אל נא תהי כמת. אל עתה תהיה אחותינו כנפל המת כאשר יצא מבטן אמו נאכל חצי בשרו וכן בשר המצורע ואין צורך לתיקון סופרים: LET HER NOT, I PRAY, BE AS ONE DEAD. Let our sister not now be as a stillborn child, half of whose flesh is consumed when it comes out of its mother’s womb. The same is true of the flesh of a leper.59Hence Moses compared Miriam to a stillborn child. There is no need for a scribal emendation.60According to the Midrash, His mothers womb should be read as if written our mother’s womb, and “half of his flesh” as if it read half our flesh, for Scripture employed the third rather than the first person plural because it wanted to avoid using non-flattering language regarding Moses and Aaron. See Sifre debe Rav, Be-Ha’alotekha 105. Also see Rashi on our verse. I.E. apparently believes that the Midrash was of the opinion that the scribes changed the original text of the Torah from the first person to the third person. He disagrees and maintains that there is no need to change the reading when interpreting our verse.