Komentarz do Wyjścia 12:40
וּמוֹשַׁב֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָשְׁב֖וּ בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְאַרְבַּ֥ע מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָֽה׃
A czasu pobytu synów Israela, który spędzili w Micraim, było czterysta trzydzieści lat.
Rashi on Exodus
אשר ישבו במצרים WHO ABODE IN EGYPT after the other settlements (i. e. including those also) which they had made as strangers in a land that was not theirs (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:40).
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Ramban on Exodus
NOW THE TIME THAT THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL DWELT IN EGYPT WAS FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS. “From the birth of Isaac till now there were four hundred years. [We must reckon from that event, for only] from the time that Abraham had a child [from Sarah] could the prophecy, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,299Genesis 15:13. And they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. be fulfilled. And there had been thirty years since that decree made at the ‘covenant between the parts’300Ibid., Verse 18. until the birth of Isaac. And when you will reckon the four hundred years from the birth of Isaac, you will find that from the time they came into Egypt, until the time they left, it was two hundred and ten years.” Thus the language of Rashi, and it is also the opinion of our Rabbis.301Bereshith Rabbah 44:21. “That thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. This means [that the four-hundred year period will begin] from the time seed will be seen by you.”
The explanation, however, is not correct in every detail. It is written, And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran,302Genesis 12:4. and the event of the “covenant between the parts”300Ibid., Verse 18. took place a long time after that.303And from the “covenant between the parts” until the birth of Isaac, as Rashi stated, thirty years elapsed. How then is it possible that Abraham was one hundred years old at the birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:5) if he was seventy-five years old when he left Haran, and the covenant took place long after his departure from Haran? We must therefore explain the case satisfactorily in accordance with what we have been taught in the Seder Olam:304Literally: “Order of the World.” This is an historical chronicle of events from the time of creation to the destruction of the Second Temple. It was authored by Rabbi Yosei ben Chalafta, a disciple of Rabbi Akiba. The text quoted here is found in Chapter 1. “Our father Abraham was seventy years old when G-d spoke to him at the ‘covenant between the parts,’ as it is said, And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years … that all the hosts of the Eternal went out from the land of Egypt.305Verse 41 here. “And you cannot find four hundred and thirty years unless the “covenant between the parts” took place thirty years before the birth of Isaac” (Yaakov Emden, in his commentary on the Seder Olam). Then he returned to Haran and stayed there five years, as it is said, And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”302Genesis 12:4. The sense of the verse then is to state that when Abraham finally left Haran, his native land, never to return again to his father’s house, he was seventy-five years old.306And the “covenant between the parts” accordingly took place five years before his final departure from Haran, since from the time of the covenant to the birth of Isaac, as Rashi stated, thirty years had passed.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is my opinion that G-d said to Abraham, “Know of a surety that before I give you this land, thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs for a long time — four hundred years.” He did not care to mention the additional thirty years307Ramban thus introduced a new explanation to help solve the problem, which was as follows: Since in Genesis 15:13, the length of the exile was foretold to be four hundred years, how is it that Scripture mentions here in Verse 40 an additional thirty years? Rashi answered that the four-hundred year period represents the time from Isaac’s birth till the exodus, and the additional thirty years represent the preceding years that elapsed between “the covenant between the parts” and the birth of Isaac. Accordingly, we were forced to say that the covenant took place five years before Abraham’s final departure from Haran. Ramban suggests that the intent of the verse in Genesis 15:13 is also four hundred and thirty years, for although the additional thirty years are not clearly written in the verse, they are nevertheless alluded to, as is explained further on. In his commentary on the following verse, Ramban will revert to this theme for further elucidation. to him [i.e., Abraham], because He told him further on, And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither,308Genesis 15:16. thereby informing him that they will not come back immediately at the end of four hundred years until the fourth generation when the sin of the Amorite will be full.308Genesis 15:16. Thus He alluded to these thirty years, for the Israelites’ staying in the desert for forty years was not on account of the sin of the Amorite not yet being full, [since the four hundred and thirty years were completed at the time of the exodus; their stay in the desert was on account of their own misdeeds].
Accordingly, the purport of the verse [before us] is as follows: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was until four hundred and thirty years, since they lived there in order to fulfill the period of time set [for Abraham’s seed] to live in a land that is not theirs. Thus Scripture informed us that now when they went forth from Egypt, the exile decreed upon them was completed. He brought them forth from servitude to [complete] freedom, and it was not that He took them out from Egypt and they were yet to be strangers in a land not their own. Now because He has already mentioned this matter and informed us thereof [in the section of the “covenant between the parts”], there was no need to prolong it [here], for this verse [here] is intended only to inform us of the thirty years that were added to [the four hundred years mentioned specifically to Abraham]. This is why He says it briefly, i.e., that in Egypt were completed the four hundred years mentioned to their father Abraham and known to them, and an additional thirty years. Then He reverts and says, And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years309Verse 41. of their exile, they went out from the land of Egypt to perpetual freedom.
A similar case is the verse, And the days in which we came from Kadesh — barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered were thirty and eight years.310Deuteronomy 2:14. This is to complete the reckoning. The journey from Kadesh–barnea to the brook Zered did not take thirty-eight years. Instead, they abode in Kadesh many years,311Ibid., 1:46. and then they journeyed from there and turned back by the way to the Red Sea,312Ibid., 2:1. and in the thirty-eighth year they went over the brook Zered. The purport of the verse is thus: and the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered were until thirty and eight years had passed. Similarly: Happy is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days313Daniel 12:12. means [happy is he who waits and reaches] the end of those days, not the days themselves.
The explanation, however, is not correct in every detail. It is written, And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran,302Genesis 12:4. and the event of the “covenant between the parts”300Ibid., Verse 18. took place a long time after that.303And from the “covenant between the parts” until the birth of Isaac, as Rashi stated, thirty years elapsed. How then is it possible that Abraham was one hundred years old at the birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:5) if he was seventy-five years old when he left Haran, and the covenant took place long after his departure from Haran? We must therefore explain the case satisfactorily in accordance with what we have been taught in the Seder Olam:304Literally: “Order of the World.” This is an historical chronicle of events from the time of creation to the destruction of the Second Temple. It was authored by Rabbi Yosei ben Chalafta, a disciple of Rabbi Akiba. The text quoted here is found in Chapter 1. “Our father Abraham was seventy years old when G-d spoke to him at the ‘covenant between the parts,’ as it is said, And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years … that all the hosts of the Eternal went out from the land of Egypt.305Verse 41 here. “And you cannot find four hundred and thirty years unless the “covenant between the parts” took place thirty years before the birth of Isaac” (Yaakov Emden, in his commentary on the Seder Olam). Then he returned to Haran and stayed there five years, as it is said, And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”302Genesis 12:4. The sense of the verse then is to state that when Abraham finally left Haran, his native land, never to return again to his father’s house, he was seventy-five years old.306And the “covenant between the parts” accordingly took place five years before his final departure from Haran, since from the time of the covenant to the birth of Isaac, as Rashi stated, thirty years had passed.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is my opinion that G-d said to Abraham, “Know of a surety that before I give you this land, thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs for a long time — four hundred years.” He did not care to mention the additional thirty years307Ramban thus introduced a new explanation to help solve the problem, which was as follows: Since in Genesis 15:13, the length of the exile was foretold to be four hundred years, how is it that Scripture mentions here in Verse 40 an additional thirty years? Rashi answered that the four-hundred year period represents the time from Isaac’s birth till the exodus, and the additional thirty years represent the preceding years that elapsed between “the covenant between the parts” and the birth of Isaac. Accordingly, we were forced to say that the covenant took place five years before Abraham’s final departure from Haran. Ramban suggests that the intent of the verse in Genesis 15:13 is also four hundred and thirty years, for although the additional thirty years are not clearly written in the verse, they are nevertheless alluded to, as is explained further on. In his commentary on the following verse, Ramban will revert to this theme for further elucidation. to him [i.e., Abraham], because He told him further on, And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither,308Genesis 15:16. thereby informing him that they will not come back immediately at the end of four hundred years until the fourth generation when the sin of the Amorite will be full.308Genesis 15:16. Thus He alluded to these thirty years, for the Israelites’ staying in the desert for forty years was not on account of the sin of the Amorite not yet being full, [since the four hundred and thirty years were completed at the time of the exodus; their stay in the desert was on account of their own misdeeds].
Accordingly, the purport of the verse [before us] is as follows: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was until four hundred and thirty years, since they lived there in order to fulfill the period of time set [for Abraham’s seed] to live in a land that is not theirs. Thus Scripture informed us that now when they went forth from Egypt, the exile decreed upon them was completed. He brought them forth from servitude to [complete] freedom, and it was not that He took them out from Egypt and they were yet to be strangers in a land not their own. Now because He has already mentioned this matter and informed us thereof [in the section of the “covenant between the parts”], there was no need to prolong it [here], for this verse [here] is intended only to inform us of the thirty years that were added to [the four hundred years mentioned specifically to Abraham]. This is why He says it briefly, i.e., that in Egypt were completed the four hundred years mentioned to their father Abraham and known to them, and an additional thirty years. Then He reverts and says, And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years309Verse 41. of their exile, they went out from the land of Egypt to perpetual freedom.
A similar case is the verse, And the days in which we came from Kadesh — barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered were thirty and eight years.310Deuteronomy 2:14. This is to complete the reckoning. The journey from Kadesh–barnea to the brook Zered did not take thirty-eight years. Instead, they abode in Kadesh many years,311Ibid., 1:46. and then they journeyed from there and turned back by the way to the Red Sea,312Ibid., 2:1. and in the thirty-eighth year they went over the brook Zered. The purport of the verse is thus: and the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered were until thirty and eight years had passed. Similarly: Happy is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days313Daniel 12:12. means [happy is he who waits and reaches] the end of those days, not the days themselves.
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Sforno on Exodus
אשר ישבו במצרים שלושים שנה וארבע מאות שנה, the sum of 430 is arrived at by commencing the count from the time G’d took Avraham out of Ur Casdim in order to conclude the covenant of the pieces with him. During that conversation with Avraham, G’d had specifically taken credit for taking Avraham out of Ur Casdim, (generally understood as saving him from the fire of Nimrod’s furnace when Avraham had been a voluntary martyr for his belief in the G’d of heaven. Genesis 15,7) This is the reason why the author of Seder Olam, an ancient historical text, describes Avraham as having been 70 years old at that time.
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