Kommentar zu Schemot 8:15

אצבע אלהים הוא THIS IS THE FINGER OF GOD — This plague is not caused by sorcery: it is of the Omnipresent God!

AND THE MAGICIANS SAID UNTO PHARAOH: THIS IS THE FINGER OF G-D. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that because the magicians had done as Aaron did with the serpent and also with the plagues of blood and the frogs and now they could not do so, they therefore said to Pharaoh: “This plague of gnats has not come through Aaron for the sake of Israel. Rather it is a plague of G-d due to the particular [evil] stars under which the land of Egypt found itself at the time.” Pharaoh did not deny the existence of the Creator¹⁴²See Ramban above in Seder Shemoth 5:3. but only the Divine Name which Moses mentioned to him. This is similar in sense to the verse, It was not His hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.¹⁴³I Samuel 6:9. Therefore Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. And Ibn Ezra brought proof for his explanation from the fact that Scripture does not state that the magicians said, “This is the finger of the Eternal,” which would have been a reference to the G-d of Israel, just as Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron, Entreat the Eternal.¹⁴⁴Verse 4. Another proof [which Ibn Ezra brought for his explanation] is that in the case of the smiting of the river, Moses had forewarned Pharaoh,¹⁴⁵Above 7:17-18. And so also was there a forewarning in the case of the frogs (ibid., Verses 27-29). but he mentioned nothing to him about the plague of gnats. [Therefore the magicians felt justified in saying that it was not a plague for the sake of Israel but merely due to the evil stars.]
Ibn Ezra’s interpretation does not appear to me to be correct. “A chance” is not called “the finger of G-d.” Only a plague which comes directly from Him as a form of punishment is called the hand of the Eternal¹⁴⁶I Samuel 5:9. and the finger of G-d, just as it is written in the verse which [Ibn Ezra] mentioned: It was not His hand that smote us.¹⁴³I Samuel 6:9. And it is furthermore written: And Israel saw the great hand;¹⁴⁷Further, 14:31. And the hand of the Eternal shall be against you;¹⁴⁸I Samuel 12:15 and ibid., 5:11. the hand of G-d was very heavy there.¹⁴⁸I Samuel 12:15 and ibid., 5:11. Moreover, in the next plague of swarms, as well as in the following ones, Pharaoh no longer called upon the magicians to stand before Moses to do the same things, even though there had been a forewarning of their coming!¹⁴⁹How then could Ibn Ezra say that because Moses had not forewarned Pharaoh of the coming of the gnats, the magicians said that the plague came through the evil stars and not from the Eternal? In the following plagues when Pharaoh was forewarned of their coming, why did he not call upon the magicians to do likewise? The answer must be, as Ramban explains, that in the case of the plague of the gnats, the magicians already admitted that it was from the Eternal and therefore they could not do likewise. There was thus no need for Pharaoh to call upon them in the following plagues of which he was forewarned, since those were surely from the Eternal, the G-d of Israel, before Whom the magicians were helpless.
But the subject, in accordance with the simple explanation of Scripture, is as follows: When the magicians saw that they could not bring forth the gnats, they admitted Aaron’s deed to be through an act of G-d, and this is why Pharaoh no longer called upon them from that time on. They [the magicians] said, This is ‘the finger’ of G-d, and not “the hand” of G-d [as is the customary way of the Scriptures to refer to plagues, as e.g., It was not His ‘hand’ that smote us]¹⁴³I Samuel 6:9. in order to minimize the plague, that is to say, it is but a small plague from Him [which we can easily endure].¹⁵⁰In his Discourse “The Law of the Eternal is Perfect,” Ramban adds: “Nevertheless the magicians [thereby] admitted [that it was an act of G-d], and thus they became apprised of the fact that Moses’ deed was effectuated by the Lord of the universe.” They did not, however, say to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of ‘the Eternal,’” [but instead they said, “This is the finger of ‘G-d’”]. Pharaoh and his servants would not mention the Proper Divine Name except when speaking to Moses because he mentioned that Name to them. [In addressing Pharaoh, however, the magicians would not use that Name since that would be an open recognition on their part of His existence and power. Therefore they said to Pharaoh, “ This is the finger of ' G-d, ’” although their intent was to say, “This is the finger of ‘the Eternal.’ “] That the magicians could not bring forth the gnats was [not because they really could not do it, but it] was by reason of the fact that G-d so caused it to happen to them. He confounded their counsel in accordance with His Will, for everything is His and it is within His power to do all.
It appears to me further that in the first two plagues — in the one of blood, where the water naturally¹⁵¹Since water and blood are both liquids, the change of the one into the other may be spoken of as in “the nature” of things inasmuch as both are classified under the element of water. See above, Note 117, on the four elements. changed into blood, and in the one of the frogs, which consisted of bringing them up from the river — since they did not involve the creation of some new phenomenon out of nothing or some act of new formation,¹⁵²The Hebrew text reads: bri’ah o yetzirah. See Vol. I, p. 23, that only the term bara (or bri’ah) signifies “bringing forth something from nothing.” the magicians could do [as Aaron did]. Scripture does not say, “and the frogs came into existence,” but only, and the frogs came up;¹⁵³Verse 2. they assembled and came up. In the plague of gnats, however, there was an act of creation, for it is not in the nature of dust to turn into gnats. Therefore He said, that it may become gnats.¹⁵⁴Verse 12. The word “become” suggests a new act of creation. The verse, And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth gnats,¹⁵⁵Verse 14. is similar in intent to: Let the earth bring forth the living creature, etc., and it was so.¹⁵⁶Genesis 1:24. In other words, the expression here, “to bring forth the gnats,” means a new act of creation, just as in the Book of Genesis. But only the Creator, praised and magnified be He, can perform such a [new] act of creation. The verse, And the magicians did so…but they could not,¹⁵⁵Verse 14. means they incanted the demons to do their command, but they were powerless.
Confirming me in my opinion concerning the frogs, [i.e., that there was no new act of creation there], is the following text [of the Talmud]:¹⁵⁷Sanhedrin 67b. ‘Rabbi Akiba said that there was only one frog¹⁵⁸As Verse 2 has it: ‘Vata’al hatz’phardei’a’ (and the frog came up), in the singular. which swarmed and filled the whole land of Egypt. Rabbi Eliezer¹⁵⁹“Eliezer.” In our text of the Gemara, “Eleazar,” and so also further in Ramban. ben Azaryah said to him: ‘Akiba, what have you to do with Agadah (homily)? Turn from these matters and go instead to [delve in the difficulties of] Negaim¹⁶⁰Negaim (Leprosies) is the name of a treatise in the Mishnah dealing with the laws of leprosy. It is considered a very difficult subject. and Oholoth.¹⁶¹Oholoth (Tents) is one of the most difficult treatises of the Mishnah. It deals with the laws regarding the uncleanness of a corpse as affecting a house and its vessels, as well as human beings. It was only one frog croaking to all other frogs, and so they gathered.’” Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah could not accept the opinion [of Rabbi Akiba] that the magicians should have been able to bestow a new nature upon the frog, i.e., that one frog should give birth to so many, which is contrary to its nature, but rather they gathered them in order to bring them up. In the opinion then of Rabbi Akiba, the verse And the river shall swarm with frogs,¹⁶²Above, 7:28. means that the river should swarm with them more than its due. But according to Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah, the sense of that verse is like, ‘shirtzu’ in the earth,¹⁶³Genesis 9:7. Said to Noah and his sons. which connotes movement, as I have explained in Seder Bereshith,¹⁶⁴Ibid., 1:20 (Vol. I, pp. 47-48). and here its meaning is that the frogs gather and move about in the river and from there go up upon Egypt.
Now with regard to the gnats, our Rabbis have said¹⁶⁵Sanhedrin 67 b, and mentioned by Rashi here in Verse 14. that the demon [through whose power this was to be done by the magicians] is powerless in the case of a creature that is smaller than a lentil.¹⁶⁶“Lentil.” In our text of the Gemara, as well as in Rashi here: “a barley-corn.” At any rate, it was completely unnecessary for Scripture to inform us that the magicians could not bring forth gnats, as these are creatures smaller in size than a barley-corn. The expression, but they could not, must hence mean as explained in the text. Such is Ramban’s intent as explained by Rabbeinu Bachya. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 313. The expression, but they could not, must therefore mean that they could not assemble gnats from their [breeding] places and bring them.
In Midrash Rabbah, the Rabbis have further said:¹⁶⁷Shemoth Rabbah 10:7. “Perceiving that they cannot bring forth the gnats, the magicians at once recognized that [Aaron’s deed] was an act of G-d and not an act of the demons. From that moment on, therefore, they were no longer anxious to liken themselves to Moses by bringing forth the plagues.”
Now with regard to Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s statement that Moses did not inform them of the coming of the plague of gnats, it appears to me that Aaron struck [the dust of the earth] with the rod in the sight of Pharaoh, just as he did in the case of the soot of the furnace.¹⁶⁸Further, 9:8. In other words, just as in the case of boils it is said that it was done in the sight of the king, so also in the case of gnats, where the verse reads, And Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and smote the dust of the earth (Verse 13), it was done in the sight of the king. However, there was no forewarning here, since the Holy One, blessed be He, warned Pharaoh only of those plagues which entailed the death of people. In the case of the frogs, [there was also death involved], as it is written: And [He sent among them] frogs, which destroyed them,¹⁶⁹Psalms 78:45. which is an allusion to death or to the kind of destruction mentioned by our Rabbis,¹⁷⁰Shemoth Rabbah 10:4. i.e., that the frogs made them impotent. Similarly, [He warned him of] the locusts, [which destroyed the crops], because it would cause the Egyptians to die of hunger, for they ate up the residue of that which escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail.¹⁷¹Further, 10:5. All this reflects His mercies towards man, just as it is said, Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.¹⁷²Ezekiel 33:9. Therefore, He did not warn Pharaoh of the plagues of gnats, boils, and darkness, [as these did not entail the loss of human lives]. He warned him¹⁷³Further, 9:3-4. only of the pestilence of cattle because it involved death which should have taken effect also on man, as He told him afterward, For now I might have stretched out My hand and I might have smitten thee and thy people with pestilence. But in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, etc.¹⁷⁴Ibid., Verses 15-16. Therefore He informed him of what was to happen.
In the case of certain plagues, [i.e., blood, swarms, and hail], G-d said to Moses, Rise up early in the morning … lo he cometh forth to the water.¹⁷⁵The three verses are mentioned by Ramban more fully later in the text. Here he mentions the text in a general way although it is based on Verse 16 here. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture,¹⁷⁶Rashi commented (above, 7:15): “Lo, he goeth forth unto the water to ease himself. Pharaoh claimed to be a god and asserted that [because of his divine powers], he did not need to ease himself. Therefore he would rise early and go forth to the Nile to ease himself in secret.” This interpretation of Rashi which is based upon a Midrash (Tanchuma Va’eira, 14) is alluded to by Ramban’s words that his own explanation is “in line with the plain meaning of Scripture,” thus implying that there is a Midrashic or homiletic interpretation of the verse, namely, that of Rashi mentioned above. this was the time when the kings were wont to go forth in the morning to enjoy themselves in the waters, and the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to go there. The reason for it is that since the plague of blood was the first one [of the plagues], He wanted Moses to do it in the sight of the king and without fear of him. This is the sense of the expression, and thou shalt place thyself towards him.¹⁷⁷Above, 7:15, in the case of the first plague. Similarly, in the plague of swarms it is said, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water,¹⁷⁸Here in Verse 16. and also in the case of hail it is said, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh,¹⁷⁹Further, 9:13. which likewise took place when the king went forth to the water. He wanted these two plagues to be wrought [at that particular time] because since swarms and hail brought death and punishment upon the people, the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted the warning to be given in the sight of all people. When the king went forth to the water, a multitude of people followed him, and when Moses will then forewarn him in their sight, perhaps they might plead with their master to return from his evil way. In case they do not do so, they will deserve punishment. But in the case of the other plagues, the warning given to the king alone was sufficient, and therefore in connection with them it is said, Go in unto Pharaoh,¹⁸⁰Above, 7:26 (in the plague of frogs); further, 9:1 (pestilence), and 10:1 (locusts). meaning that Moses was to go into the palace. In the case of gnats and boils, it does not say [that Moses was to go into the palace] because Aaron had to strike the dust of the earth [to bring on the plague of the gnats], and in the king’s palace there is no dust, as it has a pavement of green and white marble.¹⁸¹Esther 1:6. In the case of boils, Moses had to throw the soot of the furnace heavenward.¹⁸²Further, 9:10. Thus [we must say that] these two plagues, [i.e., gnats and boils], were done in the sight of Pharaoh when he was in the court of the garden of the king’s palace,¹⁸³Esther 1:5. or some similar place.

אצבע אלוקים הוא, this is a natural disaster [the word אל-הים equaling 86 numerically, the same as הטבע=“nature” Ed.] They denied that this plague, which had not been advertised beforehand, was the work of Moses and Aaron whom they had considered superior sorcerers, but had been orchestrated by the god of nature. They argued that if this had been a work of sorcerers they too could have duplicated the phenomenon.

ויאמרו החרטומים אצבע אלוקים הוא, “The sorcerers said that it was manifestation of a ‘finger’ of G’d.” Ibn Ezra wrote that far from admitting that Moses and Aaron were superior to them, seeing that thus far they had been able to match Moses and Aaron plague for plague, they now attributed this plague directly to a natural phenomenon, i.e. part of nature and its cycles, and as not related even remotely to the situation of the Israelites. [the fact that Moses had not given any warning of this plague helped convince Pharaoh that his sorcerers were right. Ed.] Pharaoh had never denied the existence of elokim the Creator, he had only refused to acknowledge the existence of the attribute Hashem, and the special relationship of that attribute to the Israelites, as “HIS” people. Ibn Ezra cites the fact that the sorcerers did not say: אצבע ה' אלוקים הוא, “it is a manifestation of the finger of Hashem elokim, although even Pharaoh had begged Moses to entreat Hashem to remove the plague of frogs, as proof of their being far from acknowledging the phenomenon Hashem. Nachmanides writes that in his opinion Ibn Ezra is not correct, seeing that the Torah would not refer to a plague as אצבע אלוקים, unless such a plague was a clear indication that it occurred as a Divine punishment, not as a random event, part of astrologically predictable “normal” phenomena. Expressions such as “G’d’s finger, G’d’s hand, G’d’s arm,” are always reserved for manifestations of G’d’s direct intervention in the affairs of man, not natural phenomena which could have occurred at any time without reference to specific events known to man. He quotes such examples as Exodus 14,31, Samuel I 12,15, Samuel I 5,11 as support for this thesis. Furthermore, the very fact that the Torah reports that the sorcerers were themselves afflicted to the extent that they had to leave Pharaoh’s presence, would make any claim that this was not a Divine manifestation related to the Israelites’ continued enslavement quite unlikely. Seeing that the sorcerers ceased playing any role, as Pharaoh did not summon them to try and get rid of the plague of wild beasts, a plague that he had been forewarned about, shows that Pharaoh by then was isolated in his obstinacy, knowing that the sorcerers would be of no help to him at all. The sorcerers had referred to “a finger of G’d,” in order to minimize the awe in which G’d would be held on account of a minor plague such as the vermin. We do not find that Pharaoh and his advisors ever referred to G’d as Hashem, except when they were in the presence of Moses and Aaron. This was mere lip service, as they did not want to aggravate their relations with Moses who had proven capable of not only orchestrating a plague but also of causing it to stop. As to Ibn Ezra’s argument that Moses and Aaron had not given warning of this plague, this is only technically so, as no doubt they had struck the earth while being in the presence of Pharaoh, and this clearly was meant to bring forth the vermin. To attribute such a plague of vermin to “natural” atmospheric phenomena would hardly be believable to anyone. If, in apparent contradiction to the above, we find that the Torah describes the sorcerers as so afflicted by the plague of boils, (#6) that “they were unable to remain in the presence of Moses,” (9,11) the Torah does not mention this because the sorcerers had come to duplicate the plague of boils, but because the Torah had stated that in spite of this very painful plague, something which should have given Pharaoh food for thought, the Torah wants to illustrate how painful this plague was by stating that even the sorcerers who had their reputation at stake, could not maintain a posture during that plague. If the sorcerers could not maintain a posture, how far less could any other Egyptian, excepting Pharaoh, of course. The Torah therefore explains that if Pharaoh remained steadfast this was only because G’d had given him the strength to do so. ויחזק ה' את לב פרעה. (9,12)

ויאמרו החרטומם אל פרעה, “the sorcerers said to Pharaoh.” Up until this point the word חרטומים had always been spelled with the letter י. Now that they had been forced to admit their incompetence that letter was dropped. According to Kidushin 40 the absence of the letter י is an allusion to the proverb that of the ten units of magic G’d had allocated to the creatures on earth, nine had been appropriated by the Egyptians, whereas the remaining unit was dispersed all over the globe.

“This is the finger of God.” They did not have in mind the God of Israel, for if they did, they should have said, “This is the finger of Adonoy,” or “the finger of the God of Israel.” This was due to the fact that this plague occurred without warning, and so they believed it was not from Hashem for the sake of the Jews, for if it was, Moshe should have delivered a warning beforehand. Therefore, they said this plague originated from the gods of Egypt. As a result: “But Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened,” he was no longer fearful at all.

אצבע אלו־הים היא, “It is a natural phenomenon. If this plague had been caused by Moses and Aaron, we could also have done the same. [i.e. this plague is orchestrated by the G-d of Joseph, who had been known to them as elohim, as opposed to Hashem whom Moses and Aaron had claimed to represent. Ed.]

כאשר דבר ה׳ AS THE LORD HAD SPOKEN — when He said, (Exodus 7:4) “Pharaoh will not hearken unto you”.

אצבע אלו־הים היא, “it is a (finger) feminine phenomenon”. [היא means “she”. Ed.] The sorcerers excused their inability to deal with this plague to the fact that it was something natural, and therefore not within their domain.

ויחזק לב פרעה, “Pharaoh’s heart remained stubborn, strong.” The reason why Pharaoh did not ask Moses to pray for the removal of this plague was that this would have been an admission that it was a heavenly phenomenon. [Besides thus far none of the plagues had caused deaths, only inconvenience. He felt that if this is all that Hashem can do, he could live with it. Ed.] There was a good reason to feel that a plague which was common among the poor people all the time, had spread for some reason beyond its normal boundaries. Pharaoh did not realise that the absence of a warning meant that this was not of Moses’ doing; in fact the reason why he had not been warned was that he had ignored the warnings issued before the first two plagues, so that this was the punishment for having ignored those two plagues to influence his attitude toward the Israelite slaves. Moreover, every group of three plagues, as pointed out by Rabbi Yehudah who characterised (summarised) them as acronyms, i.e. דצ׳ך, עד׳ש, באח׳ב, was also introduced by Moses as having a specific objective.(Compare Exodus 8,6: למען תדע כי אין כה׳ אלוקינו “so that you will realise that there is no G-d like our G-d.” Exodus 8,18: למען תדע כי אני ה׳ בקרב הארץ, “so that you will realise that I am the Lord right here on earth also.” Exodus 9,29: למען תדע כי לה׳ הארץ, “so that you will realise that the earth belongs to the Lord.”) Some commentators explain that the reason Rabbi Yehudah summarised the plagues as he did, was to remind us that this was the correct order, as compared to Psalms 78,44-51 where they are listed in a different sequence. Also in Psalms 105, 28-36 they are listed in a different order.