Shemot | Sefaria

Shemot

BySharon Brous

Divrei Torah

שמות א׳:ח׳

וַיָּ֥קָם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף׃

Exodus 1:8

A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.

רש"י על שמות א׳:ח׳:א׳

ויקם מלך חדש. רַב וּשְׁמוּאֵל, חַד אָמַר חָדָשׁ מַמָּשׁ, וְחַד אָמַר שֶׁנִּתְחַדְּשׁוּ גְּזֵרוֹתָיו:

Rashi on Exodus 1:8:1

ויקם מלך חדש NOW THERE AROSE A NEW KING — Rab and Samuel (two Amoraim or Talmudical teachers) differed in their interpretation of these words. One said that he was really a new king; the other said that it was the same king but he made new edicts (Sotah 11a).

רש"י על שמות א׳:ח׳:ב׳

אשר לא ידע. עָשָׂה עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ לֹא יְדָעוֹ (סוטה י"א):

Rashi on Exodus 1:8:2

אשר לא ידע WHO KNEW NOT [JOSEPH] — he comported himself as though he did not know him (Sotah 11a).

סוטה י״א א:ו׳

(שמות א, ח) ויקם מלך חדש וגו' רב ושמואל חד אמר חדש ממש וחד אמר שנתחדשו גזירותיו מאן דאמר חדש ממש דכתיב חדש ומאן דאמר שנתחדשו גזירותיו דלא כתיב וימת וימלוך (שמות א, ח) אשר לא ידע את יוסף דהוה דמי כמאן דלא ידע ליה כלל

Sotah 11a:6

§ The Gemara proceeds to discuss the sojourn of the Jewish people in Egypt. The verse states: “And there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8). Rav and Shmuel disagree about the interpretation of this verse. One says that this means he was actually a new king, and one says that this means that his decrees were transformed as if he were a new king. The one who says that he was actually a new king holds that it is because it is written “new.” And the one who says that his decrees were transformed holds that it is because it is not written: “And the previous king of Egypt died and a new king reigned.” This indicates that the same king remained. According to this interpretation, the words: “Who knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), mean that he was like someone who did not know him at all. Although he certainly knew Joseph and his accomplishments, he acted as if he didn’t.

סוטה י״א א:י״ב

א"ר חייא בר אבא א"ר סימאי שלשה היו באותה עצה בלעם ואיוב ויתרו

Sotah 11a:12

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Simai says: Three noteworthy people were consulted by Pharaoh in that counsel where Pharaoh questioned what should be done with the Jewish people. They were Balaam, and Job, and Yitro.

סוטה י״א א:י״ג

בלעם שיעץ נהרג איוב ששתק נידון ביסורין יתרו שברח זכו מבני בניו שישבו בלשכת הגזית שנאמר (דברי הימים א ב, נה) ומשפחות סופרים יושבי יעבץ תרעתים שמעתים סוכתים המה הקנים הבאים מחמת אבי בית רכב וכתיב (שופטים א, טז) ובני קיני חתן משה וגו'

Sotah 11a:13

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba teaches what occurred to each of them: Balaam, who advised Pharaoh to kill all sons born to the Jewish people, was punished by being killed in the war with Midian (see Numbers 31:8). Job, who was silent and neither advised nor protested, was punished by suffering, as detailed in the eponymous book in the Bible. Yitro, who ran away as a sign of protest, merited that some of his children’s children sat in the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, as it is stated: “And the families of scribes who dwelt at Jabez, Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites, these were the Kenites who descended from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab” (I Chronicles 2:55). And it is written: “The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law” (Judges 1:16). This teaches that the Kenites, descendants of Yitro, the father-in-law of Moses, dwelt at Jabez [Yabetz], referring to the place where the Jewish people go for advice [eitza], i.e., the Chamber of Hewn Stone.

סוטה י״א א:ט״ו

(שמות א, יא) וישימו עליו שרי מסים עליהם מיבעי ליה תנא דבי ר' אלעזר בר' שמעון מלמד שהביאו מלבן ותלו לו לפרעה בצוארו וכל אחד ואחד מישראל שאמר להם איסטניס אני אמרו לו כלום איסטניס אתה יותר מפרעה

Sotah 11a:15

The next verse states: “Therefore they did set over him taskmasters in order to afflict him with their burdens” (Exodus 1:11). The Gemara comments: It should have stated: Over them, in the plural. The school of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, taught: This teaches that at first they brought a brick mold and they hung it on the neck of Pharaoh to create the appearance that he was also participating in the labor. And with regard to each and every Jew who said to the Egyptians: I am a delicate person [istenis] and I cannot participate in the labor, they said to him: Are you at all more of a delicate person than Pharaoh, and he is participating. Therefore, the verse states: “They did set over him,” as they first placed the burden on Pharaoh as an artifice to enslave the Jewish people.

סוטה י״א א:ט״ז

שרי מסים דבר שמשים (לבנים)

Sotah 11a:16

The term “Taskmasters [sarei missim]” is formed from the term: A matter that compels [shemesim] the manufacture of bricks, as the Jewish people were forced into labor when these taskmasters were assigned to them.

סוטה י״א א:ו׳

Sotah 11a:6

ספורנו על שמות א׳:ח׳:א׳

...

Sforno on Exodus 1:8:1

ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף, although there can be no question that in the annals of Egyptian history the 80 year reign of Joseph and his legislation saving Egypt from the famine was duly recorded, as well as how he legislated that the whole land would belong to Pharaoh and the farmers would become his tenants, it did not occur to anyone to associate the Hebrews of his time with the family of Joseph who had been so highly esteemed. The idea that the present day Hebrews deserved special consideration on account of their illustrious forbears did not occur to anyone observing the way these Hebrews behaved at that time.

תנחומא בובר, שמות ז׳:א׳

ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים (שם שם ח), אמר ר' אבא בר כהנא וכי מלך חדש היה, אלא שחידש עליהן גזירות של פורעניות.

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Shemot 7:1

(Exod. 1:8:) NOW A NEW KING AROSE OVER EGYPT. R. Abba bar Kahana said: Was he <really> a new king? Only in the sense that he issued new decrees against them which <led> to tribulations.³¹‘Eruv., Sot. 11a, and Exod. R. 1:8 explain further that the king could not have been a new one since Scripture never reported that the former king had died and that this one reigned in his stead.

מדרש תנחומא, שמות ה׳:א׳

‎וַיָּמָת יוֹסֵף וְכָל אֶחָיו, וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל פָּרוּ וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ. רַבִּי יַנַּאי אוֹמֵר: כָּל אַחַת וְאַחַת יוֹלֶדֶת שִׁשָּׁה בְּכֶרֶס אֶחָת. וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים: שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר, דִּכְתִיב: 'פָּרוּ', שְׁנַיִם, 'וַיִּשְׁרְצוּ', שְׁנַיִם, 'וַיִּרְבּוּ', שְׁנַיִם, 'וַיַּעַצְמוּ', שְׁנַיִם, 'בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד', שְׁנַיִם, 'וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם', הָא שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר. וְרַבִּי יוֹנָתָן אָמַר: וַתִּמָּלֵא הָאָרֶץ אֹתָם, מִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ כֶּחֳרָשִׁים שֶׁל קָנִים. כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאוּ הַמִּצְרִים כָּךְ, חִדְּשׁוּ עֲלֵיהֶן גְּזֵרוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ חָדָשׁ. וְכִי חָדָשׁ, וַהֲלֹא הוּא פַּרְעֹה? אֶלָּא שֶׁאָמְרוּ לוֹ הַמִּצְרִים: בּוֹא וְנִזְדַּוֵּג לְאֻמָּה זוֹ. אָמַר לָהֶן: שׁוֹטִים, עַד עַכְשָׁיו אָנוּ חַיִּים מִשֶּׁלָּהֶם, וְהֵיאַךְ נִזְדַּוֵּג לָהֶן עַכְשָׁו. אִלּוּלֵי יוֹסֵף לֹא הָיָה לָנוּ חַיִּים. כֵּיוָן שֶׁלֹּא שָׁמַע לָהֶם, הוֹרִידוּהוּ מִכִּסְאוֹ שְׁלֹשָה חֳדָשִׁים, עַד שֶׁאָמַר לָהֶם: כָּל מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם עוֹשִׂין הֲרֵינִי עִמָּכֶם, וְהֶעֱמִידוּהוּ. לְפִיכָךְ כְּתִיב וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ חָדָשׁ.

Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 5:1

And Joseph died, and all his brethren (Exod. 1:6). Nevertheless, the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly (ibid., v. 7). R. Yannai declared: Each woman bore six children at one time, while (because each word in the biblical verse is in the plural form, thus implying a minimum of two) others say that each one bore twelve, for the word paru (“were fruitful”) indicates two; vayishresu (“and increased abundantly”), two; vayirbu (“and multiplied”), two; vaya’asmu (“and waxed”), two; bime’od me’od (“exceeding mighty”), two; and the land was filled with them (ibid.), two, totaling twelve in all. R. Jonathan said: The land was filled with them implies that they filled the land like reed branches. When the Egyptians observed this, they issued new decrees against them, as it is said: Now there arose a new king (Exod. 1:8). Was he in fact a new king? Rather, he fashioned new decrees against them. Another explanation of Now there arose a new king. Was it not Pharaoh? Rather, the Egyptians cried out: “Come, let us attack this nation.” “You fools,” he said to them, “we have survived only because of them, how dare we attack them now? Were it not for Joseph, we would not be alive.” When he refused to carry out their request, they removed him from his throne for three months until he promised them: “I am with you in all you do.” Then they restored him to his throne. That is why it is written: And now there arose a new king.

Ramban, Exodus 1:11
At first the Israelites were ordered to supply the king with a fixed quota of labor. The king appointed Egyptian officers to mobilize this labor force to perform their duties by rotation, a month or more on construction work for the king. But when they saw that this had no effect on the people they became exasperated and decreed that all the Egyptians enslave the people. Any Egyptian who required labor was authorized to press the Israelites into his service. This is the force of the verse: “the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.”