Comentário sobre Êxodo 7:4

את ידי this must be translated literally, “hand”, (not “power”) I will lay My hand upon Egypt to smite them.

ולא ישמע אליכם פרעה; not before the plague materialises after the warning, nor even after the plague did come to pass. He will not listen to you even after having endured many such plagues. Seeing that this is so, I will be forced to bring retribution upon them. This retribution will take the form of the killing of the firstborn as well as the drowning of all the military might of Egypt in the sea. The retribution will be seen as a punishment to fit their crimes. All the other plagues are only designed to encourage repentance, not as a form of retribution. Four times the Torah introduces this objective of the plagues. In 7,17 the Torah writes למען תדע כי אני ה', “so that you will know that I am the Lord.” In 8,18 the Torah writes: בעבור תדע כי אני ה' בקרב הארץ, “so that you will know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth (not only in heaven).” In 9,29 the Torah writes: למען שיתי אותותי אלה בקרבו ולמען תספר...וידעתם, “this is why I perform all these miracles of Mine right in its midst, so that you will tell…. and finally realise that there is no one like Me anywhere (9,14).”

ולא ישמע אליכם פרעה, "and Pharaoh will not listen to you." Why did the Torah have to say that Pharaoh would not listen to Moses and Aaron after G'd had already said in verse three that He would harden the heart of Pharaoh? We also need to understand what G'd meant when He spoke about placing His hand on Egypt, which appears to mean something over and beyond the plagues with which G'd will strike Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

ונתתי את ידי במצרים, “I will put My hand upon Egypt;” the word ידי when applied to G’d, Who has no physical dimension, is parallel to the hand of a human being who uses it to punish, to inflict pain.

והוצאתי את צבאותי, “and I will take out My hosts.” Here G’d referred to the Jewish people as “My hosts.” He meant to contrast them and their influence on earth with that of the planetary system. In Deut. 1,10 Moses himself refers to the multitude of the Jewish people as “here you are to-day as numerous as the stars in the heaven.” When G’d said צבאותי, He also referred to His hosts in the celestial regions. The correct translation of our verse is: “I will lead forth My celestial hosts together with My people on earth the Children of Israel.” This is another instance from which our sages derive their oft-repeated principle (Megillah 29) that the Shechinah was exiled together with the Jewish people. If even a relatively high celestial Being such as the Shechinah considered itself in exile while the Jewish people were in exile, how much more so is this true of other (lower) echelons of celestial beings! The Talmud Shevuot 35 stipulates that the word צבאות ranks as one of the names of G’d therefore must not be erased. The reason is that it represents the heavenly hosts. When later on (12,41) the Torah speaks of יצאו כל צבאות ה’ מארץ מצרים, “all the hosts of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt,” the reference is to both G’d’s celestial and terrestrial hosts (compare Mechilta on that verse).

V. 4. Durch diese in ihrem letzten Zweck für die ganze Menschheit zu geschehenden אותות und מופתים soll zunächst Israel צבאות ד׳ und עם ד׳ werden, bevor ich sie zur Freiheit und Selbständigkeit hinausführe. Die dadurch gewonnene Gotteserkenntnis sammelt sie zu צבא um ד׳ und eint sie als עם ד׳ unter einander. Über צבא, siehe (Bereschit 2, 1). Sie sammeln sich um mich als ihren Führer, ordnen sich meinen Befehlen unter, erhalten für den Posten, auf welchen ich sie gestellt, meine צוה=צבה) מצות) und diese Gemeinsamkeit um mich gibt ihnen die Einigung als Volksgesamtheit zu einander. Israel heißt aber nicht צבא ד׳, sondern צבאות ד׳, ganz in dem Sinne, in welchem es nicht nur גוי, sondern auch קהל גוים heißt, indem es eine Mannigfaltigkeit der verschiedensten Volkseigentümlichkeiten zur Konstatierung der Tatsache darstellen soll, dass die תורה, der jüdische Beruf, an keinen Stand, keine Volkseigentümlichkeit gebunden ist, vielmehr die Gesamtmenschheit in allen Nuancen zur Unterordnung unter Gott ladet. Daher auch בצאת ישראל וגו׳ ישראל ממשלותיו, nicht ממשלתו; Israel wird ein Komplex der verschiedensten Berufskreise, in welchen allen das Gotteswort als leitender Wille zur Herrschaft kommt (siehe Bereschit 35, 11).

ולא ישמע אליכם פרעה, “and Pharaoh will not pay any heed to you.” This verse cannot be understood as a prediction of future events, as during the tenth plague Pharaoh did heed Moses’ and Aaron’s warnings, finally. It is a reminder to Moses of what G-d had told him already before the commencement of the plagues.

צבאותי, “My hosts.” Just as the angels are perceived as G’d’s army in the celestial spheres, so the Jewish people are His army on earth.

I believe that we must understand the verse thus: First of all, G'd announces that He would harden Pharaoh's heart as a result of which He would bring many plagues upon him. The plagues would prove counterproductive (initally) and make Pharaoh even more obstinate, adding still more sins to his already considerable culpability. Eventually, he would not even want to listen to what Moses and Aaron had been instructed to tell him. This is in fact what happened in 10,28 when Pharaoh bans Moses and Aaron from appearing again in His presence. G'd announces to Moses already at this point that when that stage will be reached it would be the limit of obstinacy that Pharaoh is allowed. Immediately after that ban G'd brought the final plague of the dying of the Egyptian firstborns upon him, as a result of which he would not only release the Israelites but expel them.

We find confirmation of this meaning of the word "My hand," when we read in Chronicles I 21,16 that David observed the angel of death with drawn sword in "his hand." In our instance, G'd refers to the fact that He personally would bring this plague upon Pharaoh by describing His activity as ידי, "My hand." This is why the Mechilta on Exodus 11,4 states that He Himself would be active as distinct from any of His agents. G'd also alluded to the destruction He would bring upon the various Egyptian deities at that time.

When we keep all this in mind we can understand Moses' comment that "I will not continue to see your face," which appears as somewhat high-handed at first. Whence did Moses know that G'd would not send him to speak to Pharaoh again in spite of Pharaoh's threat? The answer is that Moses had been told already in our verse exactly how things would develop. Instead of questioning Moses' statement we should congratulate him on recognising that Pharaoh had reached the end of his rope when he forbade Moses and Aaron to appear before him and threatened to have them executed in the event they would come to him again. Up until then Pharaoh had only refused to listen to G'd's instructions. The moment he even refused to grant an interview to G'd's messengers he had forfeited all further consideration. Actually, this was already the second allusion to the eventual slaying of the firstborn, the first time being when G'd referred to "My firstborn, Israel," as I have demonstrated in my commentary on 4,22.

והוצאתי את צבאותי את עמי, "I will take out My hosts, My people, etc." Who exactly are the ones G'd describes as צבאותי, "My hosts?" If the reference is to the Israelites, the Torah should have written: את צבאות עמי, "the hosts who are My people." Perhaps G'd wanted to illustrate the superior stature of the Israelites, i.e. that of all of G'd's hosts none could compare to His people Israel. Had the Torah used the words: את צבאות עמי, the impression would have been created that G'd has many hosts, the Israelites being merely one of many. By saying צבאותי, further identification became unnecessary as only one people qualified for such a description. Subsequently the Torah does identify G'd's people by mentioning Israel by name. The whole verse can be understood according to the classic principle of כלל ופרט. Whenever that rule is applied the פרט, i.e. the details are automatically closely related to what is stated in the כלל, the subject in the general statement, i.e. only the Israelites could have been meant in the description צבאותי. The Torah therefore wanted the world to know that as of that moment whenever mention is made of G'd's hosts only the Israelites are meant.