Комментарий к Шмот 9:14

את כל מגפתי [FOR I WILL THIS TIME SEND] ALL MY PLAGUES — We may gather from this that the plague on the first ripe ears outweighed all the previous plagues.

מגפותי, different damage causing plagues, such as fire, hail, and brimstones, snow and heavy smoke.

כי בפעם הזאת, this time when I demonstrate My power over the third category of phenomena, the atmosphere and what it contains, אני שולח את כל מגפותי אל לבך ובעבדיך ובעמך, every plague which I am about to send will affect each one of you even after the plague itself departs. The damage caused by the plague while it was active will be felt long after the plague has departed. The after-effect could be felt because of the vegetables remaining having suffered damage from the hail. The unnatural type of darkness would also leave behind it unpleasant after-effects, as the whole atmosphere would have been affected during the period of no light. If we consider that for three days running no one could even rise from his chair or bed, we can imagine that this was not merely an absence of daylight. The plagues that had preceded the hail had not left behind them permanent after-effects.

כי בפעם הזאת…את כל מגפותי, "for this time… all My plagues." G'd informed Pharaoh of the powerful impact of the impending plague of hail. This is why the warning was as severe as the death that would follow if it were not observed. This was in accordance with the rule that if someone guilty of a sin carrying the death penalty by stoning was warned of a lesser death penalty such as strangulation, the court would not be able to convict.

את כל מגפותי, “all My plagues.” The Torah describes the phenomenon of this hail as “G’d’s plagues,” (plural mode) although it is listed as only one of ten plagues. The reason is that it consisted of so many different components, i.e. thunder, rain, hail, and fire. This clearly was the plague that shook Pharaoh more than any other so far, as he reacted by admitting that the Lord was righteous and that he as well as his people were the wicked ones.

We learn from here that מכת בכורות . . . We cannot say that “ מכת בכורות ” means the slaying of the first-born, because if so, why is it mentioned here? Therefore, Rabbeinu Tam of Orleans explains it as מַכַּת בַּכּוּרוֹת , an expression of בִּכּוּרִים (ripening produce). This is because the plague of hail, [of which this section speaks,] smote only the ripe produce — as is written (v. 31), “Since the barley was ripe, and the flax had formed into stalks,” upon which Rashi comments, “ שֶבִּכְּרוּ ”. You might object: In Parshas Shemos (4:23) it says: “Behold, I will slay your firstborn son,” on which Rashi comments that the slaying of the firstborn was the most severe plague. An answer is: The slaying of the firstborn was indeed the most severe plague for Pharaoh. But for the people, who were left without anything to eat, hail was the most severe plague. Another answer is: When Rashi said that the hail “is equivalent to all the plagues,” this refers to the plagues that preceded it. However, the plagues that followed it were even more severe. The Maharshal writes: According to Rabbeinu Tam of Orleans, why does our verse say: “For this time ( בפעם הזאת ), I will send. . .”? Rather, it seems to me that the verse means as follows: [Hashem is saying to Pharaoh,] “Do not think that I cannot kill you, by claiming that I first sent the severe plague of pestilence and then the lighter plague of boils — and thus I am unable to kill you, for otherwise why did I not kill you with pestilence.” Rather, “ בפעם הזאת I will send all my plagues.” In other words, the time will come when I will slay the first-born, [which is equivalent to all the plagues,] and then “you will know that there is none like Me in all the earth.” Then, you will admit yourself that “I [could] have extended My hand, and struck you and your people with the pestilence. . .” (v. 15).

For this time. During the first three plagues (דצ''ך—blood, frogs, and lice) Pharaoh did not believe that the plagues came from Hashem and His Providence, because they struck the entire land of Egypt. In the next group (עד''ש—wild animals, pestilence, and rash) Hashem told him He would set apart the land of Goshen, and he perceived the Divine Providence. In the final set (באח''ב—hailstones, locusts, darkness, and the killing of the firstborn) Hashem showed him that He was Unique, for they were exceptionally miraculous plagues. Therefore, Hashem referred to this set all together as, “all my plagues,” especially in reference to the killing of the firstborn.

V. 14. את כל מגפתי: Diesmal wirst du eine Vorstellung von dem erhalten, was du noch alles von mir zu erwarten habest, wenn du dich noch länger widersetzest. כי אין כמני, dass du mich in gar keine Parallele zu deinen Göttern setzen kannst, dass ich ein grundverschiedenes Wesen bin. בכל הארץ: in dem Machteinfluss über alles Irdische.

את כל מגפותי, “all My plagues;” according to Rashi what we are to learn from this verse (“all My plagues”) is that the plague of killing the Egyptians’ firstborns is considered as equivalent to all the plagues. [There are different errors in different manuscripts of Rashi, as a result of which it is not clear whether Rashi spoke about the plague of hail, or the last group of plagues commencing with hail and concluding with the slaying of the firstborn. I will not speculate, therefore [I omit speculations quoted by the author also. Ed.]

בעבור תדע כי אין כמוני בכל הארץ, this realisation will come to you when you observe how I enjoy complete mastery of the atmosphere. G’d reserved the demonstration that He also had complete control of all the phenomena in outer space, or in extra terrestrial regions for the time when He split the Sea of Reeds. When the Egyptians observed the movements of the pillars of fire and the columns of cloud, all of which moved in a manner which reflected that they were being directed by a higher power.

כל מגפותי, "all My plagues, etc." The obvious question here is that we observe that this was not the last plague but was followed by three more plagues; what did G'd mean then when He described hail as "all My plagues?" One would have been tempted to say that the severity of that plague made it qualify for the description "all My plagues," were it not for Rashi who said that the plague of the dying of the firstborn was equal in severity to all the other plagues combined. Perhaps we have to understand this plague as being equal in severity "to all the preceding plagues together." If we accept such an interpretation the plague of the dying of the firstborn would then be equivalent to 14 plagues, something that does not seem to make too much sense.

I therefore feel that G'd meant to tell Pharaoh that the impact of this particular plague would change his attitude to all the plagues G'd had brought upon him thus far. Up until now Pharaoh had not really attributed the plagues to G'd's superior power, but had seen in them a display of powerful magic, the work of ghosts and demons. One of his reasons was that his own magicians appeared able to duplicate those plagues. Although his magicians had told him that they could not duplicate (or remove) the plague of כנם, insects, and this was a "finger of G'd," Pharaoh chose to interpret this as an admission that they felt outclassed by Moses and Aaron in their craft. Pharaoh was still convinced that somewhere there were magicians who could do what Moses and Aaron had demonstrated. G'd wanted to disabuse Pharaoh of such ideas and that is why He said "this time," etc., meaning that even Pharaoh would be forced to admit that no human being was capable of producing the kind of hail he was about to experience. G'd added that He would bring this to the attention of Pharaoh's heart, לבך. Up until that moment Pharaoh may have reacted only with his eyes or with his mind. G'd stressed the word מגפותי, "My plagues," to emphasise that these phenomena emanated directly from G'd. No demon or sorcerer could possibly wield such power.

אל לבך, “against your heart;” not only trees can be broken, but hearts can also be “broken.” This occurs when the heart is overwhelmed by fear. The letter ב in לבך has a dot, dagesh.