(ASBI Parsha Class #6: Sotah 11a and Parshat Toldot)
וַיָּ֥זֶד יַעֲקֹ֖ב נָזִ֑יד וַיָּבֹ֥א עֵשָׂ֛ו מִן־הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה וְה֥וּא עָיֵֽף׃
Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished.
אִי נָמֵי הוּא אֵינוֹ מֵבִיא אֲבָל הֵן בָּאִין וְנוֹפְלִין בְּתוֹכוֹ וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר וּמִצְרַיִם נָסִים לִקְרָאתוֹ וְהַיְינוּ דְּאָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר מַאי דִּכְתִיב כִּי בַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר זָדוּ עֲלֵיהֶם בִּקְדֵירָה שֶׁבִּישְּׁלוּ בָּהּ נִתְבַּשְּׁלוּ מַאי מַשְׁמַע דְּהַאי זָדוּ לִישָּׁנָא דִקְדֵירָה הוּא דִּכְתִיב וַיָּזֶד יַעֲקֹב נָזִיד
Alternatively, there is an additional way to punish the Egyptians with water: He does not bring a flood upon them, but they may come and fall into water, and so it says: “And the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled toward it; and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea” (Exodus 14:27), indicating that the Egyptians fell into the water. And this is what Rabbi Elazar says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, for in that which they conspired [zadu] against them” (Exodus 18:11)? The phrase means: In the pot in which they cooked, they themselves were cooked, as they were punished through drowning, measure for measure, for drowning the Jewish babies. The Gemara asks: From where may it be inferred that this word zadu” is a term meaning a pot? The Gemara answers: As it is written: “And Jacob simmered a pot [vayyazed Ya’akov nazid]” (Genesis 25:29).