시편 119:67의 유대 사상

Some difficulties in the text of our story: 1) Chapter 7,3-4 seems to contain superfluous verbiage. If Pharaoh would not listen, he would obviously not release the Israelites. 2) Having produced the miracle of the reptile swallowing the staffs, why did G-d send other miracles that the magicians could duplicate? 3) An examination of the three groups of plagues suggests that each successive group was less miraculous than the previous one. The reverse would have been expected! 4) Pharaoh's reactions seem puzzling from a psychological point of view. Sometimes he reacts to the impact of a plague; other times he reacts to the impact of the relief from the plague. Why? 5) Why did G-d say on the occasion of the plague of hail, "This time I will send all My plagues against you" (9,13)? After all, hail is only one plague! If G-d wanted to kill the Egyptian's livestock, why suggest that they make them take shelter? 6) When Pharaoh asked Moses, "Who are those who want to go?" why did Moses not simply say, "The whole nation" instead of the cumbersome, "With our youngsters and with our old folk we will go"? 7) In Chapter 7,25-26, Moses states, "You too will give us offerings that we will present to the Lord our G-d, and also our cattle will go with us." The order seems inverted. Surely taking their cattle is the more important of the two statements! 8) What gave Pharaoh the courage to finally threaten Moses (10,28) when he had never done so previously?

Problems in the text of this chapter: 1) Why does it state in chapter 2,4 "When they were being created" (if one ignores the Midrash on this)? 2) What do the toldot hashamayim, descendants of heaven, mentioned in that verse refer to? If it is a reference to the whole six-day cycle of creation, then the words "on the day G-d made them" is contradictory! If these words are connected with what follows, however, i.e. the state of vegetation prior to rainfall, i.e. that all vegetation is the direct result of rainfall, then the letter vav at the beginning of verse five does not make sense! 3) At any rate, why does the Torah report what went on before there had been any rain? Why was there a need for rain as long as man for whose sake the rain was needed had not yet been created? 4) If it did not rain because there was not yet anyone who needed the rain, i.e. man did not need to till the earth, why bother with the eyd, mist that rose from the ground? This all the more so since rain is the result of vapors that rise from the ground! 5) The customary use of the word terem suggests that something has been omitted, namely whatever went on before "terem.” Examples are Genesis 19,4, "Before they could lie down, the men of Sodom had already arrived," or Genesis 24,15, "Before he had finished talking, Rebeccah arrived." What is the meaning of the word in our verse? 6) The normal syntax would have required a sentence such as "Before there was rainfall no grass could grow on earth." Why does the Torah employ such a cumbersome syntax?

And what David said: "Before I was afflicted, I did err" (Tehilim 119:67), and also: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, in order that I might learn Your statutes" (Tehilim 119:71), and also: "The torah of Your mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver pieces" (Tehilim 119:72).