Comentário sobre Êxodo 3:16
לֵ֣ךְ וְאָֽסַפְתָּ֞ אֶת־זִקְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֤ אֲלֵהֶם֙ יְהוָ֞ה אֱלֹהֵ֤י אֲבֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ נִרְאָ֣ה אֵלַ֔י אֱלֹהֵ֧י אַבְרָהָ֛ם יִצְחָ֥ק וְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לֵאמֹ֑ר פָּקֹ֤ד פָּקַ֙דְתִּי֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְאֶת־הֶעָשׂ֥וּי לָכֶ֖ם בְּמִצְרָֽיִם׃
Vai, ajunta os anciãos de Israel e dize-lhes: O SENHOR, o Deus de vossos pais, o Deus de Abraão, de Isaque e de Jacó, apareceu-me, dizendo: certamente vos tenho visitado e visto o que vos tem sido feito no Egito;
Rashi on Exodus
את זקני ישראל THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL, those singled out to attend meetings, (i. e. the leaders) (cf. Yoma 28b). If, however, you should say that the text means old men in the ordinary sense I ask: How was it possible for him to gather all the old men amongst a male population of 600,000?
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Sforno on Exodus
פקד פקדתי אתכם, seeing that you are their descendants.
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Or HaChaim on Exodus
לך ואספת את זקני ישראל, "Go and gather the elders of lsrael,etc." The reason that G'd repeats here again what Moses is to say maybe that when Moses would arrive in Egypt he was to tell the entire people that he had come as messenger from G'd. After that he would assemble the elders and tell them the nature of his mission, namely that G'd had remembered His people and was about to redeem them.
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Rabbeinu Bahya
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Rav Hirsch on Torah
V. 16. Es ist gewiss nicht ohne tiefe Beziehung, dass hier und so auch sonst immer, nachdem bereits א׳ אבותיכם gesagt ist, noch speziell א׳ אברהב וגו׳ hervorgehoben wird. Es liegt nicht fern, dass damit uns immer gegenwärtig gehalten wird, wie unsere Beziehung zu Gott völlig unabhängig von unserer äußeren Schicksalsstellung sei. So ungleich die Väter in ihrem Schicksalsgange erscheinen, im Aufblühen wie Abraham, im Zenit und Niedergang wie Isaak, und scheinbar erliegend wie Jaakow, die Gottesnähe und der Gottesbund bleibt immer aufrecht, in jedem offenbart sich Gott und jedem ist die Gottesgnade zugesichert. —
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Chizkuni
את זקני ישראל, “the elders of the people of Israel.” Rashi understands the word: זקני here as referring to the “elders” in the sense of the leading sages; he adds that it would have been impossible for Moses to assemble all the aged people in a nation of over 600000. Exodus 4,29, where a similar assembly is reported must be understood in the same way.
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Sforno on Exodus
ואת העשוי לכם במצרים, seeing that I hate violence and cruelty.
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Or HaChaim on Exodus
The reason that Moses was to announce the fact that he came as G'd's messenger to the whole people first, was to make them assemble around him. Who would bother to gather around him unless he had first made an announcement that would make the Israelites take notice of him? In His wisdom G'd had instructed Moses what to say to the Israelites and what to say to the assembly of elders. He was to address the elders separately out of respect for them as we know from Vayikra Rabbah 11,8 that in the future G'd will allocate a special place where the elders will be seated.
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Rav Hirsch on Torah
אתכם ואת העשוי לכם, in doppelter Beziehung habe ich bereits die Verhältnisse mit den entsprechenden Verhängnissen "umkleidet": Euch, insofern eure Bestimmung eine Änderung eurer Lage heischt; das an euch Verübte, insofern es an sich als größtes völkertümliches Verbrechen die Gerechtigkeit Gottes aufruft.
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Or HaChaim on Exodus
פקוד פקדתי, "I have surely remembered, etc." G'd speaks of two separate remembrances, 1) the final stage of the redemption, 2) the end of their suffering. When G'd says: אתכם He referred to the final stage of the redemption, when He said: ואת העשוי לכם He referred to the torture the Israelites were experiencing while performing slave labour. G'd also hinted to the Israelites that He would punish the Egyptians for what they had done to the Israelites already.
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