כִּ֤י ר֣וּחַ עָֽבְרָה־בּ֣וֹ וְאֵינֶ֑נּוּ וְלֹא־יַכִּירֶ֖נּוּ ע֣וֹד מְקוֹמֽוֹ׃
Apabila angin bertiup melewatinya, lenyaplah ia, dan tempatnya tidak mengenalnya lagi.
Kli Yakar
A second way [of explaining] the continuation of these verses is, that “Elohim” only means Judge, and it is not yet explained in what judgment the Holy One, blessed be He, judged. Therefore, it seems to me that this judgment refers to the preceding verse where it says, Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Our Sages of blessed memory explained (Sanhedrin 111), “but not what will be done to the kings of the seven nations.” The word “kings” seems redundant because it could have simply said “not what will be done to the seven nations.” (And in Shemot Rabbah 5:23) it concludes “and you will not see what I will do in the war against the 31 kings.”
This is difficult: why do we need this count? Do we not already know that Israel fought against 31 kings? And there’s another difficulty: why does it say Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh — why do I need the word now? Although I explained the meaning of “now” at the end of Parshat Shemot, nevertheless there are additional divine interpretations to explain it in another way, namely:
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, I am the Lord who was, is, and will be. For all flesh and blood cannot be certain to fulfill their promises, since the spirit leaves him and he is gone and cannot fulfill his promise. Therefore, he must fulfill it immediately. And if not, then justifiably those who were promised complain about why the pronouncement of his word was not done quickly, for if not now, when? But I exist eternally, equally throughout all times, therefore the forefathers did not complain but waited and anticipated when the word of God would come, and they were confident that it would ultimately be fulfilled.
But you complained that My words were not fulfilled immediately, therefore all the more so you would complain about the wars against the 31 kings, because those wars would necessarily be prolonged, as it is written Joshua waged war with all those kings for a long time (Joshua 11:18). For Israel could not inherit all the land quickly lest the beasts of the field multiply against them, but rather [the seven nations] would be driven out gradually.
And because it is your way to complain when a promise is not fulfilled quickly, therefore I am penalizing you that justifiably you will not see the prolonged war against the 31 kings, except for the war against Pharaoh who is a single king, and you can see now — meaning immediately — what I will do to Pharaoh. Only that you will see. And the main exclusion comes from the word now meaning you will only see what is done immediately, but not something that will not be done now but only after many days, such as the war against 31 kings — that you will not see.
And this is what is meant by and My name, the Lord which indicates that I exist eternally and My promise will ultimately be fulfilled, but they did not yet know this, and they waited to see [the fulfillment of] My words as mentioned.
This is difficult: why do we need this count? Do we not already know that Israel fought against 31 kings? And there’s another difficulty: why does it say Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh — why do I need the word now? Although I explained the meaning of “now” at the end of Parshat Shemot, nevertheless there are additional divine interpretations to explain it in another way, namely:
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, I am the Lord who was, is, and will be. For all flesh and blood cannot be certain to fulfill their promises, since the spirit leaves him and he is gone and cannot fulfill his promise. Therefore, he must fulfill it immediately. And if not, then justifiably those who were promised complain about why the pronouncement of his word was not done quickly, for if not now, when? But I exist eternally, equally throughout all times, therefore the forefathers did not complain but waited and anticipated when the word of God would come, and they were confident that it would ultimately be fulfilled.
But you complained that My words were not fulfilled immediately, therefore all the more so you would complain about the wars against the 31 kings, because those wars would necessarily be prolonged, as it is written Joshua waged war with all those kings for a long time (Joshua 11:18). For Israel could not inherit all the land quickly lest the beasts of the field multiply against them, but rather [the seven nations] would be driven out gradually.
And because it is your way to complain when a promise is not fulfilled quickly, therefore I am penalizing you that justifiably you will not see the prolonged war against the 31 kings, except for the war against Pharaoh who is a single king, and you can see now — meaning immediately — what I will do to Pharaoh. Only that you will see. And the main exclusion comes from the word now meaning you will only see what is done immediately, but not something that will not be done now but only after many days, such as the war against 31 kings — that you will not see.
And this is what is meant by and My name, the Lord which indicates that I exist eternally and My promise will ultimately be fulfilled, but they did not yet know this, and they waited to see [the fulfillment of] My words as mentioned.