וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוָ֜ה לָ֗הּ שְׁנֵ֤י גיים [גוֹיִם֙] בְּבִטְנֵ֔ךְ וּשְׁנֵ֣י לְאֻמִּ֔ים מִמֵּעַ֖יִךְ יִפָּרֵ֑דוּ וּלְאֹם֙ מִלְאֹ֣ם יֶֽאֱמָ֔ץ וְרַ֖ב יַעֲבֹ֥ד צָעִֽיר׃
И сказал ей Господь: в твоем утробе два народа, и два народа будут отделены от твоих недр; И один народ будет сильнее других; И старший должен служить младшему.
Sefat Emet
Regarding the verse "Come, let us deal shrewdly [with them], etc., lest they multiply, etc." And also [the phrase] "and join, etc., and go up from the land." There are two interpretations in Rashi, but they are really one.For behold, the Sages have taught that the Egyptian exile and all the exiles are for the purpose of elevating the holy sparks [nitzotzei kedushah] that are in all places, as we find [Genesis 13:10] "like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt." If so, certainly there were hidden treasures there. And also regarding Joseph's words, the Sages hinted that he hid three treasures, etc. And certainly also the Egyptians—those wise men among them—understood this. Therefore they wanted to afflict the Children of Israel with hard labor so that they would not have the strength to extract "their prey" [these treasures] from their mouths. This is what is written: "lest they multiply"—for when good increases over evil, the good sparks are clarified from the mixture. "And when war befalls us"—meaning [war] with the side of holiness. "And join [nosaf] also"—this refers to that small light hidden that is found even among them [the Egyptians]. "And go up from the land"—that point [of light] through the ascent of the Children of Israel, as it says [Exodus 3:22] "and you shall despoil Egypt, etc."Regarding the two interpretations: There is a hint in the Masoretic tradition that the Ba'al HaTurim brings—"venosaf gam hu" [and also join] connects to [Proverbs 11:24] "yesh mefazer venosaf od" [there is one who scatters yet increases more]—that the scattering of Israel is only in order to add converts to them, as stated in the Gemara, and this is a hint to the holy sparks as mentioned above.[Exodus 1:12] "But the more they afflicted them [the more they multiplied]"—for according to the extent of the labor, Israel became stronger, as it says [Genesis 25:23] "and one nation shall be stronger than the other." And Rashi [explains]: Just as they set their heart to afflict, so did the Holy One Blessed be He set His heart to multiply, etc. The meaning is: it should have just said "increased and spread," but rather the Holy One repaid Israel according to the intention and thought of the wicked to afflict them, even though they did not succeed. With the wicked, thought is combined with deed [i.e., they are judged for their evil intentions]. And according to their evil thought, so did the Holy One calculate the good for Israel.