Generations: this is how the Hertz Chumash translates the word "Toledot", whose root word is the basis for "yeled", or boy, and "yaldah", girl, and in general terms, offspring over time. But were it not for Rivka,(Rebecca), the offspring might not have lived up to the inheritance and purpose intended for them.
Legends concerning Miriam often involve a magical well which sprang up and followed her wherever she went. Some stories even say that she was a water witch, gifted with locating actual water where there was none: a very useful skill in the desert, yes?