וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ הַֽחַרְטֻמִּים֙ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה אֶצְבַּ֥ע אֱלֹהִ֖ים הִ֑וא וַיֶּחֱזַ֤ק לֵב־פַּרְעֹה֙ וְלֹֽא־שָׁמַ֣ע אֲלֵהֶ֔ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָֽה׃ (ס)
און די חַרטומים האָבן געזאָגט צו פַּרעהן: אַ פינגער פֿון גאָט איז דאָס. אָבער פַּרעהס האַרץ איז געבליבן פֿעסט, און ער האָט ניט צוגעהערט צו זײ; אַזױ װי גאָט האָט גערעדט.
Shemot Rabbah
“Afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said to Pharaoh: So said the Lord, God of Israel: Let My people go, and they will hold a feast to Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 5:1).
“Afterward Moses and Aaron came” – where did the elders go, that they were not included with them, as the Holy One blessed be He already said to him: “And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel” (Exodus 3:18)? Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: The elders accompanied them, but secretively stole away one at a time or two at a time and left. When they reached Pharaoh’s palace not one could be found, as it is written: “Afterward Moses and Aaron came.” Where were the elders? They had left. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: This is what you did; by your lives, I will pay you back. When? At the time that Moses and Aaron ascended Mount Sinai with the elders to receive the Torah, the Holy One blessed be He turned them back, as it is stated: “To the elders he said: Wait here for us” (Exodus 24:14).
“And said to Pharaoh: So said the Lord, God of Israel: Let My people go, and they will hold a feast to Me in the wilderness” – Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: That day was the day of Pharaoh’s reception of ambassadors, and all the rulers came to honor him and brought gifts of crowns, and they crowned him, as it was the day that he was ruler of the world. They brought their gods with them. After they crowned him, Moses and Aaron were standing at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace. His servants entered and said: Two elderly people are standing at the entrance. He said to them: Let them enter. When they entered, he was looking at them; perhaps they would crown him or perhaps they would submit a writ [of submission or appeasement], but they did not even greet him.
He said to them: ‘Who are you?’ They said to him: ‘We are the emissaries of the Holy One blessed be He.’ ‘What do you seek?’ They said to him: “So said the Lord [God of Israel]: Let My people go…” At that moment, he became angry: ‘“Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel go?” (Exodus 5:2). He did not have the sense to send me a crown, but you come to me with mere words? “I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go”’ (Exodus 5:2).
He said to them: ‘Wait for me until I search my ledger.’ Immediately, he entered his palace and was looking at each and every nation and its gods. He began reading about the gods of Moav, the gods of Amon, and the gods of Sidon. He said to them: ‘I searched for His name in my archives and I did not find Him.’ Rabbi Levi said: To what is this matter analogous? To a priest with a servant who was an imbecile. The priest left the country. The servant went to search for his master in the graveyard. He began shouting to the people who were standing there: ‘Have you seen my master?’ They said to him: ‘Is your master not a priest?’ He said to them: ‘Yes.’ They said to him: ‘Imbecile, who ever saw a priest in a graveyard?’ So Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh: ‘Imbecile, does one typically seek the dead among the living? Are the living with the dead? Our God is living and these that you mention are dead. But our God is the living God and King of the world.
He said to them: ‘Is He young or old? How old is He? How many cities has He conquered? How many countries has He captured? How many years have passed since He became king?’ They said to him: ‘Our God, His power and His might fill the world. He was before the world was created and He will be at the end of the entire world. He created you and placed in you a living spirit.’ He said to them: ‘What are His actions?’ They said to him: ‘“He stretched the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth” (Isaiah 51:13), His voice “hews flames of fire” (Psalms 29:7), He “smashes mountains and shatters rocks” (I Kings 19:11), His bow is fire, his arrows are a flame, His javelin is a torch, His shield is clouds, His sword is lightning, He forms mountains and hills, He blankets mountains with vegetation, He causes rain and dew to fall, He causes grasses to grow, He answers mothers in childbirth, He shapes the fetus in his mother’s womb, He takes it out to the atmosphere of the world, and “He removes kings and installs kings”’ (Daniel 2:21).
He said to them: ‘From the outset, you are telling a lie, as I am the lord of the world, and I created myself and the Nile,’ as it is stated: “My river is mine, and I made myself” (Ezekiel 29:3).24The verse in Ezekiel attributes this verse to Pharaoh. At that moment, he assembled all the wise men of Egypt. He said to them: ‘Have you heard the name of the God of these people?’ They said to him: ‘We heard that He is the son of wise men and the son of the ancient kings.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You call yourself wise men, and Me [you call] the son of wise men, as it is stated: “The wise counselors of Pharaoh are a senseless counsel; how can you say to Pharaoh: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings” (Isaiah 19:11)? See what is written there: “The princes of Tzoan are utter fools” (Isaiah 19:11); “The wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their understanding men will be hidden”’ (Isaiah 29:14).
He responded to them: ‘Your God, I do not know who He is,’ as it is stated: “Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice?” (Exodus 5:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Wicked one, “who [mi] is the Lord,” you said? You will be afflicted with mi’; mem – forty, yod – ten, they are the fifty plagues that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the Egyptians at the sea, as it is stated: “The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:15), and at the sea, what does it say: “Israel saw the great hand” (Exodus 14:31). With how many were they afflicted with the finger: Ten plagues. Calculate: There are five fingers on the great hand, and on each and every one ten plagues; that is fifty.
Another interpretation: “Who [mi] is the Lord” – reverse the order of mi [and the result is] yam;25Mi is spelled mem-yod; yam is spelled yod-mem. it is the sea that informed you of God.26As it is stated at the sea: “Egypt said: I will flee before Israel, as the Lord is waging war on their behalf against Egypt” (Exodus 14:25). You said: “Who is the Lord”; you are destined to say: “The Lord is righteous” (Exodus 9:27). You said: “I do not know the Lord”; you are destined to say: “I have sinned to the Lord your God” (Exodus 10:16). You said: ‘“And I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2); had the elderly Israel27Jacob been there, I would have placed the basket and the rake on his shoulder.’28And made him work as well. A parallel midrash (Tanḥuma, Va’era 5) continues: “Tomorrow you will take hold of each and every one of them and say: ‘Go in peace. “Take both your flocks and your herds”’ (Exodus 12:32).
“Afterward Moses and Aaron came” – where did the elders go, that they were not included with them, as the Holy One blessed be He already said to him: “And you shall come, you and the elders of Israel” (Exodus 3:18)? Our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: The elders accompanied them, but secretively stole away one at a time or two at a time and left. When they reached Pharaoh’s palace not one could be found, as it is written: “Afterward Moses and Aaron came.” Where were the elders? They had left. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: This is what you did; by your lives, I will pay you back. When? At the time that Moses and Aaron ascended Mount Sinai with the elders to receive the Torah, the Holy One blessed be He turned them back, as it is stated: “To the elders he said: Wait here for us” (Exodus 24:14).
“And said to Pharaoh: So said the Lord, God of Israel: Let My people go, and they will hold a feast to Me in the wilderness” – Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: That day was the day of Pharaoh’s reception of ambassadors, and all the rulers came to honor him and brought gifts of crowns, and they crowned him, as it was the day that he was ruler of the world. They brought their gods with them. After they crowned him, Moses and Aaron were standing at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace. His servants entered and said: Two elderly people are standing at the entrance. He said to them: Let them enter. When they entered, he was looking at them; perhaps they would crown him or perhaps they would submit a writ [of submission or appeasement], but they did not even greet him.
He said to them: ‘Who are you?’ They said to him: ‘We are the emissaries of the Holy One blessed be He.’ ‘What do you seek?’ They said to him: “So said the Lord [God of Israel]: Let My people go…” At that moment, he became angry: ‘“Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice to let Israel go?” (Exodus 5:2). He did not have the sense to send me a crown, but you come to me with mere words? “I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go”’ (Exodus 5:2).
He said to them: ‘Wait for me until I search my ledger.’ Immediately, he entered his palace and was looking at each and every nation and its gods. He began reading about the gods of Moav, the gods of Amon, and the gods of Sidon. He said to them: ‘I searched for His name in my archives and I did not find Him.’ Rabbi Levi said: To what is this matter analogous? To a priest with a servant who was an imbecile. The priest left the country. The servant went to search for his master in the graveyard. He began shouting to the people who were standing there: ‘Have you seen my master?’ They said to him: ‘Is your master not a priest?’ He said to them: ‘Yes.’ They said to him: ‘Imbecile, who ever saw a priest in a graveyard?’ So Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh: ‘Imbecile, does one typically seek the dead among the living? Are the living with the dead? Our God is living and these that you mention are dead. But our God is the living God and King of the world.
He said to them: ‘Is He young or old? How old is He? How many cities has He conquered? How many countries has He captured? How many years have passed since He became king?’ They said to him: ‘Our God, His power and His might fill the world. He was before the world was created and He will be at the end of the entire world. He created you and placed in you a living spirit.’ He said to them: ‘What are His actions?’ They said to him: ‘“He stretched the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth” (Isaiah 51:13), His voice “hews flames of fire” (Psalms 29:7), He “smashes mountains and shatters rocks” (I Kings 19:11), His bow is fire, his arrows are a flame, His javelin is a torch, His shield is clouds, His sword is lightning, He forms mountains and hills, He blankets mountains with vegetation, He causes rain and dew to fall, He causes grasses to grow, He answers mothers in childbirth, He shapes the fetus in his mother’s womb, He takes it out to the atmosphere of the world, and “He removes kings and installs kings”’ (Daniel 2:21).
He said to them: ‘From the outset, you are telling a lie, as I am the lord of the world, and I created myself and the Nile,’ as it is stated: “My river is mine, and I made myself” (Ezekiel 29:3).24The verse in Ezekiel attributes this verse to Pharaoh. At that moment, he assembled all the wise men of Egypt. He said to them: ‘Have you heard the name of the God of these people?’ They said to him: ‘We heard that He is the son of wise men and the son of the ancient kings.’ The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You call yourself wise men, and Me [you call] the son of wise men, as it is stated: “The wise counselors of Pharaoh are a senseless counsel; how can you say to Pharaoh: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings” (Isaiah 19:11)? See what is written there: “The princes of Tzoan are utter fools” (Isaiah 19:11); “The wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their understanding men will be hidden”’ (Isaiah 29:14).
He responded to them: ‘Your God, I do not know who He is,’ as it is stated: “Who is the Lord that I should heed His voice?” (Exodus 5:2). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Wicked one, “who [mi] is the Lord,” you said? You will be afflicted with mi’; mem – forty, yod – ten, they are the fifty plagues that the Holy One blessed be He brought upon the Egyptians at the sea, as it is stated: “The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:15), and at the sea, what does it say: “Israel saw the great hand” (Exodus 14:31). With how many were they afflicted with the finger: Ten plagues. Calculate: There are five fingers on the great hand, and on each and every one ten plagues; that is fifty.
Another interpretation: “Who [mi] is the Lord” – reverse the order of mi [and the result is] yam;25Mi is spelled mem-yod; yam is spelled yod-mem. it is the sea that informed you of God.26As it is stated at the sea: “Egypt said: I will flee before Israel, as the Lord is waging war on their behalf against Egypt” (Exodus 14:25). You said: “Who is the Lord”; you are destined to say: “The Lord is righteous” (Exodus 9:27). You said: “I do not know the Lord”; you are destined to say: “I have sinned to the Lord your God” (Exodus 10:16). You said: ‘“And I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2); had the elderly Israel27Jacob been there, I would have placed the basket and the rake on his shoulder.’28And made him work as well. A parallel midrash (Tanḥuma, Va’era 5) continues: “Tomorrow you will take hold of each and every one of them and say: ‘Go in peace. “Take both your flocks and your herds”’ (Exodus 12:32).
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael
R. Yossi Haglili says: Whence is it derived that the Egyptians were smitten in Egypt with ten plagues, and at the sea with fifty plagues? Of Egypt what is written? (Exodus 8:15) "And the necromancers said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of G–d, etc." And of the sea what is written? (Ibid. 14:31) "And Israel saw the great hand, etc." How many plagues by the finger? Ten. Say, then, that in Egypt they were smitten with ten plagues and at the sea with fifty.
Shemot Rabbah
“The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff, and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become lice throughout the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:12).
“The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff, and strike the dust of the earth” – Rabbi Tanḥum said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘It is not proper that the dust that protected you when you killed the Egyptian15See Exodus 2:12. will be stricken by you.’ Therefore, they were stricken with these three plagues by means of Aaron.16The first three plagues came from either the water or the dust, both of which had protected Moses in his youth.
“They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:13).
“Aaron extended his hand with his staff” – why did He bring lice upon them? It is because they designated [the Israelites] as sweepers of the streets and the marketplaces; that is why their dust turned into lice. They would dig a square cubit but there was no dust there, as it is stated: “All the dust of the earth became lice.”
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not; and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast” (Exodus 8:14).
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not” – Rabbi Elazar said: From here you learn that a demon is unable to create something smaller than a barley-bulk. The Rabbis say: They cannot even create something the size of a camel; rather, this it can gather and this it cannot gather.17If the item is smaller than a barley-bulk, the demons cannot even gather it from a different location.
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God; but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken” (Exodus 8:15).
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God” – when the magicians saw that they were unable to produce the lice, they were immediately aware that the actions were the actions of God and not the action of demons, and they no longer sought to compare themselves to Moses and produce the plagues.
“The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff, and strike the dust of the earth” – Rabbi Tanḥum said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘It is not proper that the dust that protected you when you killed the Egyptian15See Exodus 2:12. will be stricken by you.’ Therefore, they were stricken with these three plagues by means of Aaron.16The first three plagues came from either the water or the dust, both of which had protected Moses in his youth.
“They did so; and Aaron extended his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were lice upon man, and upon beast; all the dust of the earth became lice throughout the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:13).
“Aaron extended his hand with his staff” – why did He bring lice upon them? It is because they designated [the Israelites] as sweepers of the streets and the marketplaces; that is why their dust turned into lice. They would dig a square cubit but there was no dust there, as it is stated: “All the dust of the earth became lice.”
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not; and there were gnats upon man, and upon beast” (Exodus 8:14).
“The magicians did so with their spells to bring out the lice, but they could not” – Rabbi Elazar said: From here you learn that a demon is unable to create something smaller than a barley-bulk. The Rabbis say: They cannot even create something the size of a camel; rather, this it can gather and this it cannot gather.17If the item is smaller than a barley-bulk, the demons cannot even gather it from a different location.
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God; but Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken” (Exodus 8:15).
“The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God” – when the magicians saw that they were unable to produce the lice, they were immediately aware that the actions were the actions of God and not the action of demons, and they no longer sought to compare themselves to Moses and produce the plagues.