Miriam's wait -- נצב vs עמד

I saw a question raised by R' Moshe Tzvi Neriah that I am going to take the liberty of embellishing on by connecting it to last week's haftarah.  In last week's haftarah an angel comes and tells Manoch's wife that she will have a baby and he instructs her not to drink wine or become tamei since the baby will be a nazir from birth.  Manoach apparently did not buy his wife's story, so the angel came back and repeated the message for him.  Manoach offered the angel food, but the angel declined because angels don't eat.  Manoch asked the angel it's name, and the angel answered that that it has no regular name because it's name reflects its mission and an angel's mission can change from one day to the next.   Manoach then offered the food he prepared as a korban, and the navi tells us that the angel rose back to shamayim through the fire that consumed the korban וַיְהִי֩ בַעֲל֨וֹת הַלַּ֜הַב מֵעַ֚ל הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יְמָה וַיַּ֥עַל מַלְאַךְה׳ בְּלַ֣הַב הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ.  Amazing.  You would think that if Manoach had any doubt whether this was an angel or not all bets would be off at this point.  But not so fast!  The navi continues and says: לֹא־יָ֚סַף עוֹד֙ מַלְאַ֣ךְ ה׳ לְהֵרָאֹ֖ה אֶל־מָנ֣וֹחַ וְאֶל־אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ אָ֚ז יָדַ֣ע מָנ֔וֹחַ כִּֽי־מַלְאַ֥ךְ ה׳ הֽוּא:  When the "person" never reappeared, it was then and only then that Manoch knew it was an angel.  Why was that the clincher?  Why was it the fact that the angel never came back again that convinced Manoach that this could not have been a regular person? 

Imagine a person who suggests a shidduch to a young man and gives them a bracha that it should work out and he be zocheh to get married.  The young man accepts, and the shadchan sets up the date.  Don't you think the person who suggested the match would either call the boy afterwards, or even informally, next time they bump into the boy, ask how the date was?  Actually, they would probably make a point of bumping into him to ask.  And if they go out a few times, the person who suggested the match might nudge the parents and ask when they get a mazel tov (and not just because they want to collect their shadchanus :)  And when the wedding comes, don't you think the shadchan will be sure to attend in order to tell everyone how they were the one who introduced the couple?  That's human nature!  We want to see how things work out, we want to monitor the progress of what we put in motion.  R' Eliyahu Baruch Finkel from the Mir explained that the "makeh b'patish" that convinced Manoach that he was dealing with an angel is the fact that the angel lacked this very human quality.  The angel never came back.  The angel was not curious to check in after a few months to see if Manoach's wife was wearing maternity clothes yet; he didn't stop by to ask how the pregnancy was progressing; he didn't show up at the bris to see the new baby his bracha had helped bring into the world and take a bow.  He just walked away and that was it.  A human being doesn't act that way.  Our curiosity and desire to see things unfold is an inescapable part of our nature.

 

Rashi writes at the end of our parsha:

 

והעם לא נסע – זה כבוד חלק לה המקום בשביל שעה אחת שנתעכבה למשה כשהושלך ליאור, שנאמר: ותתצב אחתו מרחק וגו׳ (שמות ב׳:ד׳).

 

Miriam prophesized that her baby brother would be the one to lead Klal Yisrael out of galus.  Isn't it just human nature for her to want to see what would happen to that baby?  Isn't it just human nature for her to want to see if her nevuah would come to fulfillment?  So why, as R' Neriah, does she get a reward for going to watch that basket holding her brother as it floated down the Nile?  What's the big deal?

 

We translate that pasuk ותתצב אחתו מרחק to mean, "His [Moshe's] sister stood afar [and watched]," but that translation does not do justice to the text.  There are two different words in Hebrew for standing: עמד and נצב.  The root עמד is used when we are talking about physical position, i.e. getting up from sitting to  take a standing position.  The root נצב is like the word stand in the expression "stand by."  You don't have to get up out of your chair to stand by.  It's being in a mental state of anticipation, of expectation; it's not about physical position.  When you hear, "stand by," you know something is going to happen, it's just a question of what.  (Compare with Malbim Yeshayahu 3:13)  When Moshe stood at Yam Suf and told Bn"Y הִתְיַצְּבוּ וּרְאוּ אֶת יְשׁוּעַת ה׳ (Shmos 14:13), he didn't mean they all have to get up on their feet.  What he meant was get ready, Hashem is about to do something.  Ramban comments on  אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם that  שאתם עומדים *ומזומנים* לפני השם כדי לעבור בבריתו,  you are prepared in anticipation of entering Hashem's bris.  And when we read at the beginnng of Parshas vaYeira that Avraham saw  וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו, it means, as Seforno writes,  פונים אליו כממתינים לדבר עמו, they were waiting *expectantly* to speak with Avraham, בהיותו פנוי מן המראה הנכבדת, until Avraham finished his conversation with G-d.

 

Yes, it's human nature to want to see how things will turn out.  But that's not what Miriam was doing when she went to follow the basket containing baby Moshe.  When you watch a baseball game, you are watching to see how things will turn out.  Either team can win or lose.  The shadchan who suggests a match, even if they give a bracha, has no idea whether it will work out or not.   But when you watch Mission Impossible, you know the bad guys aren't going to win, and I hope I didn't just spoil all eight movies for anyone.  You know how it will turn out in the end before you even start watching.  But you watch anyway, expectantly, in anticipation of all the stunts, thrills, and action that will bring victory to Ethan's team.  That's what the root  נצב  is all about.  ותתצב אחתו מרחק  Miriam had no doubt that her prophecy would be fulfilled, just like she didn't need Moshe to announce הִתְיַצְּבוּ וּרְאוּ אֶת יְשׁוּעַת ה by Yam Suf; she had her tambourine in hand already from the moment they left Egypt.  וַתֵּתַצַּב אֲחֹתוֹ מֵרָחֹק לְדֵעָה *מַה* יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ - not אם יֵּעָשֶׂה לוֹ.  She expected and believed that Hashem would work things out.  It was just a matter of observing to see how it would unfold. 

I'm left with one question.  If what I wrote is correct, then wouldn't it have made more sense in our parsha  ויאמר אלהם משה עמדו ואשמעה מה יצוה ה׳ לכם. for the pasuk to use the word נצב?  Moshe wasn't telling the people to stand on their feet, he was telling them to anticipate an answer from Hashem?