Kommentar zu Schemot 15:2

עזי וזמרת יה — Onkelos translated this by “my might and my praise”, taking עָזִּי the same as עֻזִּי, and וְזִמְרָת the same as וְזִמְרָתִי. But I wonder at the wording of the text if this translation is correct, for you will find no similar example of its punctuation (i. e. of עָזִּי) in the Scriptures except in three passages where it is, in each case, followed by וזמרת. In all other passages it is punctuated with שורק (i. e. our Kibbutz); e. g., (Jeremiah 16:19) ה' עֻזִּי ומעזי (Psalms 59:10) עֻזּו אליך אשמרה So, too, every word of two letters that is punctuated with a Melopum (our חולם) when it is lengthened by the addition of a third letter (i. e. when it has a pronominal suffix as in the examples given below), and the second has not a Sheva (חטף), the first is punctuated with a שורק (Kibbuts) — as, for instance, עֹז and עֻזִּי; ‎רֹק and ‎רֻקִי ; ‎חֹק and ‎חֻקִי ; ‎עֹל and עֻלִי as in (Isaiah 14:25) “then shall his yoke (עֻלּוֹ, from עֹל) depart from him”; — כֹּל and כֻּלּוֹ, as in (Exodus 14:7) “and captains over each of them (כֻּלּוֹ) — from כֹּל. But these three examples of עָזִּי וְזִּמְרָת, viz., that occuring here and that in Isaiah (12:2) and that in Psalms (118:14), are punctuated with short Kametz, whereas the translation of Onkelos would require עֻזִּי and not עָזִּי. Then further, in not one of them (these three passages) is it written וזמרתי, as Onkelos translates, but וזמרת and remarkably enough all of them are immediately followed by ויהי לי לישועה. — Therefore I say in explanation of the wording of the text that עָזִּי is not the same as עֻזִּי and וְזִמְרָת is not the same as וְזִמְרָתִי, but עָזִּי is a noun without a suffix of any kind, as we find in (Psalms 123:1) “The one who sits (הַיֹּשְׁבִי) in heaven”; (Obadiah 3:3) “The one who dwells (שֹׁכְנִי) in the cleft of the rock”; (Deuteronomy 33:16) “He that dwelleth (שֹׁכְנִי) in the bush” (where the syllable at the end of the word is part of the noun and is not the pronominal suffix denoting “my”). The praise, therefore, proclaimed in these words is this: The עז and the זִמְרָת of God, this was to me as a help. The word וזמרת is a noun in the construct state to the word which expressess the Divine Name (יָהּ), in the same sense as (Judges 5:23) “to the help of (לעזרַת — const.) the Lord”; (Isaiah 9:18) “through the wrath of (בעברת — constr.) the Lord”; (Ecc. 3:18) “because of (דברַת — const.) the sons of man”. The expression וזמרת has the meaning of the root which we find in (Leviticus 25:4) “thou shalt not prune (תזמר)” and in (Isaiah 25:5) “the cutting down (זמיר) of the terrible ones”, both of which have the meaning “lopping off” and “cutting down”. Thus the verse signifies: “The strength and vengeance of our God has become to us a help”. Do not be puzzled by the expression ויהי — that it does not state היה — for we have other verses also that use this idiom, and the following is an example of such a construction: (1 Kings 6:5) “round about the wall of the house, both of the temple and the most holy place, he made (ויעש) a side structure”, and it should have said (instead of ויעש etc.) עשה לו צלעות סביב. Similarly in Chronicles, (2 10:17) “But as for the children of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah, Rehoboam reigned (וימלך) over them”, where it should have said מלך עליהם. Other examples are: (Numbers 14:16) “Because the Lord was unable etc…. He slaughtered them (וישחטם)”, where it should have said שחטם; (Numbers 14:36, 37) “And the men whom Moses sent … they died (וימתו)”, where it should have said מתו; (Exodus 9:21) “And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left (ויעזב) his cattle, etc.”, where it should have said עזב‎.

THE ETERNAL IS MY STRENGTH AND SONG. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that the word ozi (my strength) is connected with the following word [v’zimrath — and song], thus rendering its sense: “my strength and the song of my strength is the Eternal.”¹¹³“That is to say, with this Name will I vanquish my enemies, and when I will sing of the victory, my song will be the song of the Eternal, for it is He who is my salvation” (Mishneh l’Ezra in his commentary on Ibn Ezra). This is my G-d ‘v’anveihu': I will make Him a habitation, [from the root naveh (habitation)]. This is my father’s G-d, and I will exalt Him, i.e., by recounting His greatness.
Now this is surely the plain meaning of the verse. But [it should be noted that] Moses does not mention here the full Divine Name, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton, which consists of four letters], but instead mentions only the first two letters. In the entire Torah, it is the manner of Moses our teacher to mention the entire Great Name which He communicated to him, as it is said, This is My Name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations.¹¹⁴Above, 3:15. And the Rabbis have already explained the verse, The hand is upon the throne of Y-ah,¹¹⁵Further, 17:16. Because only the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton are mentioned there, the Rabbis explained: “The Holy One, blessed be He, swore, etc.” The explanation is found in Tanchuma, end of Seder Ki Theitzei, and is quoted by Rashi at the end of this Seder. to mean that “the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that His throne will not be perfect nor will His Name be complete until the seed of Amalek will be entirely blotted out.” [The question then arises: why is the full Divine Name not written here?]
By way of the Truth, [that is, the mystic lore of the Cabala], the whole deliverance at the sea came through the angel of G-d — the one of whom it is written, for My Name is in him¹¹⁶Further, 23:21. — just as it is said, and Israel saw the great hand.¹¹⁷Above, 14:31. The “hand” alludes to the attribute of justice, which is the great hand that executes the vengeance. It is by this attribute that the sea was divided, as the prophet explained, Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Eternal… Art thou not it that dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep?¹¹⁸Isaiah 51:9-10. and as I have written above.¹¹⁹Above, 14:31: “The great hand which is the attribute of justice… became revealed to them. It is for this reason that Moses said that his strength and his song are this Name, [i.e., the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton, which allude to the attribute of justice], For in Y-ah the Eternal is an everlasting Rock.¹²⁰Isaiah 26:4. As translated in Singer’s Daily Prayer Book. And so did [the psalmist] explain: What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest?… At the presence of the G-d of Jacob.¹²¹Psalms 114:5-7. The G-d of Jacob alludes here to the attribute of justice. And so the Rabbis have said in the Mechilta:¹²²Mechilta here on the verse before us. “When Israel went into the sea, the Shechinah (Divine presence)¹²³See Vol. I, p. 551. was with them, as it is said, And the angel of G-d journeyed.”¹²⁴Above, 14:19. And in Eileh Shemoth Rabbah, it is said:¹²⁵Shemoth Rabbah 30:1. “The word oz (strength) [or ozi, “my strength,” as is mentioned in this verse], alludes only to judgment, as it is said, ‘v’oz’ (And the strength) of a king is he who loveth justice.”¹²⁶Psalms 99:4.
This is My G-d ‘v’anveihu.’ “I will elevate [the Great Name, i.e., the Tetragrammaton],¹²⁷So clearly interpreted in Abusaula’s commentary on Ramban. See Vol. I, p. XII, Note 21. to the G-d of the most high naveh (abode), this being the G-d of my fathers, to whom He had appeared as E-il Sha-dai.¹²⁸See Ramban above, 6:2, and also Vol. I, pp. 214-216. And now I shall exalt Him by the complete Name, for henceforth the Name will be ish milchamah, [literally, “man of war,” but here alluding to the attribute of justice]. And His Name will be the Eternal, [meaning that the Name comprises justice with mercy],¹²⁹Ramban is thus interpreting Verse 3, The Eternal is a man of war, the Eternal is His Name, to mean that Israel will henceforth exalt Him both in His aspect of justice and of mercy. I have followed Abusaula’s interpretation of Ramban’s text. similar in meaning to the verse, Now will I be exalted; now will I lift Myself up.¹³⁰Isaiah 33:10. It is possible that the word ‘zeh’ (this) alludes to the seven emanations in wisdom, this being associated with the verse, ‘zeh’ (this) is My Name for ever, ‘v’zeh’ (and this) is My memorial.¹³¹Above, 3:15. And in the Mechilta we read:¹³²Mechilta here on Verse 2. “My G-d. He dealt with me according to the attribute of mercy, while with my fathers he dealt according to the attribute of justice. And whence do we know that my G-d signifies the attribute of mercy? Because it is said, My G-d, my G-d, why hast Thou forsaken me?¹³³Psalms 22:2. “And surely one would not say to the attribute of justice, ‘Why hast thou forsaken me?’” (Rashi further, 34:6). Heal her now, O G-d, I beseech thee?¹³⁴Numbers 12:13. A supplication of this kind is naturally addressed to G-d in His aspect of mercy. The Eternal is ‘E-il’ (G-d), and He hath given us light.”¹³⁵Psalms 118:27. If so, Scripture here says ‘zeh E-ili’ (this is my G-d), meaning that “with me He is E-il [G-d in His aspect of mercy] in this matter, since He was exalted with mercy to be compassionate in His justice.”

עזי וזמרת י-ה, It is G’d’s glory that He flung Pharaoh’s might into the Sea. By doing this He demonstrated that He is the King of kings, and that it is appropriate that those who have been saved by Him praise Him in poem and song. They should demonstrate their joy at having been elevated to being servants of the true master, the King of the universe.

עזי וזמרת כה, "The Lord is my strength and song." The normal procedure when one composes a song for G'd, praises Him or prays to Him, is to mention first how G'd relates to oneself before mentioning how G'd related to one's ancestors. Thus we find that the men of the Great Assembly who edited our major prayers began the עמידה by first referring to G'd as "our G'd," i.e. the G'd of the petitioner and only afterwards did they define G'd as also the G'd of the patriarchs. The Israelites were similarly motivated when they first referred to what G'd meant to them (each individual Jew), how G'd had proven a Saviour for them in their present situation acting as the merciful G'd (tetragram). They concluded the statement referring to their personal relationship with G'd by saying זה אלי ואנוהו, "this is my G'd and I will glorify Him," and only afterwards did they describe the same G'd in His capacity as the G'd of their fathers. Our sages copied this pattern when they formulated our prayers where we say אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו, "our G'd who was already the G'd of our ancestors." I have already explained why the Israelites in this instance chose to describe G'd in the singular as "my G'd" instead of as "our G'd."

. עזי וזמרת י-ה; the power, the glory and the fame of the Jewish people are only G’d. It was He Who became our ישועה, salvation. The chataf kametz followed by the letter י which is not part of the word is similar to a similar construction in Lamentations 1,1 רבתי בגוים as well as in Psalms 123,1 הישבי בשמים, and in Jeremiah 49,16 שוכני בחגוי סלע. On the other hand, when we encounter the construction עוזי as in Psalms 59,10 uzzi eleycha eshmorah, the meaning of עוזי is: “”My strength.”

עזי וזמרת י-ה, “My might and His cutting down.” Ibn Ezra says that the word עזי is part of what precedes it, as well as part of what follows it, as if the Torah had written עזי וזמרת עזי י-ה וגו', so that its meaning would be “my power, and my glory with which I sing a song of praise to Him is directed exclusively in His praise. It is only He Who has been my salvation.”

עזי וזמרת י-ה, “G’d’s might and vengeance was my salvation.” When Moses referred to G’d by the term עזי, he paraphrased what is written in Psalms 68,29: צוך אלו-היך עזך, “your G’d has ordained might for you.” The words זמרת י-ה are related to Samuel II 23,1 ונעים זמירות ישראל, “the favorite of the songs of Israel.” This term also occurs in Psalms, 47,7 זמרו לאלו-הים זמרו, “Sing, O sing to G’d; O sing.”
ויהי לי לישועה, “G’d became my salvation.” The reason the redemption from Egypt is always referred to as ישועה, is because it was followed by another exile. The redemption of the future which will not be followed by another exile, will become known as ישועות, (plural). This is why we have David (Psalms 53,7) express his hope for מי יתן מציון ישועות ישראל, “O that the deliverance of Israel might come from Zion!” On another occasion the final redemption is called תשועת עולמים, in Isaiah 45,17: ישראל נושע בה' תשועת עולמים, “But Israel has won through the Lord triumph everlasting.” In a parallel sense the “song” Moses sang at the Sea of Reeds is known as שירה, “a song (feminine),” whereas the song that will be sung after the final redemption will be known as שיר, “a song (masculine),” reflecting the permanent nature of that redemption; compare Isaiah 26,1 ביום ההוא יושר השיר הזה,”On that day this song which will be sung will be masculine.”

Being the same as עזִי , vocalized with a shuruk, and וזמרת being the same as וזמרתי . . . Meaning: “My might and My praise.”

V. 2. עזי, von עוז ,עזז: die Widerstandskraft, die Unüberwindlichkeit. Mein Unüberwundengebliebensein: — dass Pharao und das Weltmeer mich unberührt gelassen, und זמרת: das jetzige Singen, in dem ich begriffen bin, beides ist Gotteswirkung. Wir haben schon zu Bereschit 43, 10 das Verhältnis von זמרה, der Melodie, zu שיר, dem Liedeswort angedeutet. Wir meinten, es sei die Melodie das hörbare Emporringen des Gemüts zur ganzen Höhe der Begeisterung und Reife des in der Seele arbeitenden Gedankens ( — die Rebe zur Weinfrucht —). Diese höchste Arbeit des menschlichen Geistes, in welcher sich seine edelste Energie entfaltet, ist bei dem gottbegeisterten Sänger selbst ein Gotteswirken. Es ist, wie der Liederkönig Israels von sich ausspricht: Gottes Geist, der durch ihn spricht, und sein Wort schwebt auf seiner Zunge. — רוח ד׳ דבר בי ,(Sam. II. 23, 2). Darum fehlt in allen diesen Sätzen Gier — ומלתו על לשוני Ps. 118, 14, Jes. 12, 2) die Personalbezeichnung: mein, nicht זמרתי, sondern זמרת. Der Sänger will ja eben sagen: es sei nicht זמרתו!

עזי וזמרת יה, “my victory and my song is G-d;” (Onkelos) according to Rashi, the vocalisation of the word ozzi here is most unusual as it should have been uzzi. Rashi examined this song grammatically in great detail; [seeing that it is poetry and you my readers are mostly not experts in classical Hebrew grammar (neither is this editor), I omit most of these comments. Ed.]

זה אלי THIS IS MY GOD — In His glory did He reveal Himself to them and they pointed to Him — as it were — with the finger exclaiming “This is my God!” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:15) A maid servant beheld at the Red Sea what even the prophets never saw (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:2:2).

ויהי לי לישועה, my salvation consisted in the fact that He flung the enemy into the Sea. (compare Isaiah 66,14 “The power of the Lord will be revealed on behalf of His servants; but He shall rage against His foes.”)

וזמרת, the letter ת at the end of this word is similar to the letter ת at the end of the word שכורת instead of שכורה in Isaiah 51,21 or the letter ת at the end of the word שערות inתסמר שערות בשרי in Job 4,15. It is part of a repetition of the beginning of the verse i.e. the words ורוח על פני יחלוף, “a wind passed me by.” This is also how Rav Yoseph translated it. The word וזמרת is spelled defectively just as are the words שכורת and שערות in the verses quoted. [the author means that the letter ו, indicating a sound, is only read for the vowel cholem but not spelled out in the text. Ed.]

זה א-לי ואנוהו, “this is my G’d and I will erect a residence for Him (on earth).” He is my strength and I will enthrone Him in an appropriate residence.” This has also been the G’d of my father and I will aggrandize Him by telling of His exploits. Our sages say that the visions revealed to a simple kitchen maid at the crossing of the sea of Reeds exceeded by far the revelations that the prophet Ezekiel and other prophets were granted. [our author adds of his own that the visions granted to these other prophets compared to what the kitchen maid saw, compare to someone seeing the finger of a person as opposed to someone who sees the whole person. Ed.] According to the plain meaning of the text it is perfectly in order to use the descriptive word זה for something inherently invisible, just as the people who demanded from Aaron that he make them a visible image for “this man Moses, etc.” when Moses was presumed to have died on Mount Sinai and was quite invisible. (Exodus 32,1)

Der Gottesname י׳ — lautverwandt mit כח und כה) — bezeichnet überall eine Kraftoffenbarung Gottes, ein Sichtbarwerden seines Wirkens und Waltens. Es ist somit gesagt: meine Rettung und die Begeisterung selbst, die diese Rettung in mir geweckt somit: mein äußeres Geschick und mein inneres Leben, beides ist eine Offenbarung der gegenwärtig wirkenden, an mir sich bekundenden Gottesmacht, ויהי לי לישועה und das ward meine Rettung. Gott hat mich gerettet, weil er in mir ein geeignetes Werkzeug zur Offenbarung seines Völker und Menschen bildenden Waltens ersehen hatte. Meine äußere Schwäche und meine innere Kraft und Empfänglichkeit haben mir Gottes rettenden Beistand gewonnen. In הללוי׳ ist der Gottesname mit dem Besingen der Gottestaten zu einem Begriffe verbunden, eine Ausdrucksform, welcher derselbe Gedanke zu Grunde liegen dürfte, nach welchem die Begeisterung des die Gottestaten besingenden Gesanges selbst zu einer Gottestat wird. Uno dies mag auch der Sinn des Ausspruches רי׳ ב׳ל's sein (Peßachim 117 a.) גדול מכולן (מכל מאמרות של שבח) הללוי׳ שכולל שם ושח בבת אחת.—

ויהי לי לישועה, “He became my salvation.” Rashi explains that the expression ויהי should not raise any questions although we might have expected the word היה here for the past tense. He points out that we find similar constructions in Chronicles II 10,17, where we read about the kingdom of Yehudah having “appointed” Solomon’s son Rechavam as their king, and the word: וימלוך is used by the author, although the meaning is that Rechavam would continue to rule over the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin as he had already been doing since his father Solomon had died and the country had not been split through the revolution which brought Jerovam to the throne of the ten remaining tribes. An almost identical verse is also found in Kings I 12,17.

ואנוהו Onkelos translates this in the sense of a dwelling (viz., I will build Him a temple) as in (Isaiah 33:20) “a peaceful habitation (נוה)” and in (Isaiah 65:10) “a dwelling (נוה) for flocks”. Another explanation of ואנוהו is that it has the sense of נוי, “beauty”, and the meaning is: I will relate His splendour and praiseworthiness to the inhabitants of the world as, for example, was actually done by Israel: (Song 5:9, 10) The nations of the world ask, “What is thy beloved more than another beloved?” … and Israel replies, “My beloved is white and ruddy”, and thus you will find it in that whole section (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:2:2).

זה א-לי, He is the eternal original Being as far as I am concerned. He invented or called into existence all perishable phenomena. Any and all phenomena which will endure have been enabled to do so only by His will.

זה א-לי, even though G’d remained, of course, invisible to the human eye, it is order to describe the experience witnessed with the word זה, “this,” just as we find the word זה “this,” used by the Torah (describing an utterance by the people about to make the golden calf) in the line כי זה האיש משה, “for this man Moses, etc.” (Exodus 32,1) It is clear that they did not “see” Moses at the time, as the reason for what they were about to do was precisely Moses’ “invisibility,” i.e. he had not returned from the Mountain as promised.

And the second one is not a sheva or chatef. . . Rashi is referring to the middle letter of עזי, which is ז, and to the middle letter of חקי , [which is ק ], etc.

זה אל: Das ist fortan mein Gott. Wie ich Ihn hier mein äußeres Geschick und mein inneres Leben allein gestaltend geschaut und empfinde, so will ich ihm fürder mein ganzes äußeres und inneres Leben zu Gebote stellen, von ihm gestalten und leiten lassen — (nur dann kann man Gott seinen Gott nennen) — er soll, wie das Wort buchstäblich heißt, meine bewegende Kraft sein; ואנוהו: und so will ich mich ihm zur Stätte bieten, mein ganzes Sein und Leben soll ein Tempel seiner Verherrlichung, eine Stätte seiner Offenbarung werden; es ist dies eine reine Konsequenz des נוה — .זה אל, verwandt mit נוה, bezeichnet eine sich zur Ruhe darbietende Stätte. Daher נָוֱה absolut eine solche Örtlichkeit, die den Herden alle Bedürfnisse darbietet, wo sie sich bleibend aufhalten können, ohne anderwärts Weide zu suchen. לקחתיך מן הנוה (Sam. II. 7, 8.) Also: Ich will Ihm eine Stätte sein, oder Ihm durch mein ganzes Leben eine Stätte bereiten, von der er gerne sprechen wird: אלקי אבי וארוממנהו — .ושכנתי בתוכם, Er hat sich also schon als Gott meiner Väter bewährt und ward so schon von den Vätern erkannt und mir überliefert; durch mich aber soll die Erkenntnis seiner Größe und Herrschaft noch immer steigen. Es ist damit die Aufgabe eines jeden folgenden Geschlechtes in Israel gezeichnet, die Erkenntnis und Huldigung Gottes in immer aufsteigender Linie fortzutragen.

זה אלי, “this is my G-d.” Moses refers to G-d with the word, “זה,” “this,” although G-d, is, of course, invisible, This maybe the reason why we find Moses described on occasion as "זה משה האיש,” [when after an absence on Mount Sinai of 40 days he had still not become visible again. (Compare Exodus 32,1)

אלהי אבי MY FATHER’S GOD is this וארממנהו AND I WILL EXALT HIM. אלהי אבי He is not merely my God but He was MY FATHER’S GOD also — I am not the beginning of the sanctity (i. e. I am not the first to hallow Him by proclaiming Him God), this hallowing of Him and the proclamation of His Godship over me is something that has been held by me and has remained mine since the days of my fathers.

ואנוהו, I will erect a suitable residence for Him in our midst. Within that residence I shall pray to Him exclusively and I will serve Him as is befitting to the One Who bestows both goodness and punishes the derelict. (compare Isaiah 44,17. ויתפלל אליו ויאמר הצילני נא כי א-לי אתה, “He prayed to Him, saying: ‘save me for You are my G’d.’”) Both prayer and service (sacrifices, etc.) have as their purpose to find favour in the eyes of the Lord.

ואנוהו, “I will describe His beauty in poetical terms.” We find something parallel to this in Jeremiah 6,2 הנוה והמעגנה, “the lovely and delicate one.” (a description of בת ציון, the concept of “Daughter of Zion.”) It is not to be compared to Isaiah 27,10 כי עיר בצורה בדד נוה משלח, “for the fortified city lies desolate, a homestead deserted, etc.” The proof lies in the repetition of the prophet’s theme at the end of his verse. [had he introduced a new thought, instead of the repetition of the same thought in different words, we could have erred in understanding his meaning. Ed.]

And they are all followed by ויהי לי לישועה . . . [Rashi is saying:] If וזמרת means וזמרתי (my praise), why then does it say ויהי לי לישועה ? Could it be that his praise was the cause of his deliverance? (Maharshal)

אלוקי אבי, a reference to the “G’d of Yaakov” who had spoken of א-ל אלוקי ישראל, in Genesis 33,20. Yaakov had meant that G’d is great in His awesomeness, His supervision of the individual fates of His creatures. He had named G’d thus to indicate that G’d combines within Himself both the attribute of love and the attribute of Justice.

In our context both the words ארומממנה and אנוהו are clearly expressions of glorifying G’d.

Do not wonder about the use of ויהי . . . Whereas according to Onkelos, [the use of ויהי ] is quite appropriate, as the verse is saying: “Hashem is my might and my praise.” And ויהי לי לישועה is a new point: [“He was my deliverance.”]

וארוממנהו, I elevate Him by my prostrating myself and humbling myself before Him, as well as by making it known that the purpose of everyone of my endeavours in this life to carry out His will to the best of my ability, consistent with the intellectual faculties granted to me. I acknowledge that His will is always superior and ultimately of the most benefit to His creatures. This is why in the final analysis He is beyond even our best efforts to praise Him and exalt Him. (Nechemyah 9,6).

Is this, and I will exalt Him. Rashi adds the word “this” because אלהי אבי stands separately, and seems to imply that “Hashem of my father” is a different God [from the God previously mentioned]. Thus Rashi explains the verse as if it said, “This is my God and the God of my father, and I will glorify and exalt Him.”