Komentarz do Wyjścia 12:35

כדבר משה [THEY DID] ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF MOSES which he had spoken to them in Egypt, viz., (Exodus 11:2) “And let every man ask his fellow…”

עשו כדבר משה, they did in accordance with Moses' instructions. The Torah stresses that the reason the Israelites "borrowed" all this silver, gold, etc., was not because they were greedy for material goods but because Moses had instructed them to. The Torah may also teach us an object lesson in what Maimonides wrote in chapter nine of his Hilchot Yesodey Hatorah that if a prophet orders the people to commit an act which is against Torah law and such an order is of a temporary nature, an emergency situation, the people are to accept the prophet's instructions as long as the violation is not in the realm of idol worship. The people here were not happy about deceiving the Egyptians by making them think they were borrowing these trinkets intending to return them in a few days. Seeing that Moses was a duly accredited prophet, however, they complied with bis instructions in spite of their misgivings.

כלי כסף וכלי זהב ושמלות, “silver trinkets, gold trinkets and garments.” What is mentioned later is more valuable. Gold is mentioned after silver as it is more valuable. The garments were mentioned last as they were the most valuable items, [if only because they were of immediate use. Ed.] (based on Mechilta). We have a parallel in Genesis 12,1 where G’d tells Avraham to leave 1) your country, 2) your birthplace, 3) your parental home. The last-mentioned one was closest to him, hence the most valuable association.