וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י אֹתֹתַ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃
Yang Mahakekal berfirman kepada Musa, “Pergilah menghadap Firaun, sebab Aku telah mengeraskan hatinya dan hati para pegawainya, supaya Aku dapat menempatkan tanda-tanda-Ku ini di tengah-tengahnya,
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Exod. 10:21:) THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND TOWARD THE HEAVENS <THAT THERE MAY BE DARKNESS OVER THE LAND OF EGYPT>….1Note that both Tanhumas seem to omit the beginning section (Exod. 10:1–20) of parashah Bo. The missing passage seems to include a whole parashah of the so-called triennial cycle. This text is related (to Ps. 105:28): HE SENT DARKNESS, AND IT BECAME DARK; [FOR THEY DID NOT DEFY (maru) HIS WORD]. The darkness which the Holy One sent upon Egypt was very severe. R. Aha said: <It was> because they did not accept the {regulations middotaw} [authority (marut)] of the Holy One over themselves.2By interpreting the verb maru as coming from the same root as the word for authority, R. Aha has interpreted the second part of Ps. 105:28 to mean: FOR THEY DID NOT ACCEPT THE AUTHORITY OF HIS WORD. Similarly Tanh., Exod. 3:1; Exod. R. 14:1; M. Pss. 105:9. Our Masters have said: What is the meaning of THEY DID NOT DEFY (MRH) HIS WORD? <It is> in reference to their having disregarded (rt.: MRH) the word of the Holy One. The Holy One said to the ministering angels: The Egyptians deserved to be smitten with darkness. Immediately they agreed and said: Yes. Not one of them rebelled (rt.: MRH) against the Holy One. (Ps. 105:28b:) THEY DID NOT DEFY (MRH) HIS WORD. (Vs. 28a:) HE SENT DARKNESS, AND IT BECAME DARK. To what is the matter comparable? To a king whose servant sinned against him. So he said to someone: Go and give him fifty lashes. He went and gave him a hundred. Thus he increased <the punishment > on his own. So did the Holy One send darkness over Egypt, and the darkness increased. (Ibid.:) HE SENT DARKNESS, AND IT BECAME <even more> DARK.
Shemot Rabbah
“The Lord said to Moses: Come to Pharaoh, as I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, in order to place these signs of Mine in their midst” (Exodus 10:1).
“The Lord said to Moses: Come to Pharaoh” – that is what is written: “The heft of a stone and the weight of sand, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both” (Proverbs 27:3). Avnimos the weaver asked our Rabbis, of blessed memory; he said to them: ‘The earth, how was it created initially?’ They said to him: ‘No one is expert in these matters, but go to Abba Yosef the builder.’ He went and found him standing on scaffolding. He said to him: ‘I have a question to ask you.’ He said to him: ‘I cannot descend because I am a day laborer,1And my time is not my own. but ask what you want to ask.’ He asked: ‘How was the earth created initially?’ He said to him: ‘The Holy One blessed be He took dirt from beneath the Throne of Glory and cast it on the water, and it became earth. The small pebbles that were in the dirt became mountains and hills, as it is stated: “When the dirt turns into a mass, and the clods cleave together”’ (Job 38:38).
This is clear in the ears of people,2It is readily understood. as it is stated: “The heft of a stone and the weight of sand.” What is “the heft of a stone”? One who sees the mountains and the hills, does he not say: How did the Holy One blessed be He create these? What is “the weight of sand”? The sand upon which the water stands from above, and it is under it and bears it. The Holy One blessed be He says: It appears heavy in the eyes of people, and they view it as though it is wearying for Me, but it is not wearying, as it is stated: “He does not tire and does not weary” (Isaiah 40:28). What wearies Me? One who angers me with idle chatter, as it is stated: “You wearied the Lord with your words” (Malachi 2:17). That is “but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.”
Another interpretation: “The heft [koved] of a stone” – the Holy One blessed be He said: I honored [kibadti] Israel, who are called stone, as it is stated: “From the Shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24). “The weight [netel] of sand” – this is Israel, who were analogized to sand, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea” (Hosea 2:1), and I have elevated them in the world, and I said: One who touches them touches the pupil of his eye.3Based on the verse in Zechariah (2:12): “One who touches you touches the pupil of his eye.” Rabbi Yehoshua says: It is a textual emendation; “My eye” is written.4The verse means to say: “One who touches you touches the pupil of My eye,” but out of respect for God, the verse was phrased “his eye.” They arose and angered Me and I sought to eliminate them and to cast them from before Me, but I said [I will not destroy them,] so that Pharaoh the wicked will not say: He was unable to deliver them so he stood against them and killed them. That is “but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.” That is “as I have hardened his heart.”
“The Lord said to Moses: Come to Pharaoh” – that is what is written: “The heft of a stone and the weight of sand, but the anger of a fool is heavier than both” (Proverbs 27:3). Avnimos the weaver asked our Rabbis, of blessed memory; he said to them: ‘The earth, how was it created initially?’ They said to him: ‘No one is expert in these matters, but go to Abba Yosef the builder.’ He went and found him standing on scaffolding. He said to him: ‘I have a question to ask you.’ He said to him: ‘I cannot descend because I am a day laborer,1And my time is not my own. but ask what you want to ask.’ He asked: ‘How was the earth created initially?’ He said to him: ‘The Holy One blessed be He took dirt from beneath the Throne of Glory and cast it on the water, and it became earth. The small pebbles that were in the dirt became mountains and hills, as it is stated: “When the dirt turns into a mass, and the clods cleave together”’ (Job 38:38).
This is clear in the ears of people,2It is readily understood. as it is stated: “The heft of a stone and the weight of sand.” What is “the heft of a stone”? One who sees the mountains and the hills, does he not say: How did the Holy One blessed be He create these? What is “the weight of sand”? The sand upon which the water stands from above, and it is under it and bears it. The Holy One blessed be He says: It appears heavy in the eyes of people, and they view it as though it is wearying for Me, but it is not wearying, as it is stated: “He does not tire and does not weary” (Isaiah 40:28). What wearies Me? One who angers me with idle chatter, as it is stated: “You wearied the Lord with your words” (Malachi 2:17). That is “but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.”
Another interpretation: “The heft [koved] of a stone” – the Holy One blessed be He said: I honored [kibadti] Israel, who are called stone, as it is stated: “From the Shepherd of the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24). “The weight [netel] of sand” – this is Israel, who were analogized to sand, as it is stated: “The number of the children of Israel will be like the sand of the sea” (Hosea 2:1), and I have elevated them in the world, and I said: One who touches them touches the pupil of his eye.3Based on the verse in Zechariah (2:12): “One who touches you touches the pupil of his eye.” Rabbi Yehoshua says: It is a textual emendation; “My eye” is written.4The verse means to say: “One who touches you touches the pupil of My eye,” but out of respect for God, the verse was phrased “his eye.” They arose and angered Me and I sought to eliminate them and to cast them from before Me, but I said [I will not destroy them,] so that Pharaoh the wicked will not say: He was unable to deliver them so he stood against them and killed them. That is “but the anger of a fool is heavier than both.” That is “as I have hardened his heart.”
Shemot Rabbah
Another interpretation: “As I have hardened his heart” – that is what is written: “I said I will eliminate them [afeihem]” (Deuteronomy 32:26). What is afeihem? I said in my wrath [be’api]: Where are they [ayeh hem]? Alternatively: Afeihem – I said in My wrath [be’af] that they angered Me: Where are they [ayeh hem]? They will be nothing other than: “I will cease their memory from man” (Deuteronomy 32:26). Who caused them to emerge from there? “Were it not that I dreaded the enemy's provocation” (Deuteronomy 32:27).