Cytowanie Komentarza do Wyjścia 7:19

BY THE ‘YE’OR’ (RIVER). With the exception of the Nile, none of the other rivers is called ye’or, a word signifying “canal,” because the entire country consists of artificially constructed canals, and the waters of the Nile¹“Rain does not fall in Egypt, but the Nile rises and irrigates the land.” (Rashi, Exodus 7:17). flow into them. This is the language of Rashi.
Onkelos however did translate the word ye’or here as “river,” but in the book of Exodus he translated al ye’oreihem²Exodus 7:19. as “on their canals,” as he had to distinguish between nahar and ye’or since they are both mentioned in the same verse: ‘al naharotham ve’al ye’oreihem’ (on their rivers and on their canals). Thus, according to Onkelos, all rivers are called ye’orim, with the large ones being called both n’haroth and ye’orim while those canals constructed by man are also called ye’orim.³Thus the word nahar applies only to a natural river, while the word ye’or applies to both a natural river and a man-made canal. Thus we find that the Tigris, besides being called nahar, is also called ye’or, as it is written, I was by the side of the great ‘nahar’ (river), which is Tigris… and behold a man clothed in linen,⁴Daniel 10:4-5. and it is further written there: And, behold, there stood other two, the one on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ (river) on this side, and the other on the bank of the ‘ye’or’ on that side. And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the ‘ye’or’ (river).⁵Ibid., 12:5-6. In my opinion the fact is as Onkelos said,⁶When he said that ye’or and nahar are both terms for rivers. as both ye’or and nahar convey the same concept, both being an expression for orah (light). The rain, likewise, is called or (light), as it is said: He spreadeth ‘oro’ (His light) upon it;⁷Job 36:30. He spreadeth abroad the cloud of ‘oro’ (His lighting);⁸Ibid., 37:11. and as Rabbi Yochanan said,⁹Bereshith Rabbah 26:18. “All verses in Elihu’s speech in the book of Job containing the word orah refer to the coming down of rain.” Perhaps this is because the rains are influenced by the luminaries,¹⁰“Luminaries.” In his commentary to Job 36:30, Ibn Ezra writes: “For the rain is called or (light) on account of the small luminary (the moon), since its movements, by command of the Creator, cause the rain.” An identical explanation is also found in R’dak’s Sefer Hashorashim, under the root or. and the rivers which are formed by the rains are thus related to their first cause,¹¹This explains why rain is referred to in Elihu’s speech as or (light), since the rain is caused by the movement of the luminaries, as explained above. the luminaries.

אשר הכית בו את היאור, “with which you had struck the river Nile;” [and turned its water into blood. Ed.] Moses was to demonstrate that his staff was not only an instrument with which to produce harmful effects. Actually, it had not been Moses who had struck the Nile but Aaron. (Exodus 7,19) The fact is that whatever Aaron did in Egypt, he did as the disciple of his master, Moses. This time, instead of denying water through his staff, he produced water by means of it.

ומטך אשר הכית בו את היאור, “and your staff, the one with which you smote the river Nile, etc.” Even though it had not been Moses personally who had smitten the river with his staff, but Aaron, (Exodus 7,19) seeing that Moses had instructed Aaron to do this, he is the one considered as having initiated it. The reason the staff is described in its relation to having converted water to blood, and nothing is said about any of the other miracles in which Moses’ staff had been featured, is that G’d wanted to show that this very staff which had been the source of harm, would now be playing the role of being an instrument that orchestrated something beneficial.