Links to my
previous Sh’mot posts here
כח וַיֹּאמֶר-לוֹ פַרְעֹה, לֵךְ מֵעָלָי; הִשָּׁמֶר
לְךָ, אַל-תֹּסֶף רְאוֹת פָּנַי--כִּי בְּיוֹם רְאֹתְךָ פָנַי, תָּמוּת.
|
28 And Pharaoh said unto him: 'Get
thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more; for in the day thou
seest my face thou shalt die.'
|
כט וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, כֵּן דִּבַּרְתָּ: לֹא-אֹסִף
עוֹד, רְאוֹת פָּנֶיךָ. {פ}
|
29 And Moses said: 'Thou hast spoken
well; I will see thy face again no more.' {P}
|
[Copying mostly
the English, to avoid taking G-d’s Hebrew name in vain.]
1 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Yet one plague more will I
bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence; when
he shall let you go, he shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
2 Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every
man of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and
jewels of gold.'
3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the
Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the
sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of the people. {S}
10 And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh;
and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the children of
Israel go out of his land. {S}
Monday, January 30, 2012 update:
In Sh'mot/Exodus chapter 10, verse 29, Moshe tells Par'oh that Par'oh will not see his face again. Yet, in chapter 11, Moshe first tells the Hebrews to raid the Egyptians (for booty or back pay, depending on whose opinion you follow), which they do, and then he warns Par'oh about the death of the firstborn. Clearly, he's left Par'oh's presence and later returned. Either Moshe changed his mind about Par'oh not seeing his face again, or else this is a case of Documentary Hypothesis.
ג דַּבְּרוּ, אֶל-כָּל-עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר, בֶּעָשֹׂר,
לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה: וְיִקְחוּ לָהֶם, אִישׁ שֶׂה לְבֵית-אָבֹת--שֶׂה לַבָּיִת.
|
3 Speak ye unto all the
congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for
a household;
|
Is this the
first time that B’nei Yisrael, the Children of Israel, are called Adat Yisrael,
the Congregation of Israel?
ט אַל-תֹּאכְלוּ מִמֶּנּוּ נָא, וּבָשֵׁל מְבֻשָּׁל
בַּמָּיִם: כִּי אִם-צְלִי-אֵשׁ, רֹאשׁוֹ עַל-כְּרָעָיו וְעַל-קִרְבּוֹ.
|
9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at
all with water, but roast with fire; its head with its legs and with the
inwards thereof.
|
They had to eat
the kishkes (organs)?! Sorry, but aside
from chopped liver (and, occasionally, broiled liver), my family never touched
the stuff. Some families have different
traditions, of course.
12 For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and
will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD
What did the
poor animals do to deserve this?
יג וְהָיָה הַדָּם לָכֶם לְאֹת, עַל הַבָּתִּים אֲשֶׁר
אַתֶּם שָׁם, וְרָאִיתִי אֶת-הַדָּם, וּפָסַחְתִּי עֲלֵכֶם; וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה בָכֶם
נֶגֶף לְמַשְׁחִית, בְּהַכֹּתִי בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם.
|
13 And the blood shall be to you for
a token upon the houses where ye are; and when I see the blood, I will pass
over you, and there shall no plague be upon you to destroy you, when I smite
the land of Egypt.
|
“Nowhere in the above text does it say that HaShem/G-d needed to see the
blood on the doorposts to know where the B'nai Yisrael/Children of Israel were
located. In my opinion, what was important to HaShem was knowing who among our
ancestors were willing to identify themselves publicly as Hebrews.”
כב וּלְקַחְתֶּם אֲגֻדַּת אֵזוֹב, וּטְבַלְתֶּם בַּדָּם
אֲשֶׁר-בַּסַּף, וְהִגַּעְתֶּם אֶל-הַמַּשְׁקוֹף וְאֶל-שְׁתֵּי הַמְּזוּזֹת,
מִן-הַדָּם אֲשֶׁר בַּסָּף; וְאַתֶּם, לֹא תֵצְאוּ אִישׁ מִפֶּתַח-בֵּיתוֹ--עַד-בֹּקֶר.
|
22 And ye shall take a bunch of
hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel
and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you
shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
|
Already, we have
the Oral Law. :) Moshe adds an herb (hyssop) to G-d’s command.
לה וּבְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשׂוּ, כִּדְבַר מֹשֶׁה; וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ, מִמִּצְרַיִם, כְּלֵי-כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב, וּשְׂמָלֹת. | 35 And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment. |
In my opinion, this is where the text regarding the Hebrews ask the neighbors for "payment" belongs!
מח וְכִי-יָגוּר אִתְּךָ גֵּר, וְעָשָׂה פֶסַח לַיהוָה--הִמּוֹל
לוֹ כָל-זָכָר וְאָז יִקְרַב לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ, וְהָיָה כְּאֶזְרַח הָאָרֶץ;
וְכָל-עָרֵל, לֹא-יֹאכַל בּוֹ.
|
48 And when a stranger shall sojourn
with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be
circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one
that is born in the land; but no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
|
מט תּוֹרָה אַחַת, יִהְיֶה לָאֶזְרָח, וְלַגֵּר,
הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם.
|
49 One law shall be to him that is
homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.'
|
Jew by birth or
Jew by choice, the laws are the same—that’s admirably egalitarian.