Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Exodo 1:12

and they would slaughter sacrifices to the baalim. It is customary for Scripture to speak in this manner. Comp. (above 4:7) “The more they have increased, the more they have sinned against Me”; (Ex. 1:12) “And the more they afflicted them, the more they increased.”

But Moab, meaning the general masses, did not consider what had happened before. Because they did not know what it was, and they were only afraid of the present situation — what they saw with their eyes: a numerous and mighty people. Therefore it says, Moab feared the people because they were numerous. The common people of Moab were afraid of two groups, and one fear was not like the other. They feared the mixed multitude [erev rav] because of their great numbers, as it is stated in the Midrash that the mixed multitude was twice 600,000, and about them it says, Moab feared the people because they were numerous. The verse calls the mixed multitude by the name the people, because they were not from the children of Israel, because they were numerous — for they were truly many. But the children of Israel, who were not so numerous, they did not fear them due to their numbers. However, from another perspective, the fear of Israel was upon them, about which it says, Moab was disgusted because of the children of Israel.
As we explained in Parshat Shemot (Exodus 1:12) on the verse and they were disgusted because of the children of Israel, the meaning is not that Israel became like thorns in their eyes, for if that were the case, it should have said “they were disgusted with the children of Israel.” What is the meaning of because of? Rather, the opposite is logical — that the Egyptians compared themselves to thorns in relation to the children of Israel, who were compared to a vine, as it says: You removed a vine from Egypt; You drove out nations and planted it. You cleared a place before it, and it took root and filled the land (Psalms 80:9-10).
For it is the way of the world that when a field owner wants to plant a vineyard in a field full of thorns, he uproots the thorns from their roots and throws them far away in order to plant the vine in their place. Likewise, the Egyptians feared that Israel would be planted in the land like a vine, and they [the Egyptians] would be driven from the land like a fleeing thorn (2 Samuel 23:6), as it says, And they will go up from the land (Exodus 1:10). It should have said “and we will go up,” etc. Therefore it says, they were disgusted because of the children of Israel, meaning they would be shaken out from the land because of the children of Israel who were compared to a vine.
Similarly, it says here, Moab was disgusted because of the children of Israel. They were afraid lest Moab become like a thorn cast out from the land because of the children of Israel, because of the vine which God moved from Egypt to drive out nations before them and plant them there. Therefore it says the children of Israel for Israel the elder is no more because he has already gone to his world, but his children would come there. But not the mixed multitude who are called the people for what advantage does one man have over another (Sanhedrin 65b)? And what advantage does the mixed multitude have over other nations that would cause God to drive out nations for them and plant them in their place, if not on account of the children of Israel?

Second Explanation: The second explanation of Mah Nishtanah is related to Rabban Gamliel’s statement later in the Haggadah in which he explains why we eat the Passover offering, the matzah and the bitter herbs. Clearly, the reason for matzah is to commemorate freedom while the reason for the bitter herbs is to remind us of slavery. We eat them together with the Passover offering (according to Hillel), to include all of these remembrances together. But why do we explain them out of order? The bitter herbs should have been explained first in Rabban Gamliel’s statement and in the Haggadah. And yet we put the matzah before the bitter herbs. Why do we even need a reminder of slavery and bitterness? We don’t have such a reminder on Purim or Chanukah – also reminders of God’s miraculous redemption.
Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz⁵⁴Sh’nei Luchot HaBerit, Page 161b Isaiah Horowitz, (c. 1565 – March 24, 1630), also known as the Shelah ha-Kadosh (the holy Shelah) after the title of his best-known work, was a prominent rabbi and mystic. Horowitz was born in Prague in around 1565. He was a wealthy and active philanthropist, supporting Torah study, especially in Jerusalem. After serving as rabbi in many prominent cities in Europe, he left Frankfurt am Main - following the Fettmilch uprising - and assumed the prestigious position of rabbi of Prague. In 1620, after the death of his wife, he moved to Palestine and remarried there. He was kidnapped in Jerusalem and ransomed by the local Pasha; he then moved to Safed (1626), erstwhile home of Kabbalah. Horowitz died in Tiberias on March 24, 1630. explains that it was because of righteous women that the Jewish people were redeemed from slavery. They knew that the people of Israel could not be redeemed until they gave birth to 600,000, equal to the number of letters in the Torah that they would receive at Mount Sinai. Therefore they remained attached and devoted to their husbands even in the face of oppression. That is why scripture says, “But the more they oppressed them, the more they increased and spread out.”⁵⁵Exodus 1:12 It was through the great oppression that a great purpose came about; the people were fertile and increased, and became a mighty nation of 600,000 so that they could become worthy of receiving the Torah. Therefore, the bitter herbs actually served the purpose of making Israel worthy of receiving the Torah – this happened after the Exodus so the question of bitter herbs also follows the question regarding the matzah.
The Mah Nishtanah implies this explanation. The child wants to know why we ask questions regarding freedom first before we ask questions about slavery. After all, matzah is a symbol of freedom while matzah and dipping are symbols of slavery. The dipping in charoset is a reminder of the mortar with which they made the bricks while leaning is a symbol of freedom. Even though Don Isaac Abarbanel suggested that matzah is a symbol of slavery and we call it the bread of affliction, in reality it is a symbol of freedom; that is why we are supposed to lean when we eat the matzah. There is also an association of freedom with bitter herbs, thus while we don’t lean when we eat the bitter herbs, it is permissible to do so!

the more they have sinned against me As they multiplied and increased, so they continued to sin. (Heb. כֵן חָטְאוּ.) So is the Hebrew expression in numerous places: “As they afflicted them, so they increased (Heb. כֲּאֲשֶׁר יְעַנוּ אוֹתוֹ כֵן יִרְבֶּה);” “As they called them so they turned away from them, (Heb. קָרְאוּ לָהֶם כֵּן הָלְכוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם Hosea 11:2),” the more the prophets called after them to rebuke them, so they ran away from them.