Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Exodo 10:5

The discourse of Abraham the author: Behold, I have endeavored to speak. The One, which precedes calculation, is, from one aspect, the cause of all calculation, and from another aspect, it is all the calculation – it neither adds nor subtracts, yet it is the cause of all addition and subtraction. It does not accept multiplication or division, yet it is the cause of both. And this One is the First World relative to the worlds that are after it. This world is not corporeal, and it is called the "likeness of the glory of the LORD" on high [cf. Ezekiel 1:28]. It does not change in essence or configuration, and it has no time or place, and the honored Name is within it. And the Second World, which is the Middle one – there reside souls/forms of truth without bodies [i.e., angels], and also souls in bodies [celestial intelligences?], and their number is beyond us, as are the bodies [celestial spheres/stars]. And all of them are honored [beings], for they have no opposite, or change, or alteration in their essence, but only incidentally in the configuration of their motion. And this world is called the Holy Temple/Palace (Heikhal Ha-Kodesh), and they are the Heavens of Heavens (Shmei Ha-Shamayim). And there is the Throne of Glory (Kissei Ha-Kavod), and there are Michael and Gabriel. Therefore, Jonathan ben Uzziel translated [Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy...”] as “Holy in the highest heavens, the house of His Shekhinah...” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. And this is what [Isaiah] mentioned first: “sitting upon a throne” [Isaiah 6:1], which is the Throne of Glory, “and His train” – meaning the train/hem of the Throne – “filled the Temple” [Isaiah 6:1]. And he said, “Holy upon the earth, the work of His might...” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. And behold, the two [first declarations of 'Holy'] refer to the hidden [worlds], and afterwards he mentioned “Holy forever and ever” [Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 6:3]. Know that the attribute [of holiness] does not change relative to the places [worlds], therefore the secret of his words is [in the repetition] “And one called...” [Isaiah 6:3]. And behold, the bodies of the Middle World neither begin nor end. And concerning this world it is written: “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts” [Psalms 148:2], also the ministers [planets] and the two luminaries [sun and moon]. And concerning all, it says: “For He commanded and they were created. And He established them forever and ever; He gave a decree, and it shall not pass away” [Psalms 148:5-6]. Yet there is opposition/variety in their movements: some go from east to west, and the opposite [west to east]; also northward and southward; also along the equator; some are direct in their course, some retrograde, some stationary; some swift, some slow; some ascending, some descending; some visible, some hidden; the ministers [planets] alone have 120 conjunctions, and the higher ones [fixed stars?] are countless. Sometimes [they are] in opposition, sometimes in aspects of love. And I say [despite] all this, there is no [conflict] among them, but rather thus are new events generated in the Lower World, on account of their movement and their changing configurations, sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. And these matters require a lengthy explanation, and one book cannot contain the knowledge of their secret and purpose. And the Third World is beneath the firmament, and it is entirely full of bodies, both subtle and dense. And there are bodies containing souls (neshamot), also spirits (ruchot), also life-forces (nefashot). And Man alone is the secret [centerpiece] of this Lower World, and for his sake it was created, and his soul is bound to the higher souls. And because the speaker is human, and the listener is human, therefore [Scripture speaks of] the higher [realities] and the lower [realities] in human terms. Behold, it attributes majesty to the higher and diminishes them [by using physical terms], for I cannot speak [of them] unless it is done thus, and it elevates the lower [by giving them human-like attributes]. Therefore, the Sages, of blessed memory, said: “The Torah speaks in the language of human beings.” They [Scripture] say: “the top of the earth's soil” [Proverbs 8:26], “covered the eye of the land” [Exodus 10:5], “Give ear, O earth” [Isaiah 1:2], “Incline your ear” [cf. Psalms 45:11], and concerning the stone, that it heard the word of the Lord [Joshua 24:27], “And the earth opened its mouth” [Numbers 16:32], “from the ends of the earth” [Isaiah 41:9], “in the heart of the seas” [Exodus 15:8], “on the lip of the river” [Exodus 2:3], “the hand [bank] of the Jordan” [II Kings 2:7], “a helmet of salvation on His head” [Isaiah 59:17], “eyes of the LORD” [Zechariah 4:10], “in the ears of the LORD” [Numbers 11:1], “for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” [Isaiah 1:20], “by the word of Your lips” [Psalms 17:4], “My own hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens” [Isaiah 48:13], “And the LORD said to His heart” [Genesis 8:21], “therefore My inner parts moan for him” [Jeremiah 31:19], “and under His feet” [Exodus 24:10]. And in this manner: “And the anger of the LORD burned” [Numbers 11:1], “the beloved of the LORD” [Deuteronomy 33:12], “And the LORD went” [Exodus 13:21], “The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood” [Psalms 29:10], “Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud” [Isaiah 19:1], “Awake! Why do You sleep?” [Psalms 44:24], “Then the Lord awoke as from sleep” [Psalms 78:65], “I have kept silent from of old, I have been still and restrained Myself” [Isaiah 42:14]. And behold, the Prince of Persia is the one appointed over the large or the middle company/grouping [perhaps referring to a level in the celestial/angelic hierarchy]. And behold, Daniel mentioned the appointed one [Prince of Persia] using the name "angel." And the matter of the additional [statement, Daniel 11:1] confirms this, as it stems from love [mutual support between angels]. And the meaning of the 21 days [of struggle, Daniel 10:13] corresponds to the appointee over Daniel himself, for just as there are appointees over every nation, so there is over every person. And the opposition between this [individual angel] and that [national angel] is the "war" [mentioned in Daniel 10:20]. And behold, this Lower World is the world of opposition and change, in essence, in configuration, and in motion. And the form that Daniel mentioned [the man clothed in linen, Daniel 10:5] appeared to him in prophetic visions. And I have already revealed to you the secret of the holy angels briefly through hints, and there is proof for all this from the words of the Prophets, and also proofs from the external wisdoms [philosophy/science]. And know that the decrees, past and future, come from the heavens, and they are the word of God, and it is written: “Forever, O LORD, Your word stands firm in the heavens” [Psalms 119:89]. And the secret of the configurations [of the heavens] from the beginning of their creation – upon all the configurations of the heavens are the Books [of decree]. Therefore, [this explains] the secret of dreams. And now I will return to explain the words of the angel.

BEHOLD, TOMORROW WILL I BRING LOCUSTS. Commentators¹⁴Ibn Ezra (Verse 5) in the name of another commentator. have said that there was a long interval between the plague of hail and that of locusts, as is suggested by the expression, and [the locusts] shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.¹⁵In the next verse. Since we have been told that the hail broke every tree of the field (above, 9:25), a long interval must have passed to allow the trees to grow back. In my opinion, the interval between these plagues was not a long one but rather was very brief. It is known that the judgment of the Egyptians did not last more than a year, this being so established through our knowledge of the years of Moses our Teacher,¹⁶Moses was eighty years old when he stood before Pharaoh (above, 7:7). Add the forty years of the desert, and you have the one hundred and twenty years he lived (Deuteronomy 34:7). Thus, the elapsed time of all the ten punishments decreed for Egypt could not possibly have been more than a year. just as we have been taught in Tractate Eduyoth:¹⁷Eduyoth 2:10. “The judgment of the Egyptians in Egypt endured twelve months.” And so it is indicated by Scripture when saying, and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail.¹⁸Verse 5. And it is further written, even all that the hail had left,¹⁹Further, Verse 12. thus indicating that it was in that very same year. If so, [we must say that] the hail came down that year during the month of Adar, not before, for the barley was in the ears²⁰Above, 9:31. [and therefore smitten by the hail], but the wheat had not grown up²¹Ibid., Verse 32. and therefore its tender sprouts could not be completely destroyed by the hail, as they would grow back again. Then too the vine had not yet budded, and the trees were not in flower. It is for this reason that Scripture states, and [the hail] broke every tree of the field,²²Above, 9:25. meaning that it broke the branches and boughs. Then, in one month’s time, in the month of Nisan, the wheat and the spelt grew, these being the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail,¹⁸Verse 5. and the trees began to blossom and the flowers appeared. This then is the purport of the word hatzomei’ach (which groweth),¹⁸Verse 5. since the locusts came and ate their blossoms and thus destroyed everything since they did not leave them a blossom or flower. And in this very month, the children of Israel were redeemed [from Egypt]. The verse which states [that the locusts consumed] all the fruit of the tree,²³Verse 15. [which would indicate that there were fruits already on the tree and, therefore, that a long interval must have passed between the plagues of hail and locusts], is to be understood as referring to the flower which produces the fruits, similar to the expression, every herb on the tree,²³Verse 15. [which cannot be understood literally, since herbs do not grow on trees. Consequently, it must be understood as Rashi has it: “any green leaf on the tree.” Here too then, “the fruit of the tree” is not to be taken literally, but should be understood as “the flower of the tree”].

Bahya writes. The plagues in Egypt followed each other in the following way. On the fifteenth of Nisan, the Holy One came to Moses at the thorn bush and told him that he should go to Pharaoh. On the twenty-first day of Nisan, Moses went to his father-in-law to ask if he could leave the land of Midian, since Moses had sworn to Jethro that he would not leave the land of Midian without his permission. Therefore, he had to go to Jethro that he should release him from his vow, so that he could go to Egypt. Moses came before Pharaoh and warned him that he should send out the Israelites. This lasted eight days until the end of the month of Nisan. For three months, Iyyar, Sivan and Tammuz, Moses was in hiding from Pharaoh and away from the Israelites. Thus, the plague of blood began on Rosh Hodesh Ab and lasted for seven days. For three weeks, Pharaoh had a respite between each plague, so that the plagues extended until Rosh Hodesh Nisan. The locusts came on the month of Nisan and lasted for seven days in Nisan. Then came the plague of darkness that also lasted for seven days. This was fourteen days in Nisan and on the fifteenth day of Nisan the plague of the firstborn occurred. Thus, all the plagues lasted for twelve months, a full year. Moses came the first time in Nisan and warned Pharaoh about the plague of the firstborn. This was as if the plagues began in Nisan and lasted until the following Nisan.³Bahya, Exodus, 10:5. Just like the evildoer is in Gehenna for twelve months,⁴B. Shabbat, 33b. so were Pharaoh and his people in troubles and plagues for twelve months.