Kommentar zu Schemot 10:24

יצג means SHALL REMAIN STANDING in its place.

ONLY LET YOUR FLOCKS AND YOUR HERDS BE STAYED. Since the Israelites were keepers of cattle,⁶³Genesis 46:32. and all their wealth and belongings consisted of cattle, Pharaoh thought that they would not leave all their possessions and flee from the country. Even if they were to flee, he would be left with their great wealth, as they were very rich in cattle.

ויקרא פרעה, Pharaoh called, etc. This occurred after the plague had run its course; previously the Egyptians had been incommunicado. Pharaoh expressed his anger over that fact by adopting a severe tone when addressing Moses in verse 28 when Moses had been adamant that even the livestock would accompany them into the desert. He would not have dared threaten Moses unless the plague had already run its course without Moses having prayed for it to be lifted.

צאנכם ובקרכם יוצג, “your flocks and herds will stay put.” Pharaoh, knowing that the Israelites’ original vocation was to be cattle herders, was convinced that if they meant to leave permanently, they would not leave their livestock behind. Even if he should have miscalculated, Pharaoh figured that the huge amounts of livestock left behind by the Israelites could be viewed as a compensation for the need to make do without their slave labour.

Shall remain in its place. [Rashi is explaining that although יצג is in the future tense], it does not mean “will remain,” starting from now. This is because the sheep and cattle were already in their place.

V. 24. Nach drei Tagen, als die Finsternis zu weichen begann und die Ägypter sich wieder bewegen konnten. — יוצג, sollen her-, unter Kontrolle, gestellt werden, als Unterpfand für ihre Rückkehr.

רק צאנכם ובקרכם יוצב, “only your sheep and cattle will stay here; as guarantee that you will return.”

גם טפכם, also your children. It is somewhat strange that Pharaoh mentioned first who could not go before conceding that the children could accompany their parents. Perhaps Pharaoh was clever enough to first spell out the conditions under which permission would be granted for the Israelites to leave [The author presumably refers to the halachah that unless the condition is mentioned first and not as an afterthought it is not binding. Ed.]. According to the above we may understand the verse as Pharaoh saying: "go and serve the Lord as you have said, i.e. the men and not the children; if you fulfil the following condition namely that your livestock stays in Egypt, I am even prepared to let you take your children along. If you do not agree to this condition I do not revoke my permission, but then only your menfolk may go because they are the ones who perform the religious rites you spoke about." Perhaps the Gentiles generally consider that any condition in a commercial transaction has to precede the main part of an agreement and not merely appear as a codicil.