Комментарий к Шмот 7:25

וימלא AND THERE WAS COMPLETED (the verb is singular) שבעת ימים the number of SEVEN DAYS during which the river did not return to its original condition. For each plague functioned a quarter of a month and for three quarters He warned and cautioned them (Midrash Tanchuma, Vaera 13; Exodus Rabbah 9:12).

And seven days were fulfilled after that the Eternal had smitten the river.¹³⁰Verse 25. This is connected with the verse above, and the purport thereof is as follows: And with this¹³¹The verse states, ‘Vayimalei’ (And it was fulfilled) seven days, using a singular verb when the verb actually required is a plural: vayimal’u (and they were fulfilled). Rashi explained it by adding the word minyan (number) in the singular, explaining it thus: “and the number of seven days was fulfilled.” Ramban suggests that the verse is connected to the preceding one and is to be understood with the additional word of bazeh (with this), thus rendering the sense of the verse: “and with this activity — i.e., with the Egyptians’ digging, etc., as stated in the above Verse 24 — was filled (or completed) seven days.” — namely, the Egyptians’ digging round about the river for they could not drink of the water of the river, [as stated in Verse 24] — with this was filled the seven days after the river had been smitten.

שבעת ימים, this was the duration of the plague that struck the river.

וימלא שבעת ימים, Seven days went by, etc. The word וימלא, "became full," refers to the pre-arranged length G'd had ordained for the plague. After that period had elapsed, G'd told Moses to go and see Pharaoh again (verse 26). The Torah tells us this detail to show us the obstinacy of Pharaoh who could let an entire week go by without making an effort to somehow have this plague terminated. All of this is in accordance with an opinion expressed in Shemot Rabbah 9,12 that Moses spent 24 days warning Pharaoh of the impending plague whereas once the plague materialised it remained in effect for seven days. According to the opinion that it was the other way around, i.e. that Moses warned Pharaoh of the impending plague for seven days running, whereas once the plague materialised it lasted for 24 days, the seven days mentioned here refer to the period of warning. The plague then would have remained in effect for the remainder of the month. The problem with this explanation is the plague of darkness which is described as being intense for three days (10,22). Perhaps both the plague of darkness and the plague of blood were exceptions and the author of the opinion that the plagues remained in effect for 24 days agrees that the water in the river did not remain blood for 24 days on end. This would account for the fact that the Torah mentions a time frame only in the case of those two plagues. I believe that even though G'd had set a time-limit for each plague, Moses' prayer would have sufficed to terminate the plague sooner.

וימלא שבעת ימים, “seven days had elapsed.” This verse is a continuation of the previous verse that had told us that the Egyptians had been unable to drink the waters of the river without telling us for how long such a condition continued. For seven whole days the Egyptians, in order to secure drinking water for themselves, had to dig in the neighbourhood of the river’s embankment Ibn Ezra writes that many people claim that the waters which, while in the hands of the Egyptians had turned red, immediately resumed normal colour as soon as the Jews held it in their hands. If that were true, why did the Torah not mention this additional miracle? Personally, [Ibn Ezra speaking, Ed.] I believe that the first three plagues, i.e. blood, frogs, and the vermin, struck not only the Egyptians but also the Israelites, seeing that these three plague caused relatively little damage to either property or life. I believe we are duty-bound to pay careful attention to the text, and seeing that the first three plagues were more of a nuisance than a real danger to life and property, and the Torah did not spell out, as it did later- that the Israelites were immune, we must assume that they were not. Only the fourth plague, wild beasts invading urban areas and wreaking havoc, were major disasters, and the fact that these beasts would not invade the province of Goshen, home to most of the Israelites, was predicted at the time when Moses warned Pharaoh of the impending plague. (verse 18) All subsequent plagues struck only the Egyptians, as testified by the Torah. Therefore I conclude, that just as the Egyptians had to dig for water- but they secured it for themselves- so did the Israelites. Ibn Ezra’s determination to follow the plain meaning of the text prompted him to even assume that the locust and the boils (8th and 6th plague), which did not pose serious danger to people, afflicted also the Israelites. [Our author not only accuses him of ignoring the approach of our sages, but considers this as unnecessarily accusing G’d of afflicting His own people as if He were not able to immunize them. Ed.]

וימלא שבעת ימים, “seven days were completed.” The Torah spells out that the duration of the first plague was seven days, the length of time a menstruating woman is bleeding or is considered impure due to bleeding. The ritual state of the Egyptians was comparable to that of a menstruating woman. The Torah did not bother to give us data for the length of subsequent plagues as they lasted seven days unless otherwise reported. The interval between one plague and the next was 21 days so that a plague and its aftermath lasted approx. a month. We find this confirmed by Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir in his liturgical poem (recited in Ashkenazi congregations on the eighth day of Passover, commencing with the words מה מועיל רשע רשע בעליו) He says there that a full month was allocated to each plague and that three quarters of the month was allowed for warning and waiting. The fourth part of the month was the actual duration of the plague.

The number of seven days. . . Rashi is explaining why it is not written וְיִמָּלְאוּ , [the plural form of “full,” instead of וימלא , which is the singular form.] Rashi explains that וַיִמָּלֵא refers to the number, [which is singular,] and not to “seven days.”

וימלא שבעת ימים, “seven complete days had passed.” According to Rashi, this was the pattern of all the plagues, that a plague lasted for one quarter of the month, whereas the warning that preceded it was in effect for the other three quarters of that month, so that each plague was relevant for a whole month. This interpretation is derived from Psalms 135,9: שלח אותות ומופתים בתוככי מצרים, “He sent signs and miracles against Egypt.” The last two letters in the word בתוככי, whose numerical value is 30 were unnecessary, and are the hint that each plague was relevant for 30 days.Our author raises the point that according to the wording in Rashi, the month had only 28 days then. He suggests as a possible solution, that the Egyptians were given the extra two days after the completion of each plague as a sort of “relief” before the warning of the following plague was issued. A further question is raised concerning the length of the plague of darkness, where the Torah described the most intense portion of that plague as having lasted for three days. (Exodus 10,22-23). He suggests that when we read in Exodus 14,20: ויהי הענן והחושך, “there was both the cloud and the darkness,” (as the beaches of the sea of reeds) the missing days were made up. (Compare Sh’mot Rabbah 14,3.) It is notable that in the Haggadah shel Pesssach, the text we read on the first night of Passover, where Rabbi Yehudah sums us the plagues on an acronym- דצ'ך עד'ש באח'ב, and everyone asks what he contributed to our understanding of those events by doing so, that Rabbi Yitzchok son of Rabbi Asher, who was born on the same calendar date as the death of his father, so that he was given the same name as that of his late father, they applied to him the words of the verse: וזרח השמש ובא השמש, “a new sun began to shine as soon as the sun had set,” (Kohelet 1,8) pointed out that when we place the three acronyms of Rabbi Yehudah one on top of the other like this: דצך, עדש, באחב you will find both at the beginning, the middle and the end the acronym for the three plagues of כנים, שחין, and חשך. [Our author adds that he will not elaborate further, presumably because he had not figured out how this is arrived at by Rabbi Yitzchok. This editor remembers his father of blessed memory explaining to him, that these were the three plagues not preceded by a warning. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah may have wished to remind the reader that the order in which the plagues occurred was the one listed in the Torah, and not the order in which the plagues are listed in the Book of psalms (chapter 105). The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin, folio 81 [Mishnah] relates that it was customary if people had been administered 39 lashes for having committed sins that qualified for such a penalty, if they sinned repeatedly, to lock them up and feed them a diet of barley until the sinner’s intestines collapsed and he died.

For each plague functioned for a quarter of a month. . . in other words, seven days. You might object: But the plague of darkness lasted only six days, as indicated in Parshas Bo (10:22). The answer is: Later, in Parshas Beshalach (14:20) it said: “There was cloud and darkness and the night was illuminated.” This means: The cloud and darkness was for Egypt, while the night was illuminated for Yisrael. And why was there darkness for Egypt? Because there, Hashem punished them with the seventh day of darkness that He did not bring upon them at first.

אחרי הכות ה' את היאור, “after the Lord had struck the river Nile;” the reason why G–d smote the river Nile first was that the Egyptians considered it as providing the backbone to their economy, its waters irrigating their fields. G–d reasoned that He would first smite the Egyptians’ deity and, if this did not help, the Egyptians themselves. This principle is described as a parable in the Tanchuma section 13 on our portion: a layman decides to destroy the idol first, which will make it easier subsequently to destroy its priests.