God's 1st speech: Name El Shadai vs. Hashem; liberation and inheritance of land
God's 2nd speech: Go to Pharaoh; Moshe’s doubt (ערל שפתיים)
God's 3rd speech: Sends Moshe and Aharon to Pharaoh together
Genealogy: Re-uven, Shim’on, Levi
God's 4th speech: Sends Moshe and Aharon to Pharaoh together; Moshe’s doubt (ערל שפתיים); Aharaon will speak for you; preview of how Pharaoh will react; Moshe and Aharon’s ages
The staff turning to a snake
דם
צפרדע
כינים
-
ערוב
דבר
שחין
ברד
Many layers of the structure of this section that we could focus on:
Patterns:
- Triads: each open with a preface
- Rashbam (on Ex. 7:26) and Abarbanel (on Ex. 7:16-7)
- 1. public warning in the morning
- 2. private warning in the palace
- 3. no warning
- 1st and 9th of series only ones of specified duration (blood - 7d; darkness - 3d -> 10d total before death at midnight)
- Pairs of plagues (Cassuto)
- strikes at EG pantheon - Ex. 12:12
- parallel to God’s naming of the heaven, earth, ocean, day, and night in Creation
- punishment of God’s 5 realms of creation that were worshiped by EGians instead of God
- Blood/frogs - water (ocean pantheon) (Day 2 of creation)
- Lice/swarms - land (land pantheon) (Day 3)
- Pestilence/boils - light (higher pantheon of light) (Day 4)
- Hail/Locusts - the sky (sky pantheon)
- Together destroy all of the grain crops
- Darkness/Death - darkness (higher pantheon of light)
- literal and figurative darkness
- Pairing of 5 (death to cattle) and 10 (death to people)
- Pairing of 1 and 10 (reference to blood of IL babies -> actual killing of EG firstborn)
- The חרטומים in 1-3 (conjure blood and frogs, fail at כינים), resurface in 6 as victims of boils
- Shift in responsibility for initiation of plague from Aharon to Moshe and from staff to earth (1-3), to no staff (4 and 5), gathering ash together and throwing upward (6), to staff to heaven (7-9)
- Magnification of burning bush signs as full plagues (snake -> tanin; blood -> Nile; white skin -> boils)
- heightened language + negotiations in final triad
- More references to Pharaoh’s heart
- Sarna - motif appears 20 times, 10 w/o God (heart was hard or hardened his heart) 10 w/God (God hardened)
- More references to Pharaoh’s heart
between the description of the plagues
and the essence of Egyptian slavery
The way that the plagues "answer" the behavior of Pharaoh
and the brutality of Egyptian society
- 1st plague - the Nile turning to blood (echoes/references the throwing of the Israelite babies into river)
- Boils - Moshe throws up furnace soot (from baking bricks?) (Cassuto)
- Darkness (foreshadows final) & Death of Firstborn
- Could be seen as partial retribution for killing all baby boys
- Or, as retribution for trying to kill "God's firstborn" (as IL is called just before and just after the plagues narrative)
- Segregation btw IL and EG (ערוב, דבר, ברד, חושך, מכת בכורות בכפוף לדם) (twice in the story of Yosef, they had been separated as "an abomination" to the Egyptians; then singled out for oppression; now singled out for protection)
the plague of frogs.
First some background:
צעק
(כג) וַיְהִי֩ בַיָּמִ֨ים הָֽרַבִּ֜ים הָהֵ֗ם וַיָּ֙מָת֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ מִצְרַ֔יִם וַיֵּאָנְח֧וּ בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל מִן־הָעֲבֹדָ֖ה וַיִּזְעָ֑קוּ וַתַּ֧עַל שַׁוְעָתָ֛ם אֶל־הָאֱלֹקִ֖ים מִן־הָעֲבֹדָֽה׃ (כד) וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע אֱלֹקִ֖ים אֶת־נַאֲקָתָ֑ם וַיִּזְכֹּ֤ר אֱלֹקִים֙ אֶת־בְּרִית֔וֹ אֶת־אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶת־יִצְחָ֥ק וְאֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב׃
[Turning point at which God hears people's cry and summons Moshe.]
(23) A long time after that, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out; and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God. (24) God heard their moaning, and God remembered His covenant with Avraham and Yitzhak and Ya'akov.
(ז) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ה' רָאֹ֥ה רָאִ֛יתִי אֶת־עֳנִ֥י עַמִּ֖י אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְאֶת־צַעֲקָתָ֤ם שָׁמַ֙עְתִּי֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י נֹֽגְשָׂ֔יו כִּ֥י יָדַ֖עְתִּי אֶת־מַכְאֹבָֽיו׃ ... (ט) וְעַתָּ֕ה הִנֵּ֛ה צַעֲקַ֥ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל בָּ֣אָה אֵלָ֑י וְגַם־רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הַלַּ֔חַץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִצְרַ֖יִם לֹחֲצִ֥ים אֹתָֽם׃
(7) And Adonai said, “I have marked well the plight of My people in Egypt and have heeded their outcry because of their taskmasters; yes, I am mindful of their sufferings. ... (9) Now the cry of the Israelites has reached Me; moreover, I have seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
but only rarely in regard to the plagues.
It is prominent in the last plague as the cry of the Egyptians realizing their loved ones are dead.
Other than that, it only appears in the plague of frogs.
(ח) וַיֵּצֵ֥א מֹשֶׁ֛ה וְאַהֲרֹ֖ן מֵעִ֣ם פַּרְעֹ֑ה וַיִּצְעַ֤ק מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־ה' עַל־דְּבַ֥ר הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֖ים אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֥ם לְפַרְעֹֽה׃
(8) Then Moshe and Aharon left Pharaoh’s presence, and Moshe cried out to Adonai in the matter of the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh.
חומר, הבאיש
מדרש תנחומא וארא ו
וַיֵּצֵא משֶׁה וַיִּצְעַק אֶל ה' עַל דְּבַר הַצְפַרְדְּעִים (שמות ח:ח), רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זִכְרוֹנָם לִבְרָכָה אָמְרוּ, לֹא דַי לָהֶם לַמִּצְרִיִּים הַשְׁחָתַת הַצְפַרְדְּעִים, אֶלָא שֶׁהָיָה קוֹלָן שֶׁל צְפַרְדְּעִים קָשֶׁה לָהֶם מִמַּכָּתָן, שֶׁהָיוּ נִכְנָסוֹת בְּגוּפָן וְצוֹעֲקִין בְּתוֹכָן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: עַל דְּבַר הַצְפַרְדְּעִים אֲשֶׁר שָׂם לְפַרְעֹה, עַל דִּבּוּר הַצְּפַרְדְּעִים...
Midrash Tanhuma Va’Era 6
Moshe left [Pharaoh’s presence] and he cried out to God regarding the matter, devar (matter, word, speech), of the frogs (Shemot 8:8). Our teachers of blessed memory said: The destruction caused by the frogs didn’t suffice for the Egyptians. The sound of the frogs was more harsh than the plague. They would enter into their bodies and cry out from inside them, as it says, regarding the devar of the frogs, that is the dibbur, speaking, of the frogs...
We'll come back to that powerful image in a moment.
(ט) וַיַּ֥עַשׂ ה' כִּדְבַ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיָּמֻ֙תוּ֙ הַֽצְפַרְדְּעִ֔ים מִן־הַבָּתִּ֥ים מִן־הַחֲצֵרֹ֖ת וּמִן־הַשָּׂדֹֽת׃ (י) וַיִּצְבְּר֥וּ אֹתָ֖ם חֳמָרִ֣ם חֳמָרִ֑ם וַתִּבְאַ֖שׁ הָאָֽרֶץ׃
[End of the plague, when Pharaoh asks Moshe to intervene.] (9) And Adonai did as Moshe asked; the frogs died in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. (10) And they piled them up in heaps, till the land stank.
(יד) וַיְמָרְר֨וּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶ֜ם בַּעֲבֹדָ֣ה קָשָׁ֗ה בְּחֹ֙מֶר֙ וּבִלְבֵנִ֔ים ...
(14) ... Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks...
(כא) וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם יֵ֧רֶא ה' עֲלֵיכֶ֖ם וְיִשְׁפֹּ֑ט אֲשֶׁ֧ר הִבְאַשְׁתֶּ֣ם אֶת־רֵיחֵ֗נוּ בְּעֵינֵ֤י פַרְעֹה֙ וּבְעֵינֵ֣י עֲבָדָ֔יו לָֽתֶת־חֶ֥רֶב בְּיָדָ֖ם לְהָרְגֵֽנוּ׃
[The people to Moshe and Aharon after 1st audience w/Pharaoh and his order that they make their own bricks.] (21) and they said to them, “May Adonai look upon you and punish you for making us loathsome (lit. "for making our scent stink", "for making us reek") to Pharaoh and his courtiers—putting a sword in their hands to slay us.”
(מדרש תנחומא - המשך)
וַיִּצְבְּרוּ אֹתָם חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁכָּל אֶחָד מֵהֶן הָיָה עוֹשֶׂה אַרְבַּע אַשְׁפּוֹת, וְהָיְתָה הָאָרֶץ מַבְאֶשֶׁת, לְפִי שֶׁהָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל נִבְאָשִׁין מִמַּכּוֹת הַמִּצְרִיִּים, מִדָּה כְּנֶגֶד מִדָּה.
They piled them up in piles and piles—This teaches that one of them would generate enough for four piles of refuse. And the earth became putrid (mav’eshet) because Israel were made putrid (niv’ashin) on account of the lashes of the Egyptians, measure for measure.
between how the Egyptians experience to the frogs
and how they relate the People of Israel.
The outcry of the Israelites sounds just like the sound of the plague of frogs.
The smell of the Israelites is just like the smell of these piles of rotting frogs.
The land of EG is full of dead frogs just like it's full of dead Israelites.
The comparison is striking, but the question is:
What insight lies behind this correspondence?
of the proliferation of the Israelites in EG:
(ז) וּבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל פָּר֧וּ וַֽיִּשְׁרְצ֛וּ וַיִּרְבּ֥וּ וַיַּֽעַצְמ֖וּ בִּמְאֹ֣ד מְאֹ֑ד וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ אֹתָֽם׃ (פ)
Reflection of the very different ways that God vision and Pharaoh's see the people and their reproduction. (life as a blessing, or a threat - echo throughout Jewish history as well as in the rhetoric around immigration and difference today) - creation of a false narrative about these people
(7) But the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them.
4 verbs:
פרייה ורבייה - God's blessing or intention
שרצים - dehumanization
עוצמה - demonization (suspicion at 5th column)
(the people are of course not vermin
nor is there any reason to believe them a 5th column)
and he enrolls the Egyptians in a plan to reshape their society and military
in keeping with it.
One of the ways of understanding the trope that "Pharaoh's heart was hardened"
is that this created context takes on a life of its own.
Pharaoh's decree during the episode of the bricks:
(ח) וְאֶת־מַתְכֹּ֨נֶת הַלְּבֵנִ֜ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֵם֩ עֹשִׂ֨ים תְּמ֤וֹל שִׁלְשֹׁם֙ תָּשִׂ֣ימוּ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם לֹ֥א תִגְרְע֖וּ מִמֶּ֑נּוּ כִּֽי־נִרְפִּ֣ים הֵ֔ם עַל־כֵּ֗ן הֵ֤ם צֹֽעֲקִים֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר נֵלְכָ֖ה נִזְבְּחָ֥ה לֵאלֹקֵֽינוּ׃
(8) But impose upon them the same quota of bricks as they have been making heretofore; do not reduce it, for they are shirkers (lazy); that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God!’
does nothing to Pharaoh.
He's stuck. He can only think of them as lazy slaves,
as animals who don't feel like working,
not as human beings deserving dignity.
There is no amount of reasoning or negotiation that will be able
to break through that stonewall.
Which is why the plagues are needed, to step by step destroy the entire edifice
built on Pharaoh's lie.
This begins with the plague of blood.
The blood of the children thrown to their deaths,
the blood that it is so convenient to ignore,
forces itself into the awareness of the Egyptians.
God does not allow them to anesthetize themselves any longer.
This is linked to the first account of murder in Torah:
(ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה' אֶל־קַ֔יִן אֵ֖י הֶ֣בֶל אָחִ֑יךָ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ לֹ֣א יָדַ֔עְתִּי הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר אָחִ֖י אָנֹֽכִי׃ (י) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑יתָ ק֚וֹל דְּמֵ֣י אָחִ֔יךָ צֹעֲקִ֥ים אֵלַ֖י מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃
(9) Adonai said to Kayin, “Where is your brother Hevel?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (10) Then He (God) said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground!
The same word, צועק.
Blood crying out in the name of the dead
from the ground and from the water.
is that it takes this process one step further.
The people who refuse to witness the blood of the dead
or to hear the outcry of the oppressed
are forced to literally swallow it,
to imbibe it through the frogs,
until it comes out of their own mouths,
as if as their own voice.
It becomes their cry, foreshadowing the cry the will make
when this destructive path reaches its natural conclusion.
The plagues of blood and frogs are only the early warnings of what is to come.
for us to tell ourselves convenient lies,
to spin narratives that support the way we would like to see the world
in a particular moment,
even if these involve defaming individuals or groups of people,
or denying science,
or ignoring the weather,
or rewriting history.
It is in fact quite common.
The chilling message of the plague of the frogs,
and frankly of the 10 plagues all together,
is that in the end there is no escape,
that karma is real
and its coming for us
and to the extent that we deceive ourselves,
that we create and reinforce an alternate sense of reality,
we don't even have the capacity to change course
when the impact starts to catch up with us.
But, as Proverbs reminds us again and again,
(ט) הוֹלֵ֣ךְ בַּ֭תֹּם יֵ֣לֶךְ בֶּ֑טַח...
(9) The one who walks with integrity
will walk securely...
or, said differently:
Those who listen to the truth
will have the means to create
security and well-being.