Comentário sobre Êxodo 13:8

בעבור זה FOR THE SAKE OF THIS — for the sake that I should carry out His commands, such as this Passover offering, this unleavened bread and this bitter herb (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 13:8:1).

IT IS BECAUSE OF THAT THE ETERNAL DID FOR ME. This is equivalent to saying, “It is because of that which the Eternal did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.” A similar case is the verse: And thou shalt show them the way they are to go in,³⁸⁵Further, 18:20. [which means “wherein they are to go”]. There are many such cases. The father is thus stating [to his son]: “It is because of that which G-d did for me when I came forth out of Egypt that I observe this service.” It is similar to that which is stated further on: Therefore I sacrifice to the Eternal all that openeth the womb.³⁸⁶Verse 15.
The intent of the word zeh (that) [in the verse, It is because of ‘that’], is: “tell him ‘that’ which you yourself see, i.e., what G-d did for you when you came forth out of Egypt.” And our Rabbis have explained³⁸⁷Mechilta on the verse before us. that the word zeh (that) alludes to the unleavened bread and bitter herbs that are laid before him.
It is possible that the purport of the verse, And thou shalt tell thy son… It is ‘ba’avur’ (because) of that the Eternal did for me when I came forth out of Egypt, is equivalent to the verse’s saying “such and such did G-d do unto me.” The word ba’avur also serves to indicate something within a subject itself, [and it does not only convey the idea: “because” of some other subject]. This is as the case in the verse, ‘ba’avur’ the child that was alive thou didst fast and weep,³⁸⁸II Samuel 12:21. [which means “while” the child was alive], and not “because”. [David did not fast and weep “because” the child was alive; he fasted and wept “while” the child was alive so that it should get well.]
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that the purport of the verse is: “Because of that which I do and worship Him by eating the Passover-offering and the unleavened bread, the Eternal did for me wonders until He brought me forth out of Egypt.” But it is not correct. I will yet explain this verse.³⁸⁹Further, Verse 16, beginning with: “By way of Truth.” See Ramban’s discussion there which helps to explain why he did not find Ibn Ezra’s — and incidentally, also Rashi’s — explanation of the verse satisfactory. In Ramban’s opinion, the delivery from Egypt, besides having the purpose of enabling Israel to fulfill G-d’s commandments — as Rashi and Ibn Ezra so interpret the verse here — also served another very high purpose, as explained there.

והגדת לבנך, "you shall tell your son, etc." The expression והגדת instead of ואמרת is unusual and our sages in Shabbat 87 state that the term implies "words which are as tough as tendons." Another peculiarity is the expression ביום ההוא, "on that day," whereas immediately afterwards the verse concludes with the expression בעבור זה, "on account of this." The Haggadah shel Pessach as well as the Mechilta understand the verse as referring to a time when Matzah and bitter herbs are in front of you, i.e. at night. Seeing that I know that the time for that recital is at night, why did the Torah have to mention "on that day" at all? Furthermore, why do we need the word לאמור seeing that the Torah already wrote והגדת, "you shall tell?"