Midrash su Esodo 5:1

(Exod. 18:1:) NOW JETHRO <PRIEST OF MIDIAN, MOSES' FATHER-IN-LAW>, HEARD <ALL THAT GOD HAD DONE FOR MOSES>…. This text is related (to Eccl. 8:10): AND THEN I SAW THE WICKED BURIED, AND THEY CAME BACK. Are there wicked buried who [come back] and go about?¹Tanh., Exod. 5:1. <It is even> as Solomon said (ibid.): BURIED, AND THEY CAME BACK. However, R. Simon has said: These are wicked, in that they are dead and buried during their lifetimes.²Eccl. R. 8:10:1; see Ber. 18b; Gen. R. 39:7. Thus it is stated (in Job 15:20): A WICKED PERSON WRITHES IN TORMENT ALL HIS DAYS. What is the meaning of WRITHE IN TORMENT (mitholel)? That he is dead (met) and writhing (holel).

Another interpretation (of Eccl. 7:7): FOR OPPRESSION (rt.: 'SQ) MAKES <A WISE ONE> FOOLISH,… <In regard to> everyday affairs (rt.: 'SQ), when Solomon was engaged (rt.: 'SQ) in matters in which he did not have to <engage>, they led him astray, as stated (in I Kings 11:4): FOR IT CAME TO PASS IN SOLOMON'S OLD AGE [THAT HIS WIVES LED HIS HEART ASTRAY AFTER OTHER GODS]. R. Hiyya bar Abba said: <It would have been> better for him if he had cleaned sewers, so that this verse would not be written about him. And what were the words? (Prov. 30:1:) THE WORDS OF AGUR BEN JAKEH OF MASSA: [THUS SAYS THE MAN TO ITHIEL, TO ITHIEL AND UCAL (ukhal).] Why is his name called AGUR (rt.: 'GR)? Because he gathered ('GR) the Torah. <Why> BEN (BYN)? Because he understood (rt.: BYN) it. <Why> JAKEH (YQ')? Because he regurgitated (rt.: YQ') it up. What is the meaning of TO ITHIEL (itti'el)?¹⁰The name means: “God is with me.” Cf. Tanh., Exod. 2:5, which adds here: “Thus he said: God is with me (itti’el), and I shall overcome (ukhal) <temptation>.” What the Holy One wrote in his Torah (in Deut. 17:17): HE SHALL NOT MULTIPLY WIVES FOR HIMSELF, <was written there> so that {HE WOULD NOT GO ASTRAY WITH HIS HEART} [HIS HEART WOULD NOT GO ASTRAY].¹¹ySanh. 2:6 (20c); Eccl. R. 2:2:3. Solomon said: I will multiply them and not be afraid. Thus his heart went astray. R. Joshua ben Levi said: A yod (the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, equivalent to Y or J in English) went up and fell down before the Holy One.¹²Exod. R. 6:1; Lev. R. 19:2; Cant. R. 5:11:3. It said to him: Sovereign of the World, have you had a single letter written in your Torah for nothing? R. Simeon ben Johay said: The book of Mishneh Torah (i.e., Deuteronomy) went up before the Holy One. He said to him: Sovereign of the World, here is Solomon wanting to pluck out a yod which you have written in me. <It is written> (in Deut. 17:16–17): {HE SHALL NOT MULTIPLY WIVES FOR HIMSELF.} HE SHALL NOT MULTIPLY (YRBH) HORSES FOR HIMSELF <….> [HE SHALL NOT MULTIPLY (YRBH) WIVES FOR HIMSELF] <…;> NOR SHALL HE GREATLY MULTIPLY (YRBH) SILVER AND GOLD FOR HIMSELF. He did multiply (RBH)¹³The negative, third-person imperative here adds the prefix yod (= Y). When the verb becomes a simple past tense telling what Solomon actually did, the yod is dropped. Thus by breaking each commandment about multiplying for himself, the king plucked out a yod from the Deuteronomic commandment. horses for himself.¹⁴Below, Tanh. (Buber), Lev. 6:2, and the note there. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in I Kings 5:6): NOW SOLOMON HAD FORTY THOUSAND STALLS OF HORSES. He did multiply wives (RBH) for himself. Where is it shown? Where it is stated (in I Kings 11:3): SO HE HAD SEVEN HUNDRED ROYAL WIVES <AND THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES; AND HIS WIVES LED HIS HEART ASTRAY >. He did multiply silver and gold for himself. It is so stated (in I Kings 10:27): AND THE KING MADE SILVER <IN JERUSALEM AS PLENTIFUL AS STONES >. The Holy One said to him: By your life, Solomon and a hundred like him have passed away, but not one letter <of my book> has passed away.¹⁵See Matthew 5:17–18. And what caused Solomon to come to this point? Being busy (rt.: 'SQ), for he was engaged (rt.: 'SQ) in matters in which he did not have to <engage>. Ergo (in Eccl. 7:7): FOR OPPRESSION (rt.: 'SQ) MAKES <A WISE ONE> FOOLISH. Now you should mention, not only Solomon, but even Moses at the time that he went to Pharaoh. What is written (in Exod. 5:1)? AFTERWARDS, MOSES AND AARON CAME <AND SAID UNTO PHARAOH >….¹⁶According to the last verses of Exod. 4, Moses was engaged in assembling the elders of Israel before he went to Pharaoh. R. Hiyya b. R. Abba said: It was ambassador¹⁷Gk.: presbeutes. day for Pharaoh,¹⁸Exod. R. 5:14. and all the kings were coming to crown him because he was the cosmocrator¹⁹A Latin adaption of the Gk.: kosmokrator, a title of the Roman emperor. of the world {i.e., powerful one}. Now Moses and Aaron were standing at the palace²⁰Lat.: Palatium. gate. They came in to Pharaoh. They said to him: Two elders are standing at your palace gate. He said to them: Are there crowns in their hands? They told him: No. He said to them: Let them enter last. They came in to Pharaoh. He said to them: What do you want? They said to him (in Exod. 7:16, cf. 5:3): THE LORD GOD OF THE HEBREWS SENT US UNTO YOU; and he said to us, as stated (ibid., cont.): LET MY PEOPLE GO THAT THEY MAY {CELEBRATE A FESTIVAL TO ME} [WORSHIP ME] IN THE DESERT. He said to them (in Exod. 5:2): WHO IS THE LORD THAT I SHOULD HEED HIS VOICE, when he did not know <enough> to send me a crown of his. Rather he comes unto me with <mere> words. So (in Exod. 5:2) WHO IS THE LORD THAT I SHOULD HEED HIS VOICE?

(Lev. 1:1:) “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses.” This text is related (to Prov. 29:23), “One's pride will bring him low, but the low in spirit will obtain honor.” Whenever anyone pursues [a position of] authority, authority flees from him, but whenever anyone flees from [a position of] authority, authority will pursue him. Saul fled from authority when he came to reign, as stated (in I Sam. 10:22), “So they inquired of the Lord again, ‘Has anyone else come [here]?’ And the Lord said, ‘Here he is hiding among the baggage.’” What does it (the word “baggage”) mean? When they came and brought him word of his kingship, he told them, “I am not worthy of kingship. Rather inquire by means of urim and thummim whether I am worthy; and if not, leave me alone.” Immediately (ibid.), “So they inquired of the Lord again (i.e., this second time),” [and] immediately he hid himself until they had inquired of urim and thummim. (Ibid. cont.:) “And the Lord said, ‘here he is hiding among the baggage (literally: instruments).’” Thus have our masters taught: These instruments were urim and thummim. This man fled from authority, and it pursued him, as stated (in I Sam. 10:24), “Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all of this people?” But Abimelech ben Jerubbaal pursued authority, and it fled from him, as stated (in Jud. 9:1), “But Abimelech ben Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brothers…,” and killed them all upon one stone and ruled over the masters of Shechem. But in the end (according to Jud. 9:23), “Then [God] sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the masters of Shechem,” and a woman killed him. Moses also fled from authority when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Exod. 3:10), “Come, I will send you unto Pharaoh, (Exod. 14:13) “But he said, ‘Pray Lord, please make someone else Your agent.” R. Levi said, “For seven days did the Holy One, blessed be He, prevail upon Moses in the thornbush in order to send him,¹³Lev. R. 11:6; Numb. R. 21:15; M. Pss. 18:22; cf. Exod. R. 3:14; also PR 7:2. and he was answering him, ‘Please make someone else Your agent.’” Thus it is stated (in Exod. 4:10), “Then Moses said unto the Lord, ‘Pray, Lord, I have never been a man of words, either in the past or now that You have spoken unto Your servant, for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.’” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “By your life, in the end you shall go.” When he did go [and] said, (in Exod. 5:1), “Thus says the Lord, the God of (the Hebrews) [Israel], ‘Let My people go and they shall serve Me,’” [and] that wicked man said (in vs. 2), “Who is the Lord,”¹⁴Cf. Numb. R. 13:3. Moses began to say, “I have already fulfilled my mission.” [So] he went and sat down. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Are you sitting down? (Exod. 6:11:) ‘Go and speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt.’” And so too for each and every oracle (as in Exod. 7:15), “Go unto pharaoh”; (and Exod. 8:16) “Rise up early in the morning.” [These verses are] to teach you that he fled from authority. In the end he led them forth, divided the sea for them, brought them into the desert, brought down the manna for them, brought up the well for them, brought over the quails for them, and made the tabernacle. Then he said, “From now on what is there for me to do?” He got ready and sat down. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “By your life, now you have a greater work than any that you have done, [i.e.,] to teach My children clean and unclean, to enlighten them on how to offer sacrifices to Me,” as stated (in Lev. 1:1–2), “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses […], ‘Speak unto the Children of Israel […], “When one of you presents an offering.”’” Moshe fled from authority and it pursued him, in fulfillment of what is stated (in Prov. 29:23), “One's pride will bring him low, but the low in spirit will obtain honor.” This is Moses, of whom it is stated (in Ps. 8:6), “For You have made him a little less than divine, and crowned him with glory and majesty.” (Lev. 1:1:) “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses.” This text is related (to Ps. 89:20), “Then you spoke to Your saints in a vision and said, ‘I have conferred help upon one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.’” Although the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke with the first Adam and commanded him concerning the tree of knowledge, he was alone in the world. So also in the case of Noah; although He spoke with him, he [alone] “was upright in his generations.” And so it was in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They were unique in the world. But in the case of Moses, how many righteous ones [were in the world]? Seventy elders, Bezalel, Uri, Aaron and his sons, and the [tribal] princes. Yet of them all, He called only Moses. Ergo, it says (in Ps. 89:20), “I have exalted one chosen from the people.” This is Moses, as stated (in Ps. 106:23), “had not Moses His chosen one […].”

(Exod. 5:3): THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS. Moses and Aaron said: <These words were necessary> because (in vs. 1) we had altered the wording (of Exod. 3:18) which was difficult for us. <So> they repeated <themselves> and said: THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS.²⁵According to Exod. 3:18, the Holy One told Moses to say to Pharaoh: THE LORD, THE GOD OF THE HEBREWS, but in Exod. 5:1: Moses and Aaron had said: THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL. For that reason Moses and Aaron corrected their wording in Exod. 5:3. So Tanh., Exod. 2:6; Exod. R.5:15. R. Simeon ben Johay says: He began to gnash his teeth at them when he said (in Exod. 5:17): YOU ARE LAZY, LAZY!….²⁶Exod. R. 5:18.

Moses also fled from authority when the Holy One said to him (in Exod. 3:10): {ARISE} [COME], I WILL SEND YOU UNTO PHARAOH…. (Exod. 14:13): BUT HE SAID: PRAY LORD, PLEASE MAKE SOMEONE ELSE YOUR AGENT. R. Levi said: For seven days the Holy One prevailed upon Moses in the thornbush in order to send him,¹⁶Lev. R. 11:6; Numb. R. 21:15; M. Pss. 18:22; cf. Exod. R. 3:14; also PR 7:2. and he was answering him: PLEASE MAKE SOMEONE ELSE YOUR AGENT. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 4:10): THEN MOSES SAID UNTO THE LORD: <PRAY, LORD,> I HAVE NEVER BEEN A MAN OF WORDS, EITHER IN THE PAST OR NOW THAT YOU HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOUR SERVANT, FOR I AM SLOW OF SPEECH AND SLOW OF TONGUE. The Holy One said to Moses: By your life, in the end you shall go. When he did go, he said: (in Exod. 5:1): THUS SAYS THE LORD, THE GOD OF {THE HEBREWS} [ISRAEL]: <LET MY PEOPLE GO>…. That wicked man said (in vs. 2): WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD HEED HIS VOICE?¹⁷Cf. Numb. R. 13:3. Moses began to say: I have already fulfilled my mission. He went and sat down. The Holy One said to him: Are you sitting down? (Exod. 6:11:) GO AND SPEAK UNTO PHARAOH KING OF EGYPT. For each and every oracle (as in Exod. 7:15), GO UNTO PHARAOH. (Exod. 8:16 [20]:) RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING. <These verses are> to teach you that he fled from authority. In the end he led them forth, divided the sea for them, brought them into the desert, brought down the manna for them, brought up the well for them, brought over the quails for them, and made the Tabernacle. Then he said: From now on what is there for me to do? He got ready and sat down. The Holy One said to him: By your life, now you have a greater work than any that you have done, <i.e.,> to teach my children clean and unclean, to enlighten them on how to offer sacrifice to me, as stated (in Lev. 1:1–2): THEN <THE LORD> CALLED UNTO MOSES <…> [SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL <…>: WHEN ONE OF YOU PRESENTS AN OFFERING.] Abimelech pursued authority and it fled from him, in fulfillment of what is stated (in Prov. 29:23): ONE'S PRIDE WILL BRING HIM LOW. (Ibid., cont.: BUT THE LOW IN SPIRIT WILL OBTAIN HONOR. This is Moses, of whom it is stated (in Ps. 8:6 [5]): FOR YOU HAVE MADE HIM A LITTLE LESS THAN DIVINE, AND CROWNED HIM WITH GLORY AND MAJESTY.

Lest you believe that Solomon alone was guilty, Moses, our master, likewise concerned himself in many things and was confounded by them. When was that? When he went to Pharaoh, as it is written: And afterwards Moses and Aaron came (Exod. 5:1).⁵They came alone. Moses neglected to keep watch over the elders, who slipped away, because of his preoccupation with many matters. R. Hiyya the son of Abba said: This was the day of Pharaoh’s reception, when all the kings came to crown him, since he was a cosmocrator.⁶One of the titles of the Roman emperor. While they were placing the crown on his head, Moses and Aaron stood at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace. His guards went to him and told him: “Two old men are standing at the door.” “Do they hold a crown in their hands?” he asked. “No,” the guard replied. “Then let them enter last,” he declared. When they finally stood before Pharaoh, he said: “What do you desire?” Moses replied: The God of the Hebrews has sent me to you to say: Let My people go that they may serve Me (Exod. 7:16). He retorted angrily: “Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto His voice? Does He not know enough to send me a crown? With reference to the matter concerning which you have come, I know not the Lord (ibid. 5:2).”

And they said: “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us” (Exod. 5:3). Moses and Aaron declared: Perhaps You will say we altered Your words when we told him: “Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel (ibid. 5:1), and for that reason he became hardened against Him.” Thereupon they returned to him (Pharaoh) and said: The God of the Hebrews hath met with us (ibid., v. 3).

Another interpretation (of Exod. 13:17): NOW IT CAME TO PASS WHEN PHARAOH HAD LET <THE PEOPLE> GO.¹⁷Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, Beshallah 2; PRK 11:3. Elsewhere it says (in Exod. 5:2): AND MOREOVER I WILL NOT LET ISRAEL GO; yet here he is letting them go. To what is the matter comparable? To a king who gave his servant some cash and said to him: Buy me one fish. So he went and bought him one stinking fish. The king said to him: By your life, you shall not leave without one of three <punishments >. You shall eat the fish, or you shall pay for it, or you shall be flogged with a hundred lashes. He said to him: I will eat it. He had not finished eating a little of it before it nauseated him. He said: I will be flogged with a hundred lashes. He {was not used to eating} [had not finished being flogged] with fifty [lashes] before he was in danger of dying. He said I will pay for it. It turned out that he ate a stinking fish, was flogged, and paid for it. So it was with Pharaoh. His enslavement of Israel in Egypt was excessive. The Holy One said to him (in Exod. 5:1: LET MY PEOPLE GO. He said (in Exod. 5:2): I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD. He brought ten plagues¹⁸Heb.: makkot. This word can mean “lashes” as well as “plagues.” upon him, but he did not let them go. The Holy One said to him: By your life, you have to give them compensation. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 12:36): AND THE LORD GAVE THE PEOPLE FAVOR <IN THE EYES OF THE EGYPTIANS TO GIVE THEM LOANS. THUS THEY DESPOILED THE EGYPTIANS >. When they had received the plagues and given them compensation, after that he let them go. It is therefore stated (in Exod. 13:17): NOW IT CAME TO PASS WHEN PHARAOH HAD LET <THE PEOPLE> GO.

[(Deut. 2:26:) FROM THE DESERT OF KEDEMOTH.] What is the meaning of FROM THE DESERT OF KEDEMOTH (rt.: QDM)? Moses said to him: From you I learned that you existed before (rt.: QDM) the world.³³Rashi on Deut. 2:26. You could have sent a single bolt of lightning to burn Egypt, but you did not do so. Rather you sent me to Pharaoh, as stated (in Exod. 5:1): LET MY PEOPLE GO. Ergo KEDEMOTH.

While they were walking, they would lag behind by themselves singly and in pairs.⁹⁷Exod. R. 5:14. When they arrived at Pharaoh's palace,⁹⁸Lat.: Palatium. not even one of them was to be found with them (i.e., with Moses and Aaron). It is therefore stated (in Exod. 5:1): AFTERWARDS, MOSES AND AARON CAME <AND SAID UNTO PHARAOH>. And where were the elders? They had simply gone away. The Holy One said to them: What do you think? That I am not going to repay you? By your life, when Moses and Aaron go to receive the Torah, you are going up with them, but I am turning you back. It is so stated (in Exod. 24:14): BUT UNTO THE ELDERS HE HAD SAID: TURN BACK HERE….⁹⁹The Masoretic Text has: WAIT FOR US HERE…. The Holy one said to them: In this world you have not seen the glory of Torah, but in the world to come you shall be glorified in <the glory> of Torah.¹⁰⁰See below, 1:26. It is so stated (in Is. 24:23): THEN THE MOON SHALL BE ASHAMED, AND THE SUN SHALL BE ABASHED, FOR THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL REIGN ON MOUNT ZION AND IN JERUSALEM. THEN <THE DIVINE> GLORY <SHALL STAND > IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS ELDERS.¹⁰¹This form, comparing this world and the world to come, is a common peroration to a parashah. It therefore seems likely that the triennial parashah ends here, even though the next section begins with Exod. 4:27, two verses before Exod. 4:29, which begins this section. See Jacob Mann, The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue, Vol. I (Ktav, 1971), p. 372.

And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29). He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: I have surely remembered you (Exod. 3:16). This was a sign that was transmitted to them from the days of Abraham and Isaac. Jacob had transmitted it to Joseph when he told him: “Every redeemer who comes and says to you I have surely remembered is a truthful redeemer.” And when Moses came and said I have surely remembered, the people believed him forthwith. Moses and Aaron said to them: “Come with us and we will go unto Pharaoh.” At first the elders of Israel accompanied them, but later they slipped away singly, and then in pairs. When they arrived at Pharaoh’s palace, not a single person who had accompanied them, could be found, as it is written: And afterwards Moses and Aaron came (Exod. 5:1).

When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, they said to him: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Let my people go" (Ex. 5:1), that they may serve Me. He said: I know not the Lord. "Who is the Lord, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go" (Ex. 5:2). Aaron cast down his rod, and it became a fiery serpent. The magicians also cast down their rods, and they became fiery serpents. The rod of Aaron ran and swallowed them up with their rods, as it is said, "And Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods" (Ex. 7:12).