הִנֵּ֨ה אֲדֹנָ֤י יְהוִה֙ בְּחָזָ֣ק יָב֔וֹא וּזְרֹע֖וֹ מֹ֣שְׁלָה ל֑וֹ הִנֵּ֤ה שְׂכָרוֹ֙ אִתּ֔וֹ וּפְעֻלָּת֖וֹ לְפָנָֽיו׃
Sesungguhnya, Tuhan Yang Mahakekal datang dengan kekuatan, dan lengan-Nya berkuasa bagi-Nya. Sesungguhnya, upah-Nya ada pada-Nya, dan balasan-Nya ada di hadapan-Nya.
Shemot Rabbah
“When Pharaoh will speak to you, saying: Provide a wonder for you; then you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff, and cast it before Pharaoh, it will become a serpent” (Exodus 7:9).
“When Pharaoh will speak to you” – Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama began: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times matters that have not been done; saying: My counsel will stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:10) – the Holy One blessed be He declares at the beginning what will be at the end, as He says to Moses: “This people will rise, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land” (Deuteronomy 31:16), which they were destined to do after the death of Joshua: “And they will forsake Me, and breach My covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:16); “they forsook the Lord and did not worship Him” (Judges 10:6). That is “declaring the end from the beginning.”
Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama said: Anyone who reads this verse thinks that perhaps there is a dispute on High, as He says: “My counsel will stand [and all My desire I will do].” What is “and all My desire I will do”? It is that He desires to vindicate His creations, as it is stated: “The Lord desires for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21), and does not seek to condemn any creature, as it is stated: “I have no desire in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked repent from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Therefore, it is stated: “And all My desire I will do.” Likewise you find that the Holy One blessed be He told Moses the end from the beginning; it is not written: If Pharaoh will speak to you, but rather, “when [Pharaoh] will speak”; he is destined to say this to you.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: He is speaking appropriately: “Provide a wonder for you.” Likewise, you find with Noah, after all the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He performed for him in the ark, and He took him out of it, He said to him: “And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15). [Noah] began asking for a sign,1That there would never again be a flood. until the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have set My rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13); if the righteous Noah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Likewise, you find with Hezekiah, when Isaiah came and said to him: “So says the Lord…I will heal you; on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord” (II Kings 20:5), he began asking for a sign, as it is stated: “Hezekiah said…what is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” (II Kings 20:8). If the righteous Hezekiah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, when they descended into the fiery furnace, they descended only with a sign. How so? “Not to us, Lord, not to us” (Psalms 115:1), said Ḥananya. “To Your name give glory” (Psalms 115:1), said Mishael. “For Your kindness and for Your truth” (Psalms 115:1), said Azarya. Gabriel was answering after them: “Why should the nations say: Where [now is their God?]” (Psalms 115:2). Once this became fluent in their mouths all night, they took that as a sign and descended.2They took as a sign the fact that their prayer was fluent in their mouths. See Berakhot 34b.
If you cannot learn it from here, learn it from another source, as it is written: “Hear now, Yehoshua the High Priest, you and your counterparts who sit before you; as they are men of a sign” (Zechariah 3:8). Who were they? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: They were Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, for whom this sign was performed.3The reference is to the sign that they received before descending into the furnace. If the righteous seek a sign, all the more so, the wicked [Pharaoh would].
“When Pharaoh will speak to you” – Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama began: “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times matters that have not been done; saying: My counsel will stand, and all My desire I will do” (Isaiah 46:10) – the Holy One blessed be He declares at the beginning what will be at the end, as He says to Moses: “This people will rise, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land” (Deuteronomy 31:16), which they were destined to do after the death of Joshua: “And they will forsake Me, and breach My covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:16); “they forsook the Lord and did not worship Him” (Judges 10:6). That is “declaring the end from the beginning.”
Rabbi Pinḥas HaKohen bar Ḥama said: Anyone who reads this verse thinks that perhaps there is a dispute on High, as He says: “My counsel will stand [and all My desire I will do].” What is “and all My desire I will do”? It is that He desires to vindicate His creations, as it is stated: “The Lord desires for the sake of His righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious” (Isaiah 42:21), and does not seek to condemn any creature, as it is stated: “I have no desire in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked repent from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). Therefore, it is stated: “And all My desire I will do.” Likewise you find that the Holy One blessed be He told Moses the end from the beginning; it is not written: If Pharaoh will speak to you, but rather, “when [Pharaoh] will speak”; he is destined to say this to you.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: He is speaking appropriately: “Provide a wonder for you.” Likewise, you find with Noah, after all the miracles that the Holy One blessed be He performed for him in the ark, and He took him out of it, He said to him: “And the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:15). [Noah] began asking for a sign,1That there would never again be a flood. until the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “I have set My rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:13); if the righteous Noah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Likewise, you find with Hezekiah, when Isaiah came and said to him: “So says the Lord…I will heal you; on the third day you will go up to the house of the Lord” (II Kings 20:5), he began asking for a sign, as it is stated: “Hezekiah said…what is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the house of the Lord on the third day?” (II Kings 20:8). If the righteous Hezekiah asked for a sign, all the more so, the wicked Pharaoh [would].
Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, when they descended into the fiery furnace, they descended only with a sign. How so? “Not to us, Lord, not to us” (Psalms 115:1), said Ḥananya. “To Your name give glory” (Psalms 115:1), said Mishael. “For Your kindness and for Your truth” (Psalms 115:1), said Azarya. Gabriel was answering after them: “Why should the nations say: Where [now is their God?]” (Psalms 115:2). Once this became fluent in their mouths all night, they took that as a sign and descended.2They took as a sign the fact that their prayer was fluent in their mouths. See Berakhot 34b.
If you cannot learn it from here, learn it from another source, as it is written: “Hear now, Yehoshua the High Priest, you and your counterparts who sit before you; as they are men of a sign” (Zechariah 3:8). Who were they? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: They were Ḥananya, Mishael, and Azarya, for whom this sign was performed.3The reference is to the sign that they received before descending into the furnace. If the righteous seek a sign, all the more so, the wicked [Pharaoh would].
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
Another interpretation (of Gen. 8:1): AND GOD CAUSED A WIND TO PASS OVER THE EARTH, AND THE WATERS SUBSIDED. They SUBSIDED in that the Holy One cooled his anger, [in the same way] that it is stated (in Esth. 7:10): AND THE ANGER OF THE KING SUBSIDED. And so he is going to do when he exacts retribution from the wicked and eradicates them from the world; however, he is creating the righteous as a new creation and setting within them a spirit, of which it is stated (in Ezek. 37:14): AND I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU SO THAT YOU SHALL LIVE. David said (in Ps. 104:29): WHEN YOU HIDE YOUR FACE, {O LORD,} THEY ARE TERRIFIED; < WHEN YOU TAKE AWAY THEIR SPIRIT, THEY PERISH AND RETURN UNTO THEIR DUST >. These are the wicked; but in regard to the righteous (according to Ps. 104:30): WHEN YOU SEND FORTH YOUR SPIRIT, THEY ARE CREATED. The Holy One said: In this world I exacted retribution from the wicked because they rebelled against me and I eradicated them from the world; but for Noah, his children, [and his descendants] I have done a good deed. Also, in the world to come I am exacting retribution from the wicked and doing a good deed for the righteous, for so has Isaiah stated (in Is. 40:10): BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD COMES IN MIGHT…. These < words > concern the nations of the world. For the righteous, however, (these words of ibid., cont. apply): BEHOLD HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM AND HIS RECOMPENSE BEFORE HIM.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Exod. 34:29:) AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT, WHEN MOSES CAME DOWN… FROM THE MOUNTAIN, [MOSES DID NOT KNOW THAT THE SKIN OF HIS FACE WAS SHINING]. From where did Moses receive the rays of glory?91Tanh., Exod. 9:37. Our masters say: From the cave. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 33:22): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT WHEN MY GLORY PASSES BY, [I WILL PUT YOU IN A CLEFT OF THE ROCK]. R. Berekhyah said: From the tablets.92Cf. Deut. R. 3:12, which attributes this view to R. Samuel bar Nahman. R. <Berekhyah>93The name is supplied from Yalqut Shim’oni, Exod. 406. Cf. Tanh., Exod. 9:37, which attributes what follows to R. Samuel bar Nahman. said: Their length was six handbreadths, and their width was three handbreadths.94See ySheq. 6:1 (49d); BB 14a. Then Moses grasped two handbreadths, the Holy One grasped two handbreadths, and there was a space of two handbreadths in the middle. It was from there that Moses received the rays of glory. R. Judah bar Nehemiah says: While Moses was writing the Torah, a little <ink> remained on the pen.95Lat.: calamus (“reed,” “reed pen”). So he passed it over his head (to dry it on his hair), and it was from there that the rays of glory were produced for him. (Exod. 34:29:) MOSES DID NOT KNOW THAT <THE SKIN OF HIS FACE> WAS SHINING (QRN). All the glory that he received <came> as an < extra > reward, but the principal (QRN) remained in tact, as stated (in Hab. 3:4): {AND} RAYS <COMING> FROM HIS HAND. So when the righteous receive their reward in the world to come, he will <also> receive his reward. Where is it shown? Where the prophet has so declared, when he said (in Is. 40:10): BEHOLD, THE LORD GOD COMES IN MIGHT, AND HIS MIGHTY ARM RULES FOR HIM. BEHOLD, HIS REWARD IS WITH HIM, AND HIS RECOMPENSE BEFORE HIM.