כִּ֣י ׀ בַּפַּ֣עַם הַזֹּ֗את אֲנִ֨י שֹׁלֵ֜חַ אֶת־כָּל־מַגֵּפֹתַי֙ אֶֽל־לִבְּךָ֔ וּבַעֲבָדֶ֖יךָ וּבְעַמֶּ֑ךָ בַּעֲב֣וּר תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין כָּמֹ֖נִי בְּכָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Sebab kali ini Aku akan mengirimkan segala tulah-Ku ke dalam hatimu, kepada para pegawaimu, dan kepada rakyatmu, supaya engkau mengetahui bahwa tidak ada yang seperti Aku di seluruh bumi.
Shemot Rabbah
“The Lord said to Moses: Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, and they will serve Me. For this time, I will send all My plagues against your heart and upon your servants and against your people, so that you will know that there is none like Me on the entire earth” (Exodus 9:13-14).
“The Lord said to Moses: Rise early in the morning” – that is what is written: “Behold [hen], God is exalted in His power, who teaches like Him?” (Job 36:22). Rabbi Berekhya said: Hen means one, as in the Greek language, one is called hen. In other words, our God is one. “Exalted in his power” – He increases the strength of the righteous to perform His will. And “who teaches like Him?” – as He teaches the path of repentance. So you find with Moses, whom the Holy One blessed be He strengthened to go on His mission and perform His commands. He taught the wicked Pharaoh to repent because He did not want to send the plague until he forewarns him to [allow him to] repent, as it is written: “Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh.” He would give Moses strength to rise early and stand before Pharaoh, and he taught the wicked Pharaoh about the path of repentance, as it is written: “And say to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews…. For this time…”
“Why isn’t it stated here “behold, he is going out to the water” (Exodus 8:16)?1This was the previous place where Moses was instructed to “rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh.” Once Pharaoh saw that when he would go out to the water, Moses would precede him on the path, he refrained and did not go out, so that Moses would not encounter him. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Go to him early, before he leaves his house.
“For I could have now extended My hand and afflicted you and your people with pestilence, and you would be eliminated from the earth” (Exodus 9:15).
“For this time (Exodus 9:14)…For I could have now extended My hand…” The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Woe, wicked one, do you believe that I am unable to eradicate you from the world? Learn from the plague of pestilence. When I sent that pestilence, had I sent it upon you and on your people, you would have been eradicated from the land. However, I only sent it upon you in order to show you the power of My might, and so that you would tell of My strength throughout the land.’ That is what is written: “However, for this I have sustained you [in order to show you My power, and so that My renown will be told of throughout the earth]” (Exodus 9:16).
“You continue to oppress My people, not letting them go” (Exodus 9:17).
“You continue to oppress [mistolel]2The word mistolel is obscure. The midrash understands it to be derived from the root s-l-l, and thus it means literally to cause to be crushed, i.e., in the manner that a road is levelled. Others understand it to be derived from the root s-l-s-l, with mistolel therefore meaning “exalt oneself.” My people.” He would make them like a road [mesila] on which everyone treads, as you say: “…who said to your soul: Bow down, so we may pass, and set down your body like the ground” (Isaiah 51:23).
“The Lord said to Moses: Rise early in the morning” – that is what is written: “Behold [hen], God is exalted in His power, who teaches like Him?” (Job 36:22). Rabbi Berekhya said: Hen means one, as in the Greek language, one is called hen. In other words, our God is one. “Exalted in his power” – He increases the strength of the righteous to perform His will. And “who teaches like Him?” – as He teaches the path of repentance. So you find with Moses, whom the Holy One blessed be He strengthened to go on His mission and perform His commands. He taught the wicked Pharaoh to repent because He did not want to send the plague until he forewarns him to [allow him to] repent, as it is written: “Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh.” He would give Moses strength to rise early and stand before Pharaoh, and he taught the wicked Pharaoh about the path of repentance, as it is written: “And say to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews…. For this time…”
“Why isn’t it stated here “behold, he is going out to the water” (Exodus 8:16)?1This was the previous place where Moses was instructed to “rise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh.” Once Pharaoh saw that when he would go out to the water, Moses would precede him on the path, he refrained and did not go out, so that Moses would not encounter him. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Go to him early, before he leaves his house.
“For I could have now extended My hand and afflicted you and your people with pestilence, and you would be eliminated from the earth” (Exodus 9:15).
“For this time (Exodus 9:14)…For I could have now extended My hand…” The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Woe, wicked one, do you believe that I am unable to eradicate you from the world? Learn from the plague of pestilence. When I sent that pestilence, had I sent it upon you and on your people, you would have been eradicated from the land. However, I only sent it upon you in order to show you the power of My might, and so that you would tell of My strength throughout the land.’ That is what is written: “However, for this I have sustained you [in order to show you My power, and so that My renown will be told of throughout the earth]” (Exodus 9:16).
“You continue to oppress My people, not letting them go” (Exodus 9:17).
“You continue to oppress [mistolel]2The word mistolel is obscure. The midrash understands it to be derived from the root s-l-l, and thus it means literally to cause to be crushed, i.e., in the manner that a road is levelled. Others understand it to be derived from the root s-l-s-l, with mistolel therefore meaning “exalt oneself.” My people.” He would make them like a road [mesila] on which everyone treads, as you say: “…who said to your soul: Bow down, so we may pass, and set down your body like the ground” (Isaiah 51:23).
Midrash Tanchuma
And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the morning? Because the wicked one boasted that since he was a god, he had no need to go to the water to relieve himself. Therefore he went out early in the morning so that no one would see him performing a demeaning act. That is why the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Rise up early in the morning, when he must (go out), and say unto him: Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews … for I will this time send all My plagues upon thy person, etc. (Exod. 9:14). Ordinarily, when a man desires to harm his enemy, he does so unexpectedly lest he be forewarned, but the Holy One, blessed be He, warned the wicked Pharaoh before each plague, as it is said: Behold, I will cause it to rain (ibid., v. 18), Behold, tomorrow will I bring locusts into thy border (ibid. 10:5). And He did so in each instance.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Exod. 9:13–14:) THEN THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: GO EARLY IN THE MORNING TO PRESENT YOURSELF BEFORE PHARAOH; <AND SAY UNTO HIM: THUS SAYS THE LORD,>… < LET MY PEOPLE GO TO WORSHIP ME.> FOR THIS TIME <I WILL SEND ALL MY PLAGUES UPON YOUR HEART>….89There is some confusion whether this section began with 8:16 or 9:13. The verses are almost identical. See Jacob Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue, Vol. I (Ktav, 1971), pp. 396–398. This text is related (to Ps. 9:21 [20]): PUT MORAH INTO THEM, O LORD; <LET THE NATIONS KNOW THAT THEY ARE ONLY HUMAN. SELAH>. Turn their faces red. What is the meaning of MORAH? He caused the spirit of folly to enter them.90The midrash understands MORAH as coming from the Greek moros, which does mean fool. In Hebrew MORAH usually means “teaching authority”, “fear,” or “razor.” Another interpretation (of Ps. 9:21 [20]): PUT MORAH INTO THEM, O LORD. Because they are acquiring lordship (mariyyut) for themselves, make known to them that you are Lord (Adon) over all of them. PUT MORAH INTO THEM, O LORD; LET THE NATIONS KNOW THAT THEY ARE ONLY HUMAN.91The Hebrew wording here differs slightly from the Masoretic Text, perhaps to bring out its meaning more clearly. Now they were making themselves into deities. Hiram king of Tyre made himself into a deity, as stated (in Ezek. 28:2): BECAUSE YOUR HEART IS PROUD, YOU HAVE SAID: I AM A GOD.92Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Shirata 1; Gen. R. 9:5; 96:5; Exod. R. 8:2. The Holy One informed him that he was mortal, as stated (in Ezek. 28:17): I HAVE CAST YOU UNTO THE GROUND; I HAVE SET YOU BEFORE KINGS FOR THEM TO STARE AT YOU. The Holy One informed him that he was flesh and blood. Ergo (in Ps. 9:21 [20]): LET THE NATIONS KNOW THAT THEY ARE ONLY HUMAN. SELAH.