Rashi's explanation is: he reads the benedictions preceding the Shema' which they repeat after him and then they read the Shema in unison. According to this explanation, Moses and the Israelites were divinely inspired so that they independently sang the same words in unison. ');">¹⁸</span> On what do they differ? — R. Akiba holds that the word 'saying'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' In Ex. XV, 1. ');">¹⁹</span> refers to the first clause;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' 'I will sing unto the Lord', and that only was the Israelite's. response. ');">²⁰</span> R. Eliezer son of R. Jose the Galilean holds that 'saying' refers to every clause; and R. Nehemiah holds that 'and spake' indicates that they sang all together 'and saying' that Moses began first. Our Rabbis taught: R. Jose the Galilean expounded: At the time the Israelites ascended from the Red Sea, they desired to utter a Song; and how did they render the song? The babe lay upon his mother's knees and the suckling sucked at his mother's breast; when they beheld the <i>Shechinah</i>, the babe raised his neck and the suckling released the nipple from his mouth, and they exclaimed: This is my God and I will Praise Him;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ibid. 3. ');">²¹</span> as it is said: Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ps. VIII, 3. E.V. 2. ');">²²</span> R. Meir used to say: Whence is it that even the embryos in their mothers' womb uttered a song? As it is said,

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