출애굽기 7:3의 주석

ואני אקשה AND I WILL ALLOW [PHARAOH’S HEART] TO HARDEN — Since he has wickedly resisted Me, and it is manifest to Me that the heathen nations find no spiritual satisfaction in setting their whole heart to return to Me penitently, it is better that his heart should be hardened in order that My signs may be multiplied against him so that ye may recognise My divine power. Such, indeed, is the method of the Holy One, blessed be He: He brings punishment upon the nations so that Israel may hear of it and fear Him, as it is said, (Zephaniah 3:6, 3:7) “I have cut off nations, their corners are desolate etc. … I said: Surely thou wilt fear Me, thou wilt receive correction” (cf. Yevamot 63a). Nevertheless, in the case of the first five plagues it is not stated, “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” but “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 3).

AND I WILL HARDEN PHARAOH’S HEART. The Rabbis said in Midrash Rabbah:⁹⁴Shemoth Rabbah 5:6. “G-d revealed to Moses that He was destined to harden Pharaoh’s heart in order to bring judgment upon him for he caused them to work in cruel bondage.” It is also stated there [in Midrash Rabbah]:⁹⁵Ibid., 13:4. “For I have hardened his heart.⁹⁶Further, 10:1. Rabbi Yochanan said, ‘This provides a pretext for the heretics to say that G-d did not allow Pharaoh to repent.’ Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said, ‘The mouths of the heretics be closed! Only, if it concerneth the scorners, He scorneth them.⁹⁷Proverbs 3:34. When He warns one on three occasions and he does not turn from his ways, He closes the door of repentance on him in order to punish him for his sin. Such was the case with wicked Pharaoh. After the Holy One, blessed be He, sent him five times⁹⁸“In the case of the first five plagues, it is not stated, ‘The Eternal hardened Pharaoh’s heart,’ but ‘Pharaoh’s heart was hardened’” (Rashi). That is, it was hardened by his own stubborness. [the request to let His people go] and he paid no attention to His words, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You have stiffened your neck and hardened your heart; I will double your defilement.’”⁹⁹Literally: “I will add defilement to your defilement.”
The Rabbis [in the above Midrash] have thus discussed the question which all ask:¹⁰⁰See Ibn Ezra here, and Rambam in his Shemonah Perakim, Chapter 8, and in his Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Teshubah 6:3, where this problem is discussed. “If G-d hardened his heart, what then was Pharaoh’s sin?” For this there are two explanations, and both of them are true. One is that Pharaoh in his wickedness had unjustifiably perpetrated such great evils against Israel that justice required that the ways of repentance be withheld from him, as is so indicated in many places in the Torah and in the Writings.¹⁰¹See Rambam in Mishneh Torah, ibid., where he quotes from the Prophets and Writings to substantiate this point. He was judged according to his wickedness which he had originally committed of his own will. The second explanation is that half of the plagues came upon him because of his transgressions, for in connection with them it is only said: And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened;¹⁰²Further, Verses 13 and 22, and 8:15. And Pharaoh hardened his heart.¹⁰³Ibid., 8:28 and 9:7. Thus Pharaoh refused to let the children of Israel go for the glory of G-d. But when the plagues began bearing down upon him and he became weary to suffer them, his heart softened and he bethought himself to send them out on account of the onslaught of the plagues, not in order to do the will of his Creator. Then G-d hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate,¹⁰⁴Deuteronomy 2:30. so that His name may be declared [throughout all the earth].¹⁰⁵Further, 9:16. Similar in meaning is the verse, Thus will I magnify Myself, and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Eternal.¹⁰⁶Ezekiel 38:23. And that which He said before the plagues, And I will harden his heart, and he will not let the people go,¹⁰⁷Above, 4:21. was merely His warning to Moses of that which He was destined to do to Pharaoh in the last [five] plagues, it being similar to that which He said, And I know that the king of Egypt will not give you leave to go.¹⁰⁸Ibid., 3:18. This then is the meaning of the verse [before us], And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs. That is to say, “I will harden his heart so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt,”¹⁰⁹Further, 11:9. since in the last five plagues, as well as at the drowning in the sea, it is said, And the Eternal hardened the heart of Pharaoh,¹¹⁰Ibid., 14:8. for the king’s heart is in the hand of the Eternal; He turneth it whithersoever He will.¹¹¹Proverbs 21:1.

ואני אקשה, seeing that G’d is interested in the sinner’s repentance rather than his death (as we know from Ezekiel 33,11 חי אני, נאום ה', אם אחפוץ במות הרשע כי אם בשובו מדרכו וחיה, “by My life, I do not want the death of the wicked but that he return from his wicked path and live”), G’d told Moses that He would bring on numerous plagues, all in order to increase the chances that Pharaoh would finally see the light and become a genuine penitent. He hoped that by demonstrating His greatness and His power this would eventually cause the Egyptians to recognise all this. At the same time, G’d also spelled out a similar thought in 9,16 but aimed at the Israelites, when He said: “that the only reason He had not yet killed Pharaoh was so that in the course of more plagues you, the Jewish people, would come to recognise both G’d’s greatness and His patience.“ He also wanted the Jewish people to learn how to both love and revere Him when they witnessed and thought about the meaning of all these plagues. There can be no question that without G’d stiffening Pharaoh’s attitude from time to time, he would have collapsed much sooner and would have sent the Israelites on their desired journey. However, this would not have been the result of his repentance and humbling himself before the Lord, involving genuine regret about his previous errors, but the result of his impotence to withstand the pressure applied to him. He would have acted out of terror of what the next plague would do to him and to his country. If we needed confirmation of this, all we have to do is look at what his servants said to him when Moses threatened with the plague of locust. They said to him: “how long will you be obstinate, do you not see that Egypt will go down the drain?!” There was not a single word of regret of past errors, no word of recognition that G’d could have killed them all long before this and that He must therefore be very patient, and kind, but mere terror forced them to utter these words. (10,7) Keeping all this in mind, it is foolish to ask how G’d could punish Pharaoh after he Himself had interfered with his decision-making process by “stiffening his heart,” ואני אקשה את לב פרעה, I will stiffen the heart of Pharaoh, etc.” not in order to punish him but in order to finally trigger repentance in his heart. The operative clause is “in order that I can demonstrate all these miracles of Mine in his midst” (10,1), the purpose being to bring about his humbling himself in repentance and genuine contrition. If that wish of G’d would indeed materialise, the Jewish people also would tell of G’d’s greatness, (למען ספר את שמי, having observed at first hand how the mightiest secular power on earth turned into G’d fearing human beings.) They would tell their children and children’s children the lesson they had learned that G’d’s apparent cruelty is actually an act of loving kindness as it results in His creatures coming to love and to revere Him. [Noach, who had survived the destruction of mankind by a deliberate act of G’d’s kindness to him and his family, had not been able to relate to his children what G’d hoped that the Israelites would be able to relate to their children. Ed.] The basic lesson in ethics we derive from all this is that when suffering an affliction we must first and foremost examine our past actions to find out where we went wrong, and try to find out what these afflictions are intended to trigger in our memory so that we can improve our conduct both vis-à-vis G’d and our fellow man.

ואני אקשה את לב פרעה, “I will toughen the heart of Pharaoh.” Most people question G’d’s right to exact punishment from Pharaoh if He had first robbed him of the freedom of will which is an inalienable right of every human being created in the image of the Creator. The answer to this question is quite simple. Pharaoh was not punished for disobeying G’d’s command but for the relish with which he maltreated G’d’s people. He was punished for the excess cruelty he displayed. This was not due to G’d’s interfering with his free will, but to a flaw in his character as a human being. People who display this degree of inhumanity of man to man, are denied the opportunity to return to G’d in penitence. This is described in Ethics of our fathers as עברה גוררת עברה, the commission of deliberate sins brings in its wake the commission of more sins and yet more sins. There are numerous verses in Scripture confirming this principle. Furthermore, if you will examine the text of the ten plagues you will observe that G’d did not interfere with Pharaoh’s decision making brain or heart until after the fifth plague. The wording of the first five plagues describes that Pharaoh’s obstinacy in resisting G’d and Moses up until then was entirely spontaneous, not reinforced by any attempt of G’d to coerce his behaviour. During the last five plagues, when Pharaoh had initially indicated a preparedness to comply with G’d’ request and to let the people go, at least for a vacation of a religious nature, he reneged on his promises as soon as the plague had been called off by Moses. Some commentators simply see in the words ואני אקשה את לבו, not an interference with Pharaoh’s free will, but a device that enabled him to endure the plagues without collapsing. This, as a corollary, made him feel that he was strong enough to withstand anything G’d would try and do to him.

And in opposition towards Me. . . Rashi is answering the question: Pharaoh will surely defy Hashem if He hardens his heart. Is this Hashem’s way, to induce a person to transgress His will? Therefore Rashi explains, “And it is revealed to Me. . .”

V. 3. אקשה, wir finden in dieser Beziehung drei Nuancen: אחזק ,אכבד ,אקשה. קשה: hart sein überhaupt: keinen Eindruck in sich aufnehmen, alles ohne Eindruck an sich vorübergehen lassen. כבד: schwer, es kann etwas einen Eindruck erhalten, allein es ist noch eine weite Kluft zwischen dem Eindruck und dem Momente, sich von diesem Eindruck leiten zu lassen: schwer in Bewegung zu bringen. Jedoch dieser Moment ist, wenngleich mit Anstrengung, zu erreichen. חזק: fest, aber widersetzt sich mit Bewusstsein jeder Fügsamkeit. Selbst der Eindruck geht in seinen Folgen völlig verloren. Pharaos anfängliche Unempfindlichkeit wird ein Mittel, um in Mizrajim einen Schatz von אותות und מופתים niederzulegen, aus welchen alle Folgezeit sich die Erkenntnis und die Überzeugung von Gottes Allmacht, Gegenwart und Waltung in der Geschichte zu schöpfen vermag. Es brauchen fortan keine נסים mehr zu geschehen, weil sie eben dort bereits geschehen sind.

ואני אקשה, “and I (G-d) will toughen;” Rashi points out that during the first five plagues G-d actually did not yet harden Pharaoh’s heart, and the Torah only speaks about vayechezak lev paroh, meaning that Pharaoh “remained obstinate without any help from G-d.” When the Torah writes during the seventh plague, the plague of hail in chapter 9 verse 35, that vayechezak lev paroh, that “Pharaoh’s heart remained obstinate,” which appears to contradict what Rashi said, seeing that line occurs during the seventh plague, this line appears after in verse 34, G-d had already hardened his heart. In that instance, for the first time, Pharaoh had admitted being guilty, and after G-d had hardened his heart he was able to hold out still longer in his obstinate ways. In chapter 10,1, G-d explains to Moses that Pharaoh’s behaviour from then on was understandable only because He had already hardened his heart. He was already no longer a free agent. The reason is simple, as Rashi explains. Once a person has remained obstinate in the face of five plagues clearly orchestrated by G-d, he is deprived of his most precious attribute, that of freedom of choice. Even if Pharaoh had freed the Israelites at that stage, G-d would not have let him, until He had been able to demonstrate Hjs powers completely.

It is better for Me that his heart be hardened. . . In other words, if I do not harden Pharaoh’s heart he will surely repent. But it is revealed to Me that he will not really repent wholeheartedly. And then, if I smite him with plagues and punish him, people will say that Hashem brings punishment upon repenters — for they will not know that Pharaoh’s repentance was not wholehearted. Therefore I will harden his heart so that he will not repent at all, and then I will be able to increase My wonders and punish him for all to see.

And you will thereby recognize My power. . . Rashi inferred this because it is written, “to increase My signs,” implying that Hashem will punish Pharaoh more severly in proportion ot his sins. This raises a difficulty: Why should Hashem want to bring more plagues on Pharaoh than he deserves? Thus Rashi explains: In order that “you will thereby recognize My power.” And Rashi then brings a proof for this concept: “This is the way of Hashem. . .”

Nevertheless, concerning the first five plagues it does not say. . . Rashi is saying that even though Hashem should have strengthened Pharaoh’s heart in the first five plagues as well, [He refrained from doing so] because He wished to publicize Pharaoh’s wickedness — so that people should know that even without Hashem strengthening his heart, he strengthens it on his own. Therefore, Hashem did not do so until after the first five plagues.