Extra-biblical Sources: Bereishit Rabbah 53:6,8,9
I learned as the years went by how to adapt the ways of Kissa to the situations of the Apiru. The songs which must now be sung only to Adonai were modified as needed and they evolved to more accurately reflect my masters’ strange religion.
Not only this, but the physical techniques for birthing were adapted as well, for it is said among knowledgeable Egyptian nurses that the Apiru are vigorous and give birth more quickly than Egyptians, and this I can confirm as true.
Even so, the birth of Isaac was something even more unusual. I have known many Egyptian women to give birth with hardly any pain. I have seen the strongest among them return to daily chores the day after the delivery without complaint. But I have never seen a woman give birth to her firstborn without pain. And yet this is what happened with Isaac.
It is true that the woman was exceedingly old, well beyond the normal age of childbearing, and everyone knew that this was the work of the elohim. Furthermore, it was my conclusion when I saw the miraculously painless birth that the elohim had blessed this woman and her child greatly; for it is said among the Apiru that the elohim have decreed great pain in childbirth as a punishment for the sins of their ancestors, and so I reckoned that a woman who is spared that suffering has received a special blessing. But I have reconsidered and it no longer seems to be so, for though the woman had no pain at the moment of delivery, she has suffered much in her spirit since that time, in her bitter rivalry with Bastet.
“In pain shall you bear children,” they say, and I have concluded that this curse applies not just to the delivery but to the rearing of the child as well, such that if one aspect is easier the other will be harder, and vice versa. There is no cheating the elohim. Women who bear children will suffer much.
My master cut off the child’s foreskin at eight days old, as his god had commanded him. It is a procedure I have witnessed many times but that the men of the household have always performed.
Sarah spoke at the ceremony, and she was cheerful and she laughed with glee, saying “God has made me laugh, and all that hear what he has done will laugh with me. For who would have said to Abrham that Sarah would give children to suck? Yet I have born him a son in his old age.”
Birth of Isaac
Abraham beamed with pride, and he made comments about the abundance of Sarah’s milk in her old age that made the other women at the feast blush, and I saw Ishmael smirking.
I have no doubt that Ishmael will make a great nation, and I take a special delight in this given his Egyptian blood. But who could deny, seeing the bright face of Isaac there at his circumcision, that Isaac would be his father's true heir? Strange to say, as the child was only eight days old, but it was clear to see that his facial features bore a striking resemblance to those of his father.
Furthermore, a new star appeared in the sky that night, that had never been seen before. Of this I am certain. When I mention it to the men of Abraham's house, they are dismissive and say that I am imaging things after the matter of the Egyptians. But it is not so; we Egyptians are very attuned to the heavens, and we know the stars well, and I am sure that a new one appeared in conjunction with the circumcision of Issac.
Furthermore, a new star appeared in the sky that night, that had never been seen before. Of this I am certain. When I mention it to the men of Abraham's house, they are dismissive and say that I am imaging things after the matter of the Egyptians. But it is not so; we Egyptians are very attuned to the heavens, and we know the stars well, and I am sure that a new one appeared in conjunction with the circumcision of Issac.