Commentary for Exodus 10:14

ואחריו לא יהיה כן NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH — That plague of locusts which happened during the days of Joel of which it is said, (Joel 2:2) “there hath not been ever the like” — which statement teaches us that it was more grievous than that in the days of Moses — was, however, caused by many species of locusts, together, those called ארבה and ילק and חסיל and גזם; but that which happened in the days of Moses consisted of only one species (the ארבה) and any ארבה like that there never was and never will be.

NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH [LOCUSTS]. Scripture informs us by way of prophecy that after them, there would never be such [locusts]. Now Rashi commented: “[The plague of locusts] which occurred during the days of Joel, of which it is said, There hath not been ever the like,³⁷Joel 2:2. teaches us that it was greater³⁸“Greater.” In our text of Rashi: “more grievous.” than that in the days of Moses. The one that happened in the days of Joel was caused by many species together: locust, caterpillar, canker-worm, palmer-worm.³⁹Joel 2:4. But the one which occurred in the days of Moses consisted only of one species, the like of which there never was and never will be.”
I have found difficulty in understanding the explanation of the Rabbi [Rashi]. It is written [of the plague which happened in the days of Moses], He also gave their produce unto the caterpillar,⁴⁰Psalms 78:46. and it is also written, He spoke, and the locust came, and the canker-worm without number.⁴¹Ibid., 105:34. Thus it is clear that in the plague which occurred in the days of Moses, there were also many species of locusts involved, unlike Rashi’s explanation above. Perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] will answer by saying that in the days of Moses, locust proper was greater than that in the days of Joel, but all other species of locusts in the days of Joel were greater than those in the days of Moses. But these are useless arguments.⁴²It is illogical to say that the Torah here attached such importance to the plague just because one of the species involved was greater than that in the days of Joel, although in the number of species, the plague of locusts which occurred in the days of the prophet was unparalleled. (Mizrachi in explanation of Ramban’s intent.) Instead, [we must say that the expression], in all the borders of Egypt, is connected with the end of the verse: before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such there [in Egypt, but in other places there may be].⁴³There is thus no contradiction to the prophet Joel’s words. That plague of locusts did not occur in the land of Egypt. It is possible that because the land of Egypt is exceedingly moistened by the river, locusts are not abundant there, for these naturally come in years of drought, as is mentioned by the prophet Joel.⁴⁴For the water brooks are dried up (Joel 1:20).
Now Rabbeinu Chananel⁴⁵A Rabbi of Kairwan, North Africa, who flourished in the first half of the eleventh century, just when the Gaonic period in Babylon was about to come to a close. Rabbeinu Chananel’s commentaries on the Talmud are among the most important works in Rabbinic literature. He also wrote a commentary on the Torah, which has been lost in the course of time, except for important extracts from it which are found mostly in the commentary of Bachya ben Asher. Some extracts are found in the works of Ramban and in the Sermons of Yehoshua ibn Shuib, a pupil of Rashba. An edition of mine of these collected explanations of Rabbeinu Chananel has recently appeared through the Mosad Harav Kook, Jerusalem, and they indicate a wide spectrum of interests on the part of the author in Biblical themes. has written in his commentary on the Torah: “From the time that Moses our teacher prayed [for the removal of the locusts] till now, the locusts have not caused damage to the entire land of Egypt, and if an attack of them does occur in the Land of Israel and they proceed to enter within the border of Egypt, they do not devour the produce of the land. People say that this is known by all. Come and see! In the case of frogs, Moses said, Only in the river they will remain,⁴⁶Above, 8:5. and therefore the altamtzach — [the Arabic word for frogs] — have remained in the river till now. However, in the case of the locusts it is written, There remained not one locust in all the border of Egypt.⁴⁷Further, Verse 19. It is of a phenomenon of this kind that Scripture says, Speak ye of all His marvellous works. ”⁴⁸Psalms 105:2. Thus the language of the Rabbi.
In my opinion, the plain meaning of the verse, [neither after them shall be such], is that because the plague of locusts is known to come in all generations, and moreover since this one [in the days of Moses] came in a natural way, it having been the east wind that brought the locusts,⁴⁹Verse 13. [and there was thus reason to believe that such a plague would again come upon Egypt in a natural way], Scripture therefore states that such locusts were the greatest that ever occurred in the natural order of things. Neither before them were there such locusts as they, nor after them shall be such. Through the magnitude of the plague, the Egyptians thus knew that it was a special act of G-d, since the like never happened before. [The plague] that occurred in the days of Joel was likewise a special act of G-d, [and hence Scripture also describes it by saying, There hath never been the like].³⁷Joel 2:2.

ואחריו לא יהיה כן, “and after it there will never be its equal.” The plague of locusts during the life of the prophet Joel could not be compared with the plague in Egypt, as the latter comprised a single species of locusts, whereas in Israel at the time of Joel there were a number of different species of locusts combining to make the experience so memorable. (compare Rashi) Nachmanides questions the above, quoting Psalms 78,46: “He gave their crops over to the grubs, their produce to the locusts.” He also quotes another verse in Psalms 105,34 “Locusts came at His command, grasshoppers without number.” According to both these verses there were more than one species of locusts that invaded Egypt during the plague described in our chapter. Perhaps, in order to reconcile the apparently conflicting statement by Rashi with the verses mentioned fro the Book of Psalms, Rashi meant to say that the species of locusts which invaded Egypt in our chapter was a much larger one than people had ever become familiar with, whereas the species that appeared in the time of Joel were larger than the several species which became manifest in the days of Moses. This attempt to resolve the problem is futile, as there is no question that when the Torah in our chapter discusses the uniqueness of this plague of locusts it means that neither prior to that time nor afterwards did such a plague ever again occur on such a scale. Rabbeinu Chananel, on this verse, writes first of all, that the Torah means that such a plague of locusts, which had been predicted by a prophet, never occurred again. The invasion of the land of Israel in the time of the prophet Joel had not been announced beforehand by a prophet. Furthermore, ever since the prayer of Moses to have the plague of locusts removed, Egypt was never again plagued by locusts. [My edition of Rabbeinu Chananel does not contain such a statement, Ed.] At any rate, Rabbeinu Chananel feels that just as Joshua requested the miracle of the sun and moon being arrested in their orbits until he had mopped up the opposing armies, Moses predicted the miracle of the plague of locusts, and he did not even have to request it.] It is possible to understand the plain meaning of our text differently. Just because a plague of locusts was something quite common in those regions in those times, and moreover, seeing that the one which occurred during the reign of Pharaoh, was orchestrated by a completely natural event, namely a strong east wind blowing, it was necessary for the Torah, i.e. in this instance Moses, to mention the fact that it would occur, to point out when and how it would occur, and that it would be disproportionately severe in the damage it would cause, so much so that it would be more severe than anything like it ever, before or after. This would bring home to the victims that this was not a natural disaster but a punitive act by the Creator.

The likes of which never had been and never would be. Ramban and Re”m explain Rashi at length, but I say that Rashi’s own words elsewhere explain his intention. Rashi says on Sefer Yoel (2:2): “But the species of Arbeh on its own was not like that of Egypt.” This supports Re”m who said that the Arbeh of Moshe was greater than the Arbeh of Yoel, while the plague of Yoel was greater because of the multiple species it included. (Nachalas Yaakov) Some object and say that also the plague of Moshe had three species, as it is written (Tehillim 78:46) “Arbeh, Chasil,” and (105:34) “Yelek.” We could answer that the multiple terms in Tehillim are only for rhetorical purpose [while in truth there was just Arbeh]. Similarly [we find multiple terms used rhetorically]: “He killed with hail their vineyards, and their sycamores with hail-stones” (ibid. 78:47). And likewise, “He trapped their cattle by the hail, their herds by the plague.”(ibid. v. 48)

ואחריו לא יהיה כן. At the command of a prophet. [this answers the question raised in connection with the prophet Yoel describing an unprecedented plague of locust. [That plague had been a natural disaster, had not been predicted by a prophet. Ed.] The expression describing the unique nature and quality of this phenomenon is similar to the Book of Kings II 18,5 describing the unparalleled faith in the Lord by the King Chiskiyah. The meaning there is that whereas Chizkiyah’s faith in the Lord was unparalleled, his fear of the Lord was matched by other people. Similarly, we are told in Joshua 10,14 that G’d’s responses to Joshua’s requests was unparalleled, so that even the sun was made to arrest its orbit as his request. However, G’d had done the same thing for the sake of Moses at his time, as well as for Nakdimon ben Gurion, the difference being that Moses did not even have to ask for it. (compare Taanit 20)

V. 14. כן — כמהו, es ist zweifelhaft, worauf sich diese doppelte Vergleichung bezieht. Es scheint כן auf die Art des Kommens, die Massenhaftigkeit usw. כמהו auf die Art der Gattung zu gehen. Vielleicht war es eine Sammlung der verschiedensten Arten. Ps. 78, 46, 47 werden חנמל ,ארבה ,חסיל genannt.

ואחריו, “and after it (there will never again be a plague of locust of such dimensions.)”. When describing a similar plague in the Book of Yoel,2,2, the prophet stated s that never again had there been a plague of locusts of such dimensions, nor would there ever be again. Apparently there are many different strains of locusts, and the statements by both the Torah and the Book of Yoel do not refer to the same strain. Even so, we are puzzled by a statement in Psalms 78,46, as well as 105,34-35 as the same strains of locusts are mentioned. Possibly, in the days of Moses all the different strains of locusts combined to invade that country at the same time. [A week before writing these lines, the land of Israel was invaded by a plague of locusts originating in Egypt and was repelled by spraying poison from airplanes. Our farmers had been very concerned. Ed.] The references in Yoel apparently must have referred to one specific strain that invaded the land of Israel at that time in such intensity. The Torah treated the strain known as ארבה and that of ילק as distinct species. [This makes sense as some kinds of “locusts,” are permitted to us as food, whereas other kinds are not. Ed.]

ואחריו לא יהיה כן, “and there will never be a plague of locusts kike this;” according to Rashi, the meaning is “a single type of locust.” Seeing that the Bible records other plagues of locusts at least as severe, (Psalms 105,34, Yoel 1,4), and Rashi was surely aware of this, we must understand the words of Rashi as referring to a single species of locusts at the same time.