Komentarz do Wyjścia 18:6

ויאמר אל משה AND HE SAID UNTO MOSES through a messenger (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:6).

AND HE SAID UNTO MOSES: ‘I THY FATHER-IN-LAW JETHRO AM COMING UNTO THEE.’ He sent him the message in a letter in which [the above words] were written. A messenger, [as Rashi would have it], could not say, I thy father-in-law. Instead, he would say, “Behold, Jethro your father-in-law is coming to you.” It is also not possible that Jethro told him so mouth to mouth, for in that case he would have said, “Behold, I have come to you.” Besides, it is not customary in such instances for the speaker to mention his name: “I, such and such a person,” for upon seeing him, he would recognize him. A similar case is the verse: Then Huram the King of Tyre said⁶⁴Thus the word “said” can clearly apply to “saying in writing.” in writing, which he sent to Solomon.⁶⁵II Chronicles 2:10.

אני חותנך יתרו, Yitro sent this message as a matter of courtesy so that Moses would not be taken unawares by his sudden arrival. He complied with the sages’ warning “do not enter your own house without advance notice, how much more so the house of your friend.” (Pessachim 112).

אני חתנך…ואשתך ושני בניה, "I, your father-in-law as well as your wife and her two sons, etc." Why did the Torah change the order in which Moses' wife and children are mentioned from the order in which they were mentioned in verse five? In verse five the sons are described as belonging to Moses and are mentioned first, whereas here Tzipporah is mentioned first and the sons are described as being hers! Mechilta on our verse explains that Yitro sent word to Moses that if he would not come out to meet him because he was his father-in-law, at least he should come out to meet and to welcome his wife and children. We may therefore assume that the Torah used the same approach in once mentioning Tzipporah before the children and once after the children. If Moses would not come out to welcome Tzipporah as his wife, at least he should welcome her as the mother of his children. When the arrival of these persons in the desert is mentioned, however, they are mentioned in order of their respective importance. This is why the sons are mentioned ahead of Tzipporah. Even though in this instance Yitro mentioned the fact that he was Moses' father-in-law before mentioning his own name, whereas in verse five his name is mentioned before his status as Moses' father-in-law, in verse five the Torah speaks objectively, whereas in our verse the Torah quotes Yitro. Seeing that Yitro was a modest individual he would not mention his name first. Moses would go out to honour Yitro because he was his father-in-law even if he had no other claim to honour. You will find something similar in Samuel I 24,11 where David honoured Saul even though the latter tried to kill him.

ויאמר, Yitro’s messenger said to him: “I your father-in-law, etc.” [unless Yitro had sent a messenger ahead, why would he have to introduce himself? Ed.]

ויאמר אל משה, “Yitro said to Moses:” According to Ibn Ezra, by means of a messenger. According to Ibn Ezra, the Torah quotes a letter Yitro had sent ahead of his arrival at the encampment of the Israelites in which he announced his forthcoming arrival together with Tzipporah and her children. If the Torah were reporting the words of Yitro at arrival, it should have said הנני בא אליך, “here I have come to you.” In the Midrash the view is expressed that Yitro shot an arrow with the above message attached, and that although normally, the surrounding heavenly clouds would make the camp of the Israelites secure against any intrusion, in this instance, due the nature of the message, G’d allowed the arrow to travel through the cloud cover.

ואשתך ושני בניה עמה, “and your wife and her two sons with her.” The Torah should have quoted Yitro as saying to Moses: “and your two sons,” instead of “and her two sons,” just as he said “your wife,” “your father-in-law.” However, we must remember that it is customary for the Torah to describe sons as belonging to their mother such as in Genesis 46,15: “these are the sons of Leah,” whereas daughters are described as “belonging” to their father such as in the same verse “and Dinah his daughter” (compare Nidah 31).

Through a messenger. [Rashi knows this] because it is written afterwards, “Moshe went out to greet his father-in-law.” Accordingly, “He said. . . I am coming,” is what Yisro told the messenger to say in his name.

(Ibid. 6) "And he said to Moses: I, your father-in-law, Yithro, am coming to you; and your wife and her two sons with her": R. Yehoshua says: He wrote this to him in a letter. R. Elazar Hamodai says: He sent it by messenger, writing therein: Do it for me; and if not for me, then come out for your wife. And if not, do it for her sons. R. Eliezer says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: I am the one who spoke and brought the world into being. I am the one who draws near and not the one who distances, viz. (Jeremiah 23:23) "Am I only a G d from near, says the L rd, and not a G d from far?" I am the one who drew Yithro near and did not distance him. You, too, when a man comes to you to be converted, he does so only for the sake of Heaven. You, too, draw him near and do not distance him. From here we learn that a man should distance with the left hand and draw near with the right, and not do as Elisha did to Gechazi, rejecting him with both hands.

ויאמר, “he said:” the subject is Yitro’s messenger announcing his impending arrival in the camp of the Israelites.

'אני חתנך יתרו וגו I, THY FATHER-IN-LAW, JETHRO etc. — If you will not come out for my own sake, come out for the sake of your wife; and if you will not come out for your wife’s sake, come out for the sake of your two sons (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:6).

ושני בניה עמה, and her two sons with her. The reason the Torah wrote the word עמה, with her, is to continue the trend of thought mentioned earlier. Yitro said: "if you do not come out on account of her or your children, at least come out to meet her and the children together."

Go out on account of your wife. . . [Rashi knows this] because otherwise the Torah should have written, “I, your father-in-law Yisro, along with your wife. . . are coming to you.” Why does the verse separate “Yisro” from “Your wife”? Perforce, because Yisro was telling Moshe: “I am coming to you; go out on account of me. But if you do not want. . .”

'אני חותנך יתרו בא אליך וגו, “I, your fatherinlaw, Yitro have come to you;” seeing that we have heard from this man that he was extremely modest, when he criticized Moses for sitting down while the people waiting in line to have their problems solved by him had to stand, (verse 14), it appears totally out of character that he commenced a sentence by saying: “I, your fatherinlaw, etc.” We must realize that the clouds of G-d’s glory surrounded the camp of the Israelites making it impossible for outsiders to find them. This prevented Yitro’s messenger to get to his destination. He therefore attached a note to an arrow which he shot into the cloud explaining who he was and why he wanted to be admitted through the cloud. (Tanchuma)

And if. . . not. . . on account of your wife. . . Since Rashi needed to interpret “Your wife” in this manner, he also needed to explain “Her two sons” in this manner. (Re”m) But it seems to me that Rashi deduced [this whole explanation, even regarding “Your wife”,] because the verse says the [superfluous] word “I.” (Nachalas Yaakov)