Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Keluaran 5:15

AND THEY WERE SORE AFRAID; AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL CRIED OUT UNTO THE ETERNAL. 11. AND THEY SAID UNTO MOSES: ‘BECAUSE WERE THERE NO GRAVES IN EGYPT, HAST THOU TAKEN US TO DIE IN THE WILDERNESS’? It does not appear logical that people who are crying out to G-d to help them, should at the same time protest against the deliverance He performed for them, and say that it would have been better if He had not saved them! The correct interpretation therefore is that there were conflicting groups,³²As stated in the Mechilta here on Verse 13: “The Israelites at the Red Sea were divided into four groups, etc.” In Rabbeinu Bachya’s rendition of this text of Ramban, it clearly reads: “Therefore we can rely upon the words of our Rabbis who say that these verses represent different groups” (Bachya’s Commentary on the Torah, Vol. II, p. 113, in my edition). Ramban, however, following the plain meaning of Scripture here, does not describe them as four groups but merely as ‘conflicting groups’ without enumeration. and Scripture relates what all of them did. Thus it narrates that one group cried to G-d [for help], and another denied His prophet and did not acknowledge the deliverance done for them. They said it would have been better for them had He not saved them. It is with reference to this group that it is written, They were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.³³Psalms 106:7. This is why Scripture here repeats in the same verse the term, the children of Israel, [saying: and ‘the children of Israel’ lifted up their eyes…] and ‘the children of Israel’ cried out unto the Eternal. It thus indicates that it was the better ones among the people that cried out to G-d; the remainder rebelled against His word. This is why Scripture says afterward, And the people feared the Eternal; and they believed in the Eternal, and in His servant Moses.³⁴Further, Verse 31. It does not say “and Israel feared the Eternal, and they believed,” but it says instead “the people,” for the term the children of Israel signifies the outstanding ones, while the people is a name for the multitude. Similarly, the verse, And the people murmured,³⁵Ibid., 15:24. [clearly indicates the usage of the term people in Scripture]. Our Rabbis have also mentioned it:³⁶Bamidbar Rabbah 20:22. “And the people began to commit harlotry.³⁷Numbers 25:1. Wherever it says the people, it is an expression of reproach, and wherever it says Israel, it is one of praise.”
Now the people did not say, “you have taken us away to die in war,” but [they said], hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness, and again they said, that we should die in the wilderness.³⁸Verse 12. This was due to the fact that long before they feared war,³⁹The Tur renders this passage thus thus: “They said that even if they would not experience any war, they did not want to go out to the desert.” they already did not want to go out to the desert lest they die there from hunger and thirst.
It is possible that they said so to Moses upon their going forth from the country while they were still in the land of Egypt, when G-d led them about by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea.⁴⁰Above, 13:18. Perhaps they said so to Moses at the beginning: “Where shall we go? If by the way of the Philistines, they will war against us, and if by the way of the wilderness, better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”⁴¹Verse 12.
It is also possible to say that the people did believe in G-d and prayed to Him to save them, but a doubt entered their hearts concerning Moses lest he took them out of Egypt in order to rule over them. Although they had seen the signs and wonders he did, they thought that he did them through some manner of wisdom. Perhaps G-d brought the plagues upon the Egyptians on account of their wickedness, [but not necessarily for the purpose of redemption of Israel, and Moses took them out of Egypt just to rule over them], for if G-d had desired their going out, Pharaoh would not have pursued after them.
And Onkelos here translated vayitz’aku (and they cried out) as uz’aku,⁴²Elsewhere Onkelos translates it v’tzalu (and they prayed). See Deuteronomy 26:7, vanitz’ak, which Onkelos renders v’tzaleinu (and we prayed). The word uz’aku, on the other hand, means “complaint,” as is explained in the text. thus making its purport to be “complaint,” meaning that they did not pray to G-d but that they complained to Him for having taken them out of Egypt. It is similar in usage to that in the verse, ‘vayitz’aku’ unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?⁴³Above, 5:15. [which does not mean “and they prayed,” but that they complained.] Similarly, Then there was a great ‘tza’akath’ of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews,⁴⁴Nehemiah 5:1. which means they were complaining against them with a great voice and outcry.
In the Mechilta we find;⁴⁵Mechilta on the verse before us. “They seized upon the occupation of their fathers, [i.e., at first they conducted themselves properly in that they prayed to G-d as their fathers had done]. And they said unto Moses: ‘Because were there no graves, etc.?’ After ‘they had added leaven into the dough,’⁴⁶Ramban will explain further on that this is a euphemism for the yeitzer hara (the evil inclination). In other words, after doubts had entered their minds and excitement was stirred up, they came to Moses and said to him, etc. they came to Moses and said to him, Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, etc.?”⁴¹Verse 12. The “leaven in the dough” is a reference to the evil inclination. Thus the Sages in the Mechilta intended to say that at first the people prayed to G-d to instill in Pharaoh’s heart the desire to turn back from pursuing them. However, when they saw that he was not turning back but instead was marching and drawing near them, they said, “Our prayers have not been accepted,” and an evil thought entered their hearts to find fault with Moses as they had previously done.

WHEREFORE HAST THOU DEALT ILL WITH THIS PEOPLE? [It should be asked]: After G-d twice informed³⁴¹Above, 3:19 and 4:21. Moses that the king of Egypt would not let them go, why did he complain? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that Moses had thought that from the moment he would speak to Pharaoh in the name of G-d, he would ease the burden from upon the children of Israel, and that G-d would begin to redeem them, but Pharaoh hardened and increased their woes. This is the sense of the expression, Wherefore has Thou dealt ill…? “It is the opposite of what Thou hast told me, i.e., I have surely seen the affliction of My people.³⁴²Ibid., 3:7. And I am come down to deliver them.”³⁴³Ibid., Verse 8. But this [explanation of Ibn Ezra] does not appear to me to be correct because [Moses said], Neither hast Thou delivered Thy people at all,³⁴⁴Verse 23. and “delivery” means only their going forth from exile.³⁴⁵How then could Ibn Ezra explain that Moses’ primary complaint was that he had thought G-d would merely ease their burden?
In my opinion, Moses our teacher thought G-d had told him that Pharaoh would not let them go immediately at his command, nor by sign and wonder until He would perform His many wonders among them. But Moses thought that G-d would bring them upon Pharaoh in uninterrupted succession in a few days. When Pharaoh said, I know not the Eternal,³⁴⁶Above, Verse 2. He would immediately command him to execute the sign of the serpent before the king, and [if] the king would still not listen, He would smite him on that very day with the plague of blood, followed by all the rest of the plagues. But when Moses saw that three days passed and the king increased their woes every day and G-d did not rebuke him, nor did He reveal Himself to Moses to inform him what he should do, then Moses thought that [the captivity] is a long one.³⁴⁷See Jeremiah 29:28.
It is possible that there was a long period of time to this story recounted here by Scripture. When the officers of the children of Israel were beaten,³⁴⁸Verse 14. days passed until they spoke to Pharaoh himself, saying to him, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?³⁴⁹Verse 15. It is not every person that has a right to come into the inner chambers of the king’s palace and speak to him face to face, and all the more the officers of those people abhorrent to him. Thus they suffered in their burden and oppression many days, and they would come even before the king’s gate³⁵⁰Esther 4:2. until their outcry was heard before the king and he commanded that they come before him and speak with him. It is likewise possible that Moses returned to the Eternal and said, Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill…, many days after the officers of the children of Israel met him.³⁵¹Verse 20.
The Rabbis have said in V’eileh Shemoth Rabbah:³⁵²Shemoth Rabbah 5:23. “And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh: I will not give you straw.³⁵³Verse 10. When this was decreed by Pharaoh, Moses went to Midian and stayed there six months while Aaron remained in Egypt. At that time, Moses took his wife and sons back to Midian.” The Rabbis have furthermore said:³⁵⁴Shemoth Rabbah 5:24. “And they met Moses and Aaron.³⁵¹Verse 20. After six months, the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses in Midian and said to him, Go, return unto Egypt.³⁵⁵Above, 4:19. Moses then came from Midian, and Aaron from Egypt, when they were met by the officers of Israel as they came forth from Pharaoh.” I have furthermore seen a similar [tradition] in Midrash Chazit:³⁵⁶Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2:22. See Note 317 above. “My beloved is like a gazelle.³⁵⁷Song of Songs 2:9. Just as a gazelle appears [and hides] and reappears, so did the first redeemer, [i.e., Moses], appear to the children of Israel, then he disappeared, and then he appeared to them again. For how long was he away from them? Rabbi Tanchuma said three months. It is this which Scripture says, And they met Moses and Aaron.³⁵¹Verse 20. And Rabbi Yehudah Beribi³⁵⁸In the Midrash above: “Yehudah B’rabbi.” In the Hebrew text of Ramban: “And Rabbi Yehudah Br’.” But see Hyman’s Toldoth Tannaim V’amoraim that the correct reading is: “Rabbi Yehudah Beribi” or “Yudan Beribi”. said that [he was away from them] for periods of time.” That is to say, the word “meeting” — [and they ‘met’ Moses and Aaron] — indicates periods of time.
Thus many days passed between G-d’s speaking to Moses and Moses’ coming to Pharaoh. Therefore when Moses returned to G-d he said, “Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with this people, hurrying to send me before the time [of redemption] had come? It was not fitting to send me until You wanted to deliver them, but now You have dealt ill with them and You have not delivered them. And if You deal thus with them, they will perish in the affliction that will come upon them.” Therefore G-d answered Moses at this time: “Soon shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh,³⁵⁹Further, 6:1. for I will not prolong it for him to the extent that you thought, and his time is near to come, and his days shall not be prolonged.”³⁶⁰See Isaiah 13:22.
Va’eira

The word befall, ending in a tav, is the third person feminine singular of a lamed-’alef verb, as in “it is your nation who has sinned” [Exodus 5: 16], as I have there explained [comment on Exodus 5: 16].