לָכֵ֗ן אָב֞וֹת יֹאכְל֤וּ בָנִים֙ בְּתוֹכֵ֔ךְ וּבָנִ֖ים יֹאכְל֣וּ אֲבוֹתָ֑ם וְעָשִׂ֤יתִי בָךְ֙ שְׁפָטִ֔ים וְזֵרִיתִ֥י אֶת־כָּל־שְׁאֵרִיתֵ֖ךְ לְכָל־רֽוּחַ׃ (פ)
דרום װעלן עלטערן עסן זײערע קינדער אין דיר, און קינדער װעלן עסן זײערע עלטערן, און איך װעל טאָן אַ משפּט אױף דיר, און אַל דײַן איבערבלײַב װעל איך צעשפּרײטן אױף אַלע װינטן.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A kabbalistic approach to our verse: The words: “I will go down with you,” are an allusion to the Presence of G’d, the שכינה, which would go down to Egypt with the Israelites. Our sages in Shabbat 89 and elsewhere say that G’d’s Presence descended with the Israelites. In order to hint at this, Onkelos translates the words as אנא אחות [a “physical” as opposed to a merely spiritual descent, in anthropomorphic terms, of course. Ed.], instead of as אנא אתגלי which is his usual translation for the word ירד, such as in Exodus 19,11 when applied to G’d. This is especially remarkable considering the care Onkelos takes not to apply anthropomorphic terms to G’d or His activities.
The reason the Torah writes מצרימה instead of למצרים, i.e. concluding with the letter ה, and also writing the word עלה in a form ending with the letter ה, is to provide tangible proof that G’d’s Presence, i.e. “ה,” will accompany the Israelites to Egypt. The letter ה, the last letter in the Ineffable Name, is the attribute which provided sustenance for Egypt during the years of famine.
Joseph already hinted at this attribute when he told the Egyptians in 47,23 הא לכם זרע, “here is seed for you.” In the following verse Joseph speaks of the חמישית, “fifth” or “hand” which G’d used to enact retribution from the Egyptians for abusing the Israelites during their exile there. This “hand” of G’d was in evidence when the livestock of the Egyptians was struck in Exodus 9,3, and it was the attribute the Israelites witnessed at the sea 14,31. It is also the attribute which Ezekiel mentioned when he described G’d’s anger during the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple (Ezekiel 16,43). We also find the words לא אחמול, “I shall not display pity,” five times in connection with that destruction (commencing in Ezekiel 5,11) after having described such scenes as parents eating the flesh of their children and children eating the flesh of their parents, to illustrate this lack of G’d’s pity for the state His people were in at that time.
We find that Daniel 2,43 refers to this attribute when he speaks about iron not blending with earthenware. Daniel mentions five different categories of materials which cannot form a blend, an alloy. This word הא occurs a total of three times in the Bible, once in the Torah, once in the Books of Prophets (Ezekiel 16,43), and once in the Hagiographa (Daniel 3,25). The message is that this attribute of G’d will accompany the Israelites through all the various exiles. The very word עמך, “with you,” which G’d uses to describe Himself as accompanying Yaakov to Egypt, is also associated with צרה, distress, sorrow, trouble, as we know from עמו אנכי בצרה, Psalms 91,15 “I am with him when it is in trouble.” In our verse the choice of that word then is a double-entendre. It means that even when the Israelites were exiled to Babylon the שכינה was with them also. Our sages base this on Isaiah 43,14: “for your sake I send (the redeemer) to Babylon.” We have a similar situation regarding the exile under the Edomites, (the present exile). Isaiah 63,1 describes the redeemer as coming from Edom, his clothing full of blood, etc., an allusion to G’d taking His vengeance on our oppressors. The word זה in that verse is a reference to G’d Himself being that redeemer. The word זה referred to our redeemer, i.e. G’d, already when the Israelites had crossed the sea and watched the Egyptians drown. At that time they broke out in a song of thanksgiving adulating G’d by saying זה א-לי ואנוהו “this is my G’d and I want to enshrine Him.” The word זה, of course, also ends with this letter ה, the attribute we have been discussing. Interestingly enough, even Joseph phrased his invitation to his father to come to him in Egypt in a word ending with the letter ה, when he said (45,9) רדה אלי אל תעמוד, “come down to me, do not delay.” He added the letter ה instead of saying רד אלי, which would have been quite sufficient. He meant to convey his confidence that the attribute of G’d represented by the letter ה would accompany his father and his family. Keeping all this in mind, the phenomenal increase of the Jewish people from 70 souls to over 600,000 arms-bearing men at the time of the Exodus (only 210 years later) becomes much less surprising. Clearly the Presence of G’d’s benevolent שכינה must be credited for this. (the author had referred to the addition of the latter ה in Avraham’s name in Genesis 17,5 as supplying the element which would enable his descendants to multiply prolifically). This element came into its own while the Jewish people were in Egypt and actually was also a prime factor in their eventual enslavement (compare Exodus 1,7-13). Once they had attained the required number of 600.000 men over 20 years of age they qualified for G’d revealing Himself to them openly at Mount Sinai.
The reason the Torah writes מצרימה instead of למצרים, i.e. concluding with the letter ה, and also writing the word עלה in a form ending with the letter ה, is to provide tangible proof that G’d’s Presence, i.e. “ה,” will accompany the Israelites to Egypt. The letter ה, the last letter in the Ineffable Name, is the attribute which provided sustenance for Egypt during the years of famine.
Joseph already hinted at this attribute when he told the Egyptians in 47,23 הא לכם זרע, “here is seed for you.” In the following verse Joseph speaks of the חמישית, “fifth” or “hand” which G’d used to enact retribution from the Egyptians for abusing the Israelites during their exile there. This “hand” of G’d was in evidence when the livestock of the Egyptians was struck in Exodus 9,3, and it was the attribute the Israelites witnessed at the sea 14,31. It is also the attribute which Ezekiel mentioned when he described G’d’s anger during the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple (Ezekiel 16,43). We also find the words לא אחמול, “I shall not display pity,” five times in connection with that destruction (commencing in Ezekiel 5,11) after having described such scenes as parents eating the flesh of their children and children eating the flesh of their parents, to illustrate this lack of G’d’s pity for the state His people were in at that time.
We find that Daniel 2,43 refers to this attribute when he speaks about iron not blending with earthenware. Daniel mentions five different categories of materials which cannot form a blend, an alloy. This word הא occurs a total of three times in the Bible, once in the Torah, once in the Books of Prophets (Ezekiel 16,43), and once in the Hagiographa (Daniel 3,25). The message is that this attribute of G’d will accompany the Israelites through all the various exiles. The very word עמך, “with you,” which G’d uses to describe Himself as accompanying Yaakov to Egypt, is also associated with צרה, distress, sorrow, trouble, as we know from עמו אנכי בצרה, Psalms 91,15 “I am with him when it is in trouble.” In our verse the choice of that word then is a double-entendre. It means that even when the Israelites were exiled to Babylon the שכינה was with them also. Our sages base this on Isaiah 43,14: “for your sake I send (the redeemer) to Babylon.” We have a similar situation regarding the exile under the Edomites, (the present exile). Isaiah 63,1 describes the redeemer as coming from Edom, his clothing full of blood, etc., an allusion to G’d taking His vengeance on our oppressors. The word זה in that verse is a reference to G’d Himself being that redeemer. The word זה referred to our redeemer, i.e. G’d, already when the Israelites had crossed the sea and watched the Egyptians drown. At that time they broke out in a song of thanksgiving adulating G’d by saying זה א-לי ואנוהו “this is my G’d and I want to enshrine Him.” The word זה, of course, also ends with this letter ה, the attribute we have been discussing. Interestingly enough, even Joseph phrased his invitation to his father to come to him in Egypt in a word ending with the letter ה, when he said (45,9) רדה אלי אל תעמוד, “come down to me, do not delay.” He added the letter ה instead of saying רד אלי, which would have been quite sufficient. He meant to convey his confidence that the attribute of G’d represented by the letter ה would accompany his father and his family. Keeping all this in mind, the phenomenal increase of the Jewish people from 70 souls to over 600,000 arms-bearing men at the time of the Exodus (only 210 years later) becomes much less surprising. Clearly the Presence of G’d’s benevolent שכינה must be credited for this. (the author had referred to the addition of the latter ה in Avraham’s name in Genesis 17,5 as supplying the element which would enable his descendants to multiply prolifically). This element came into its own while the Jewish people were in Egypt and actually was also a prime factor in their eventual enslavement (compare Exodus 1,7-13). Once they had attained the required number of 600.000 men over 20 years of age they qualified for G’d revealing Himself to them openly at Mount Sinai.
Rashi
and... judgments [Heb. וּשְּׁפוּטִים,] like שְּׁפָטִים, judgments, justises, jostises in Old French, judgments, punishments.