Komentarz do Wyjścia 5:3

פן יפגענו LEST HE LIGHT ON US — They should have said, “Lest He light on thee (Pharaoh) [with pestilence] etc.” — but they showed respect to royalty (the king) by thus expressing themselves. This term פגיעה “lighting on”, “meeting” denotes meeting with death (Exodus Rabbah 5:15).

LEST HE FALL UPON US WITH PESTILENCE. “Moses and Aaron wanted to say [to Pharaoh], ‘Lest He fall upon thee,’ but they showed respect to royalty.” Thus the language of Rashi. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “‘Lest He fall upon us; that is, including us Israelites, also you Pharaoh and all Egypt.’ Therefore when the Egyptians saw the slaying of the firstborn, they said, ‘We are all dead men,’³²⁰Further, 12:33. for the words of Moses now became clear to them when he said, Lest he fall upon us with pestilence, and therefore they drove them to go to sacrifice [to G-d].”
This explanation of Ibn Ezra is not correct, for Moses and Aaron were not commanded to say that Israel too would share in the punishment of pestilence or sword if they would not sacrifice [to G-d],³²¹Only the Egyptians were to suffer that punishment if they failed to permit the Israelites to go to worship the Eternal. and Moses and Aaron would by no means change anything in the mission of G-d.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], this is the secret of the offerings,³²²See Ramban on Genesis 4:3 (Vol. I, p. 88, and Note 423). as they constitute a redemption from punishment, for before Him goeth the pestilence.³²³Habakkuk 3:5. This explains the verse here: Let us go…and sacrifice… lest He fall upon us with pestilence. Ramban then proceeds to explain the end of the verse: or with the sword.
Or with the sword, this means the harsh [attribute of justice]. Moses said this because the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded them, saying, And you shall say unto him: ‘The Eternal, the G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us. And now let us go … that we may sacrifice to the Eternal our G-d.’³²⁴Verse 1. and they said to Pharaoh, Thus saith the Eternal, the G-d of Israel: ‘Let My people go.’³²⁴Verse 1. Now Pharaoh was indeed a very wise man. He knew [of the existence of] G-d and acknowledged Him, as he — or his predecessor³²⁵This is a reference to the difference of opinion among the Rabbis of the Talmud (Sotah 11 a) regarding the verse, Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph (above, 1:8). One Rabbi said that he was really a new king; the other said that it was the same king but he decreed new edicts, and comported himself as though he did not know him. — said to Joseph: Forasmuch as G-d had shown thee all this;³²⁶Genesis 41:39. a man in whom the spirit of G-d is.³²⁷Ibid., Verse 38. But Pharaoh did not know the Proper Name of G-d, [i.e., the Tetragrammaton],³²⁸See above, Note 84. and accordingly, he answered, I know not the Eternal.³²⁹Verse 2. Therefore they replied and said to him, as they were commanded, The G-d of the Hebrews hath met with us,³³⁰In Verse 3 before us. mentioning to him only the G-d of the Hebrews, which is equivalent to E-il Sha-dai. They said, He hath met with us, relating to Pharaoh the exact language of the message they were commanded to bring him, and they explained to him that in this meeting which they would have [with G-d], it would be necessary for them to sacrifice before Him, lest the meeting be with pestilence, or with the sword. In a similar vein did Scripture set forth in connection with Balaam, as it is said, And G-d met Balaam, and he said unto Him: I have prepared the seven altars, and I have offered up a bullock and a ram on every altar.³³¹Numbers 23:4.

'ויאמרו אלוקי העברים וגו, the Jewish people are not Egyptians but originated in Mesopotamia, across the river Euphrates, as their very name indicates, they are therefore bound by the rules of the G’d of that country, otherwise this G’d will smite them” [making them useless to you as slave-labour. Ed.]

אלוקי העברים, concerning your statement that you never heard of such a Being, He is the G’d of the Hebrews, the ones who cleave to the religious teachings of עבר, the grandson of Shem, son of Noach. Concerning your statement that you will not release the Israelites, you would do well to listen to His instructions פן יפגענו, as He would punish both us and you.

ויאמרו אלוקי העברים ..פן יפגענו "The G'd of Israel…. lest He punish us." The last words were spoken by the Israelites. Even though our sages in Shemot Rabbah 5,14 told us that the elders melted away on the way to the first confrontation with Pharaoh, the Israelites expressed fear of being punished by G'd. The elders were punished for not accompanying Moses and Aaron. Perhaps the entire nation went to see Pharaoh and told him it would be in Pharaoh's own interest to excuse the Jewish people from work for three days and to take the chance that they would return; otherwise, if they would be punished by their G'd, Pharaoh would lose their labour altogether if they were to die of a pestilence. Perhaps they even implied that such a pestilence would also pose a problem for Pharaoh himself who might become infected. They used the well known method of describing such a plague as afflicting them rather than Pharaoh, as they did not want to threaten Pharaoh outright.

דרך שלשת ימים, “a distance of three days’ journey.” If Moses had declared that they wanted to leave the country for good, the Egyptians would never have agreed to lend them their valuable trinkets to use in their rituals. There is a comment in the Midrash according to which when G’d told Moses to have the Children of Israel ask for these trinkets, he replied to G’d: “is it worth the effort to make the Israelites borrow these trinkets for a mere three days?” G’d answered him that He was aware that Pharaoh would not even grant a vacation of three days, and that in response to his refusal G’d would bring on the plagues, at the end of which he would send the Israelites from his land permanently.

V. 3. Sie erneuerten daher ihren Antrag ganz von seinem Standpunkte und aus seinen Anschauungen. Kennst du nicht ד׳, so verstehst du doch, wenn wir von dem "Gotte der Hebräer" sprechen. Wie die Ägypter, haben auch wir unseren Gott, und wenn der, in Folge der höheren Notwendigkeit, die über Götter und Menschen gebietet (siehe Kap. 3, 18), in die sichtbare Welt hervortritt, so ist das, du weißt es, ein bedenkliches Wahrzeichen, so muss er besänftigt werden. Geschieht das nicht, so kann Pest und Schwert über uns kommen, und da würden nicht nur wir, sondern du und dein Volk mit leiden. Um eurer selbst willen — ihr fürchtet doch auch den Zorn der Götter — bewillige uns das Fest!

דרך שלשת ימים, “a distance of three days’ walk.” The plain meaning of the verse is that Moses requested to take the people to the desert in order there to offer sacrifices to their G–d. In the event that Pharaoh would ask: “why can you not offer these sacrifices right here?” Moses anticipated this question, and he added that unless we do it in the desert we will be subject to severe punishment by our G–d. (Compare Exodus 8,22 for further elaboration)

ויאמרו: אלוקי העברים, they said in response to Pharaoh denying that there was a G-d called Hashem (or a people called Israel), that they were talking about the G-d of the Hebrews. The G-d of the Hebrews sits in judgment of His people as He is their G-d and are His servants and His people.”

פן יפגענו בדבר או בחרב, “lest He will strike us dead either with the plague or the sword.” According to Rashi this was a veiled warning to Pharaoh and meant “lest He strike you dead either by the plague or by the sword.” Ibn Ezra understands the line as a warning to Pharaoh as well as to the Israelites who would be punished for not heeding their G’d’s commandment. This is the reason why when the time came for the slaying of the firstborn, the Egyptians were afraid that they would all die. They had belatedly remembered what Moses had said during the first interview with Pharaoh. Nachmanides rejects this commentary as he is bothered by the fact that Moses and Aaron had not been commanded by G’d to say to Pharaoh that their G’d had threatened to punish the Israelites if they failed to offer sacrifices to Him.

פן יפגענו, “so that He will not afflict us;” when using the plural mode “us,” Moses and Aaron implied that they included Pharaoh in the people who would feel the wrath of the G-d of the Hebrews. A different interpretation: Pharaoh was not included in what Moses and Aaron said, but if the G-d of the Hebrews were to kill us, he, Pharaoh, would not only lose their work for a few days, but that he would lose the work of the Hebrew slaves permanently and irrevocably; thus it would be in his interest to grant their request.

בדבר או בחרב, “either through pestilence or the sword.” Here Moses already hinted for the first time that G-d had told him to warn Pharaoh of fatal consequences, i.e. the death of the firstborn if he were to refuse to obey His commands. Rashi points that out when he says on 4,23 that Moses warned Pharaoh already of the last plague on his first encounter with him