Comentário sobre Êxodo 15:10

נשפת — an expression for “blowing”. Similar is (Isaiah 40:24) “He bloweth (נשף) upon them”.

NASHAPHTA’ WITH THY WIND. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that nashaphta is derived from the root nesheph (twilight),¹⁵³“For there are two kinds of nesheph (twilight): the nesheph after sundown, and the nesheph before sunrise” (Ibn Ezra)! Here the nesheph before sunrise is referred to. for it was at twilight that He brought the wind which caused the water to return and drown the pursuers. Rashi explained it “as an expression for ‘blowing,’ similar in usage to the verse, When ‘nashaph’ (He bloweth) upon them, they wither.”¹⁵⁴Isaiah 40:24. Rashi has explained it well.
My opinion, furthermore, is that the purport of nashaphta, [written with the letter phei], is like [that written] with a beth: Thou ‘nashavta’ (didst blow) with Thy wind. The usage of the word is similar to: Because the breath of the Eternal ‘nashva’ (bloweth) upon it;¹⁵⁵Ibid., Verse 7. ‘yasheiv’ (He bloweth) His wind, and the waters flow.¹⁵⁶Psalms 147:18. These two letters — [the phei or pei and the beth] — are of similar usage, just as in the verses: ‘al gapei’ (Upon) the highest places of the city,¹⁵⁷Proverbs 9:3. which is like al gabei; ‘im b’gapo’ (if by himself),¹⁵⁸Further, 21:3. which is like im b’gabo. Similarly: And substance ‘yivzor’ (he shall scatter) among them;¹⁵⁹Daniel 11:24. ‘bizar’ (He hath scattered) the peoples.¹⁶⁰Psalms 68:31. These are expressions of pizur (scattering), [with the letter beth serving here as phei]¹⁶¹See Vol. I, pp. 505-506, for a similar interchange of letters between the gimmel and the kuph. In proper names, these letters also interchange, e.g., Shovach, and Shophach.¹⁶²II Samuel 10:16; I Chronicles 19:16. And our Rabbis say in the Mishnah:¹⁶³Peah 6:1. “[If produce is proclaimed] hevkeir (ownerless) for the benefit of the poor [only], it is deemed hevkeir (ownerless).”¹⁶⁴If a person gives up his ownership of the produce of his field, he is free from the obligation of giving the Tithe. But if he proclaimed it ownerless only for the poor and not for the rich, the School of Shammai say it is deemed ownerless and is therefore Tithe-free. The Mishnah continues that the School of Hillel say that it can be deemed ownerless only if it is proclaimed ownerless equally for the rich. Ramban here is interested only in the language of the Mishnah using a veth (hevkeir) for a phei, and therefore he quotes only the beginning of the Mishnah. [The word hevkeir] is like hephkeir (ownerless). From the expression, The grains ‘avshu’ (shrivel)¹⁶⁵Joel 1:17. comes the word ipush (musty). The term ben p’kua,¹⁶⁶Chullin 69a. Literally: “a child [of an animal] which is ripped open.” [an animal taken alive out of the slaughtered mother’s womb], is used in place of ben b’kua, because the mother was “ripped open” and there was found in it a living offspring of nine months.
In my opinion also, ‘hichpishani’ in ashes¹⁶⁷Lamentations 3:16. is like ‘hichbishani’ (He presses me) [or “He made me cower”] in ashes, the usage of the word being similar to: And replenish the earth, ‘v’chivshuha’ (and subdue it);¹⁶⁸Genesis 1:28. ‘yichbosh’ (He will subdue) our iniquities.¹⁶⁹Micah 7:19. In the language of the Rabbis we also find: “a measure which is k’phushah,”¹⁷⁰Yebamoth 107b. meaning k’vushah, [a measure into which the contents have been “compressed”, and which therefore contains more than its normal measure].
The purport of the verse is thus: “with Your strong and mighty wind, the waters of the sea were piled up, and when You blew the wind with which You control the sea, the sea covered them.” This is the intent of the verse, And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared,¹⁷¹Above, 14:27. for He caused the wind to blow on it as He does at His strength when He ruleth the proud swelling of the sea.¹⁷²Psalms 89:10.

נשפת ברוחך, You used the very same wind You had used to dry out the sea bed after splitting it to now turn against the pursuers and to turned into overwhelming and turbulent waters.

נשפת ברוחך, "You blew with Your wind, etc." This verse enumerates three disasters corresponding to three of Pharaoh's intentions. The reason that Pharaoh (and the Egyptians) were covered by the sea was because he had said: "I will divide the spoils." Even though under normal conditions the horses could have saved themselves by swimming, he was made to lose his own most treasured property, his horses. He and the Egyptians died a slow death as retribution for their declared intention to oppress the Jews even more harshly and to kill their leaders. This is why the Israelites referred to צללו. The Mechilta describes the words כעופרת like lead, as describing how the individual Egyptians were tossed up and down repeatedly by the waves. In their song the Israelites spoke about במים אדירים, powerful waters, to describe two features. A) the descent, i.e. צללו כעופרת; B) their inability to die at once; this is alluded to in the words במים אדירים, the powerful waves which kept tossing the Egyptians up into the air. Israel praised the Lord in recognition of all these phenomena.

צללו כעופרת במים, they sank quickly like lead although the waters were so turbulent [which usually delays the sinking even of objects of heavy specific weight such a lead. Ed.]

נשפת ברוחך, “You blew with Your wind.” Ibn Ezra, pointing out that the meaning of the root נשף is used to describe the evening, claims that G’d’s making the walls of frozen waters collapse was caused by a wind blowing in the evening. My sainted father, the רא'ש, said that the reason that the Torah wrote the line וברוח אפיך נערמו מים before, while here the Torah writes נשפת ברוחך, [two phrases describing activities of רוח, Ed.] is intended to make the miracle appear as even greater than meets the eye at first glance. אף and רוח אף always suggests something hot. Anger is the result of a person becoming “heated.” When the result is that water turns to ice, as was the case here, this is an even greater anomaly. On the other hand, the רוח הפה, [the רוח associated with נשף without the word אף nose, is the exhaling which is an integral part of speech. Ed.] dissolved these ice-cubes.

V. 10. נשף ;נשפת, das verstärkte נשב, wehen. Da נֶשֶף sowohl Abend- als Morgendämmerung heißt, so scheint die Grundbedeutung: räumlicher und zeitlicher Übergang zu sein. Da נשף als Zeitwort nur hier und in וגם נשף בהם ויבשו (Jesaias 40. 24) vorkommt, so kann es auch vielleicht in noch engerem Zusammenhang mit der Bedeutung נֶשֶף, ein Umspringen des Windes bedeuten. Ein Ostwind hatte das Meer gespalten und getürmt. Gott ließ durch einen Westwind die Wasser wieder zurückkehren. — במים אדירים selbst die Gewalt mächtig wogender Wasser hielt sie nicht oben, sondern regungslos sanken sie aus ihren Wagen in die schattige Tiefe.

כעופרת, “like lead.” The word is a derivative of עפר “earth.” Whereas the other six types of metal, if buried in the earth will gradually diminish in weight and substance, lead retains its composition and does not deteriorate.

צללו means THEY SANK, they went deep, — an expression of the same root as (Psalms 69:3) מצולה “the depths”.

אדירים, not a reference to the waters but to the men who had been considered mighty, invincible, etc. [I suppose the unusual exegesis is based on the dividing tone sign tipcha under the word במים, which indicates that it belongs to the preceding words. Ed.] The people to whom Moses refers are the ones who had been described in 14,7 as שלישים על כולו.

צללו כעופרת, “they sank like lead.” They descended into the depths as if they had been lumps of lead. The reason Moses makes mention of this is to tell us that this was a deliberate act of G’d. Although many of the Egyptians did know how to swim, this did not help them at all. No doubt many of them were quite near the shore when all this happened, and yet, not a single one of them managed to escape. Most horsemen would normally be able to save themselves in such conditions, as horses float on the surface of the water, but on this occasion not a single one did. This is the meaning of the line וינער ה' את מצרים בתוך הים, “the Lord poured the Egyptians into the middle of the sea.” (14,28)

TZALALU’ AS LEAD. They went down into “the depths” (m’tzoloth) of the sea as lead. Now Moses mentioned this in the Song twice: They went down into the sea like a stone,¹⁷³Verse 5. and as lead, [mentioned in the verse here], in order to emphasize that this too came upon them from the hand of G-d. There were many persons among the Egyptians who knew how to swim, and they were near dry land, and surely all those who rode on the horses could be expected to be saved since horses are accustomed to swimming in water. Similarly, those that handle the shield¹⁷⁴Jeremiah 46:9. The shield can serve as a board for passing through the surf. See Yebamoth 121 a where Rabbi Akiba relates that once when his boat drowned “I chanced upon a board of the boat and every wave that came upon me I bent my head” and he was thus saved. can save themselves in water, and here not one of them escaped! This is the meaning of the verse, And the Eternal overthrew (‘vay’na’er’) the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.¹⁷¹Above, 14:27. He lifted them with His rough blast,¹⁷⁵Isaiah 27:8. and He lowered them into the sea. The usage of the word is similar to that in the verses: And the wicked ‘v’yina’aru’ (shall be shaken) out of it;¹⁷⁶Job 38:13. And the strong shall be ‘lin’oreth’ (as tow),¹⁷⁷Isaiah 1:31. ‘n’oreth’ being that which is separated and falls off from the flax when it is being prepared [for spinning].

כעופרת LIKE LEAD: old French plomb.