"ותען להם מרים" - משה אמר שירה לאנשים הוא או' והם עונין אחריו ומרים אמרה שירה לנשים (מכילתא)
Moshe said a song for the men. He said [it] and they answered after him. And Miriam said a song for the women.
What are the implications for how the men and women sang their song(s)?
The Mekhilta implies that Miriam sang this: “Just like Moshe said a song for the men, Miriam said a song for the women.” ... Miriam sang for the women and (perhaps while) Moshe sang for the men. R. Aryeh Kaplan in a footnote to The Living Torah quotes Philo in The Life of Moses as saying that the women sang at the same time as the men. -- Rabbi Gil Student, founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of Torah Musings: http://torahmusings.com/2013/01/did-miriam-sing-2/
The Midrash Sekhel Tov (quoted in Torah Shelemah on Ex. 15:21 n. 240) says that the angels wanted to sing praises to God before the women but Miriam answered them and called for the women to sing. This explains the language of va-ta’an as meaning that she answered the angels, and gives significance to her calling the women to sing. The implication is that the women said the song on their own, after the men. -- ibid
What are the implications for when the women sang?
Bekhor Shor and Chizkuni say that Miriam actually recited the entire song that Moshe said. However, to avoid repetition, the Torah only provides the headlines of the second time. Ralbag (ad loc. and in the tenth to’eles) disagrees and suggests that the women said a much shorter song. -- ibid
What are the implications for what the women sang?
(ח) רבי יהודה אומר: מי אמר קילוס להקדוש ברוך הוא? התינוקות אותן שהיה פרעה מבקש להשליך ליאור, שהם מכירין להקדוש ברוך הוא. כיצד? כשהיו ישראל במצרים והיתה אשה מבנות ישראל מבקשת לילד, והיתה יוצאת לשדה ויולדת שם, וכיון שהיתה יולדת עוזבת הנער ומוסרת אותו להקדוש ברוך הוא, ואומרת: רבון העולם! אני עשיתי את שלי, ואתה עשה את שלך. אמר רבי יוחנן: מיד היה יורד הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו כביכול, וחותך טיבורן, ומרחיצן, וסכן. וכן יחזקאל אמר (יחזקאל טז, ה):... והיה נותן שני טנרין בידו, אחד מניקו שמן, ואחד מניקו דבש,... והיו גדלים בשדה,... וכיון שהיו גדלין, היו נכנסין לבתיהן אצל אבותיהן, והיו שואלין להם: מי היה זקוק לכם? והיו אומרים להם: בחור אחד נאה ומשובח, היה יורד ועושה לנו כל צרכינו... וכיון שבאו ישראל לים, היו אותן התינוקות שם, והם ראו להקדוש ברוך הוא בים, התחילו אומרים לאבותיהם: זהו אותו שהיה עושה לנו כל אותן הדברים, כשהיינו במצרים, שנאמר: זה אלי ואנוהו:
8. R. Judah said: "It was those babies whom Pharaoh had sought to cast into the Nile that sang praises to the Blessed Holy One, whom they recognized at the Sea." Why was this? Because when Israel were in Egypt and a Hebrew woman was about to give birth, she would go to a field and be delivered there; and as soon as the child was born, she would forsake him and entrust him into the hands of God, saying, 'Master of the Universe! I have done my part; now do Yours.' R. Yochanan said: Immediately, God would descend in Divine glory-as if one can say thus!-cut their navel, and wash and anoint them, for so Ezekiel says... God placed two pieces of flint in its hand, one of which fed the child with oil and the other with honey... They grew up in the field...; and as soon as they had grown up they would return to their parents’ home. When they were asked, ‘Who looked after you?’ They replied, ‘A fine handsome young man came down and attended to all our needs,’... When the Israelites came to the Sea, and their children with them, and the latter beheld God at the Sea, they said to their parents: ‘This is the one who did all those things for us when we were in Egypt,’ as it says, ‘This is my God, and I will glorify Him (Ex. XV, 2).
Who sang first according to this midrash? Why? Does this interpretation make sense? Does it affect our earlier thoughts about the order and content of the songs?
(יא) כל השירות שנאמרו בעולם לשון נקבות, לומר, מה הנקבה הזאת מתעברת ויולדת וחוזרת ויולדת, כך הן הצרות באות עליהן, והיו אומרים שירות בלשון נקבות, לכך עמדו בבל ומדי ויון ואדום ושיעבדו את ישראל, אבל לעתיד לבוא אין עוד צרות בו, שנאמר (ישעיה סה, טז): כי נשכחו הצרות הראשונות. וכתיב (שם לה, י): ששון ושמחה ישיגו וגו'. באותה שעה אומרים שיר לשון זכר, שנאמר (תהלים צח, א): שירו לה' שיר חדש:
11. All the songs ever recited [by Israel] are designated by the feminine form [shirah instead of shir] as if to imply: Just as a woman conceives and gives birth again and again, so troubles ever recur upon them [but they are always delivered; hence, shirah symbolizes this recurrency of the pangs of trouble giving birth to salvation]; that is why they recited their songs in the feminine form. Hence have Babylon and Media, Greece and Edom subjected Israel. But in the Messianic Age, there will no longer be any troubles, for it says, "Because the former troubles are forgotten" (Isa. LXV, 16), and "They shall obtain gladness and joy" (ib. XXXV, 10). At that time, they will recite a song in the masculine form [shir], for it says, "O sing unto the ETERNAL a new song" (Ps. XCVIII, 1).
What is women's critical role, according to this midrash? Is this an interpretation you wish to accept? What's at stake--in general and in terms of our other interpretations here?