Komentarz do Wyjścia 6:6

לכן THEREFORE, i. e. in accordance with the tenor of that oath (cf. Exodus Rabbah 6)

AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT FROM UNDER THE BURDENS OF THE EGYPTIANS. He assured them that He will take them out from the land of the Egyptians and that they will no longer suffer from their heavy burden.

'לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני ה. The Torah speaks of three reasons (stages of the redemption) why G’d at this time reveals knowledge about Himself which He had not revealed previously.

לכן אמור לבני ישראל אני ה׳. "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am י־ה־ו־ה.'" Moses was to tell the Israelites in the name of G'd that He was the attribute of Mercy and that He had decided to invoke this attribute on their behalf. As a result, He would lead them out of Egypt and perform the other stages which would complete the process of redemption.

והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים, “I will take you out from under the slave labour of Egypt.” This is G’d’s promise that He would take them out of the land of Egypt and that they would not again experience having to perform slave labour. Seeing that this promise still left open the possibility that after leaving Egypt the Israelites would be subjected to heavy taxation in their host country, G’d added:

From where do we derive that we drink four cups of wine at the Pesach [seder]? Rabbi Yohanan said: It corresponds to the four redemptions: 'I will take you out;' 'I will save you;' 'I will redeem you;' 'I will take you to me.' Three of these are found in this verse, and one in the verse immediately following. In all of the decisors and commentators and books of legends that bring this saying, it is brought using the language, "It corresponds to the four languages of redemption." But if we look in the Palestinian Talmud from which the phrase is quoted, the word "languages" is missing. Rather it says, "four redemptions." In my view, this is a very significant distinction. For if we understand it according to its plain meaning, the notion of four languages of redemption is not a reason to establish four cups of thanksgiving, since there is but one redemption, whether we speak of it using one word or four. But if there are four redemptions, then that explains the matter much better, for when we examine it well we find that there are four different ideas expressed in these four terms, and each one is its own complete idea unto itself and deserving of its own thanksgiving. In the first statement ("I will take you out"), we see that the Holy Blessed One took them out from under the labors of the Egyptians, which is to say that God lightened their labors--but they were not freed completely. Then God added to this, "And I will save you from their servitude," which means that they did not serve them at all. But even after these two promises, they were still servants to Pharaoh and had not achieved full redemption. Thus God added, "And I will redeem you," but even so they were not yet made a special acquisition of the Holy Blessed One, and so God added, "And I will take you to me to be a people, and I will be God to you." We see that within these sayings are included separate notions of redemption. The verses continue in a "not only this, but also this" fashion--that is to say, not only will I do this, but I will also do this, and not only that, but also this, etc. As such, the simple meaning is revealed: We are obligated to give thanks for each individual act that increased the redemption. And that is why [the Sages] established the four cups of thanksgiving. And why did they not establish a cup for the phrase "and I will bring you to the land?" We cannot say that it is because that language is unrelated to the redemption, since they established a cup for "and I will take you to me to be a people," which is likewise not specifically an aspect of redemption. Rather, the simple answer is that since we are still in exile, and the land is in the hands of foreigners, it is impossible to raise a glass of wine for this. And perhaps, in recognition of this, they established a special cup in the name of Elijah, as a remembrance and hint that we hope for his coming and for the resurrection of the nation and the land speedily in our days.

The trouble of the burden of Egypt. Here Rashi is answering the question: What does “under the burdens” mean? It implies that the burdens are [an actual physical object] spread on top of B’nei Yisrael, and Hashem is bringing them out from underneath. Therefore Rashi explains, “The trouble of the burden,” i.e., [it is a figure of speech and] B’nei Yisrael are like a person carrying a load, from under which he is brought out. Here too, Egyptian slavery is like a load on top of them, and Hashem, so to speak, is bringing them out from underneath it. But before (1:11) it said “burdens” without saying “under,” [thus prompting Rashi’s comment here].

V.6. Deshalb: אמר לבני ישראל, sage es ihnen, erläutere es ihnen, rede es ihnen in Geist und Herz hinein, und zwar nicht 'אל בני וגו, nicht direkt, sondern לבני וגו׳, für sie, sage es den זקנים, damit sie es dem Volke zum Verständnis und zur Beherzigung bringen, dass אני ד׳; nur als ד׳, im Widerspruch aller gegebenen Verhältnisse, וגאלתי וגו׳ ,והוצאתי וגו׳ ,והצלתי וגו׳, und dann: ולקחתי וגו׳.

אמר לבני ישראל אני ה׳ SAY UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, I AM THE LORD Who am faithful in My promise,

AND I WILL DELIVER YOU FROM THEIR BONDAGE. The Egyptians will no longer rule over them at all, nor will they subject them to be a servant under tribute⁴⁰Genesis 49:15. wherever they live.

1) והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים there will be an immediate cessation of the Israelites performing slave labour for the Egyptians.

והצלתי אתכם, “I will save you,” i.e. you will not be subjugated to some other government at all.

The word לכן is a form of an oath as we know from Ezekiel 20,30-42. In that instance the prophet refers to our verse as something concerning which G'd had said: "I have raised My hand," i.e. a clear form of an oath.

ארבע לשונות של גאולה, vier Seiten, in welchen sich das Erlösungswerk darstellt und die zum Verständnis alles Folgenden aufgefasst werden müssen. והוצאתי והצלתי וגאלתי sind die Befreiung von dem gegenwärtigen Galut, ולקחתי: die dann zu erteilende Bestimmung, der Zweck des Ganzen.

והוצאתי אתכם AND I WILL BRING YOU OUT, — for so did I promise them: (Genesis 15:14) “and afterwards shall they go out with great substance”.

AND I WILL REDEEM YOU. He will bring such judgments upon them until the Egyptians will say: “Here You have the Israelites as a redemption for our lives.” The meaning of the word g’ulah (redemption) is close to the subject of mecher (sale), [thus implying that “I will buy you from the Egyptians”]. And the meaning of the expression, with an outstretched arm, is that His arm will be extended over them until He takes them out from Egypt.

2) והצלתי, on the day the Israelites would depart from Ramses, when they would cross the border out of the land of Egypt.

וגאלתי אתכם, “and I will liberate you.” I will perform so many judgments on the Egyptians that they will liberate you altogether in preference to enduring more plagues. The word גאולה is used here in the same sense as “selling,” i.e. setting free. The meaning of the words בזרוע נטויה, is that G’d will twist their arm until they release the Israelites.

G'd enumerates the steps of the redemption. 1) First "I will take you out from beneath the hard labour of Egypt;" this is the removal of the slave labour performed for the Egyptians. It would commence immediately with the plague of blood. Although this resulted in the dispersal of the taskmasters, the Israelites continued to perform light duty tasks. 2) "I will save you from their bondage;" this referred to the remaining kind of labour the Israelites performed for the Egyptians. 3) "I will liberate you;" this refers to the actual departure of the Israelites from the country. This also includes the splitting of the sea as the departure would have been meaningless without that final stage. The word וגאלתי must refer to a liberation which is not followed by pursuit. Following that stage the Jewish people would experience ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם," I will take you to be My people" which is a reference to the revelation at Mount Sinai when G'd gave us the Torah. At that point G'd would be able to say that: "I have truly become your G'd."

In drei Momenten ist das Galut gezeichnet: עבדות ,סבלות, und — da גאולה ohne Beifügung ist — גואל-losigkeit, גאולה-Bedürftigkeit. In dem ברית בין הבתרי׳ war dieses Galut Abraham als ענוי ,עבדות ,גרות, angekündigt. Diese drei Momente lagen verwirklicht vor. ענוי: die Peinigung, die Verkümmerung und Freudeberaubung des Daseins, in den סבלות, in den mit höhnender Härte aufgebürdeten Lasten Mizrajims. Es kann jemand עבד sein, ohne durch סבלות erdrückt zu werden, es kann jemand mit סבלות überbürdet sein, ohne עבד zu sein. עבדות: die Freiheitsberaubung, in עבדת מצרים in dem Sklavenstand, welchen Mizrajim über sie verhängt. גרות in der -גואלlosigkeit, das ist eben der גרות-Stand. So wird später im Gesetze der Fremde bezeichnet als: אין לאיש גואל Bamidbar 5, 8. גואל ist der Verwandte, der in der Not des Verwandten seine eigene erblickt und für ihn auftritt. Der Fremde hat als solcher in dem gewöhnlichen Staate keinen Annehmer. In der Misshandlung des geringsten Einheimischen erblickt jeder Einheimische sein eigenes Recht verletzt, er sieht in ihm den Rechtsboden erschüttert, auf welchem er selbst mit allen seinen Ansprüchen ruht. Der Fremde aber "hat hier kein Recht" und findet daher in keinem der "hier Berechtigten" einen Annehmer. "An dem Fremden kann hier kein Unrecht geschehen, weil er eben hier kein Recht hat, vielmehr alles, was ihm hier nicht geschieht, und was man ihm hier gestattet, reine Gnade ist". Das ist das Unglück des Fremden, Heimatlosen, Unberechtigten; aus ihm, weil sie in Ägypten גרים waren, erwuchs alles spätere Elend wie von selbst. Weil sie גרים waren, machte man sie zu עבדים und zu עניים מעונים. Darum steht in der geschichtlichen Ankündigung dieses Elends גרות voran: .גר יהי׳ זרעך וגו׳ ועבדום וענו אותם Hier aber, wo die Erlösung aus dem zur Verwirklichung gekommenen gegenwärtigen Elend verkündet wird, stehen die Momente in entgegengesetzter Folge: גרות ,עבדות ,ענוי. Es wird zuerst die Beseitigung des in der konkreten Gegenwart am empfindlichsten sich bemerkbar machenden Zustandes verheißen und dann bis zu der Wurzel des Ganzen zurückgegangen und deren Entfernung verkündet. —

סבלת מצרים means the encumbrance of the burdens of Egypt.

3) וגאלתי, on the day the pursuing Egyptians would be drowned in the sea, as testified in Exodus 14,30 ויושע ה' ביום ההוא, “on that day the Lord orchestrated salvation, etc.” After the death of the ones who enslaved, the enslaved are obviously free.

These latter words may also refer to Moses' prayer in Exodus 33,16 which Berachot 7 interprets to mean that G'd should not reveal Himself to any other nation nor give them prophets. The operative word in והייתי לכם לאלוקים then would be לכם, "for you exclusively."

והוצאתי אתכם מתחת וגו׳. Nicht: ich zertrümmere die Last, daß ihr dann von selbst euch erhebet. Ich lasse die Last Last sein, aber ich ergreife euch und führe euch unter ihr hervor und hinaus. Ihr bleibt völlig passiv bei der Erlösung. —

One could also understand this verse as speaking of four separate redemptions as does Shemot Rabbah 6,4. This may be alluded to in G'd first again repeating His attribute as the tetragram. Accordingly, the four activities of which G'd speaks here would each be a redemption from a different decree of Pharaoh. The words "I shall be your G'd" would then refer to G'd having proved that He kept His promise. The name אלוקים often occurs as symbolic of truth and honesty. The knowledge of G'd as the attribute of Mercy will become widespread amongst the people as a result of these four redemptions.

נצל ,והצלתי וגו׳ das verstärkte ונשל הברזל, ,נשל: das Abfliegen des Eisens vom Schaft. הציל: machen, dass etwas, was von jemandem willenlos als Werkzeug oder Mittel gehalten wird, von diesem losgelassen werde. Mizrajim haben euch Blöcke auf den Nacken gelegt, ihr könnt nicht hinaus, das sollt ihr auch nicht können; denn es soll sich eben zeigen, dass aus Lasten, aus denen ihr euch nicht retten könnt, ich euch hinauszuführen vermag. Mizrajim hält euch als willenlose Sache fest, ich schlage es auf den Arm, dass es euch loslassen muss. —

נצל ,והצלתי וגו׳ das verstärkte ונשל הברזל, ,נשל: das Abfliegen des Eisens vom Schaft. הציל: machen, dass etwas, was von jemandem willenlos als Werkzeug oder Mittel gehalten wird, von diesem losgelassen werde. Mizrajim haben euch Blöcke auf den Nacken gelegt, ihr könnt nicht hinaus, das sollt ihr auch nicht können; denn es soll sich eben zeigen, dass aus Lasten, aus denen ihr euch nicht retten könnt, ich euch hinauszuführen vermag. Mizrajim hält euch als willenlose Sache fest, ich schlage es auf den Arm, dass es euch loslassen muss. —