(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה רְאֵ֛ה נְתַתִּ֥יךָ אֱלֹקִ֖ים לְפַרְעֹ֑ה וְאַהֲרֹ֥ן אָחִ֖יךָ יִהְיֶ֥ה נְבִיאֶֽךָ׃ (ב) אַתָּ֣ה תְדַבֵּ֔ר אֵ֖ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲצַוֶּ֑ךָּ וְאַהֲרֹ֤ן אָחִ֙יךָ֙ יְדַבֵּ֣ר אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְשִׁלַּ֥ח אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מֵאַרְצֽוֹ׃ (ג) וַאֲנִ֥י אַקְשֶׁ֖ה אֶת־לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֑ה וְהִרְבֵּיתִ֧י אֶת־אֹתֹתַ֛י וְאֶת־מוֹפְתַ֖י בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃ (ד) וְלֹֽא־יִשְׁמַ֤ע אֲלֵכֶם֙ פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְנָתַתִּ֥י אֶת־יָדִ֖י בְּמִצְרָ֑יִם וְהוֹצֵאתִ֨י אֶת־צִבְאֹתַ֜י אֶת־עַמִּ֤י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בִּשְׁפָטִ֖ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃ (ה) וְיָדְע֤וּ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ כִּֽי־אֲנִ֣י ה' בִּנְטֹתִ֥י אֶת־יָדִ֖י עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהוֹצֵאתִ֥י אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל מִתּוֹכָֽם׃ (ו) וַיַּ֥עַשׂ מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְאַהֲרֹ֑ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה ה' אֹתָ֖ם כֵּ֥ן עָשֽׂוּ׃ (ז) וּמֹשֶׁה֙ בֶּן־שְׁמֹנִ֣ים שָׁנָ֔ה וְאַֽהֲרֹ֔ן בֶּן־שָׁלֹ֥שׁ וּשְׁמֹנִ֖ים שָׁנָ֑ה בְּדַבְּרָ֖ם אֶל־פַּרְעֹֽה׃ (פ) (ח) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ (ט) כִּי֩ יְדַבֵּ֨ר אֲלֵכֶ֤ם פַּרְעֹה֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר תְּנ֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם מוֹפֵ֑ת וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן קַ֧ח אֶֽת־מַטְּךָ֛ וְהַשְׁלֵ֥ךְ לִפְנֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה יְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין׃ (י) וַיָּבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאַהֲרֹן֙ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֔ה וַיַּ֣עַשׂוּ כֵ֔ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צִוָּ֣ה ה' וַיַּשְׁלֵ֨ךְ אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶת־מַטֵּ֗הוּ לִפְנֵ֥י פַרְעֹ֛ה וְלִפְנֵ֥י עֲבָדָ֖יו וַיְהִ֥י לְתַנִּֽין׃ (יא) וַיִּקְרָא֙ גַּם־פַּרְעֹ֔ה לַֽחֲכָמִ֖ים וְלַֽמְכַשְּׁפִ֑ים וַיַּֽעֲשׂ֨וּ גַם־הֵ֜ם חַרְטֻמֵּ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶ֖ם כֵּֽן׃ (יב) וַיַּשְׁלִ֙יכוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ מַטֵּ֔הוּ וַיִּהְי֖וּ לְתַנִּינִ֑ם וַיִּבְלַ֥ע מַטֵּֽה־אַהֲרֹ֖ן אֶת־מַטֹּתָֽם׃ (יג) וַיֶּחֱזַק֙ לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֔ה וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵהֶ֑ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר ה'׃ (פ) (יד) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה כָּבֵ֖ד לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֑ה מֵאֵ֖ן לְשַׁלַּ֥ח הָעָֽם׃ (טו) לֵ֣ךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֞ה בַּבֹּ֗קֶר הִנֵּה֙ יֹצֵ֣א הַמַּ֔יְמָה וְנִצַּבְתָּ֥ לִקְרָאת֖וֹ עַל־שְׂפַ֣ת הַיְאֹ֑ר וְהַמַּטֶּ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־נֶהְפַּ֥ךְ לְנָחָ֖שׁ תִּקַּ֥ח בְּיָדֶֽךָ׃ (טז) וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֵלָ֗יו ה' אֱלֹקֵ֤י הָעִבְרִים֙ שְׁלָחַ֤נִי אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר שַׁלַּח֙ אֶת־עַמִּ֔י וְיַֽעַבְדֻ֖נִי בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר וְהִנֵּ֥ה לֹא־שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ עַד־כֹּֽה׃ (יז) כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר ה' בְּזֹ֣את תֵּדַ֔ע כִּ֖י אֲנִ֣י ה' הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י מַכֶּ֣ה ׀ בַּמַּטֶּ֣ה אֲשֶׁר־בְּיָדִ֗י עַל־הַמַּ֛יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּיְאֹ֖ר וְנֶהֶפְכ֥וּ לְדָֽם׃ (יח) וְהַדָּגָ֧ה אֲשֶׁר־בַּיְאֹ֛ר תָּמ֖וּת וּבָאַ֣שׁ הַיְאֹ֑ר וְנִלְא֣וּ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִשְׁתּ֥וֹת מַ֖יִם מִן־הַיְאֹֽר׃ (ס) (יט) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה אֱמֹ֣ר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֡ן קַ֣ח מַטְּךָ֣ וּנְטֵֽה־יָדְךָ֩ עַל־מֵימֵ֨י מִצְרַ֜יִם עַֽל־נַהֲרֹתָ֣ם ׀ עַל־יְאֹרֵיהֶ֣ם וְעַל־אַגְמֵיהֶ֗ם וְעַ֛ל כָּל־מִקְוֵ֥ה מֵימֵיהֶ֖ם וְיִֽהְיוּ־דָ֑ם וְהָ֤יָה דָם֙ בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם וּבָעֵצִ֖ים וּבָאֲבָנִֽים׃
(1) The LORD replied to Moses, “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet. (2) You shall repeat all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh to let the Israelites depart from his land. (3) But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, that I may multiply My signs and marvels in the land of Egypt. (4) When Pharaoh does not heed you, I will lay My hand upon Egypt and deliver My ranks, My people the Israelites, from the land of Egypt with extraordinary chastisements. (5) And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst.” (6) This Moses and Aaron did; as the LORD commanded them, so they did. (7) Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three, when they made their demand on Pharaoh. (8) The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, (9) “When Pharaoh speaks to you and says, ‘Produce your marvel,’ you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh.’ It shall turn into a serpent.” (10) So Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded: Aaron cast down his rod in the presence of Pharaoh and his courtiers, and it turned into a serpent. (11) Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magicians, in turn, did the same with their spells; (12) each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods. (13) Yet Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. (14) And the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go. (15) Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is coming out to the water, and station yourself before him at the edge of the Nile, taking with you the rod that turned into a snake. (16) And say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, “Let My people go that they may worship Me in the wilderness.” But you have paid no heed until now. (17) Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD.” See, I shall strike the water in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood; (18) and the fish in the Nile will die. The Nile will stink so that the Egyptians will find it impossible to drink the water of the Nile.’” (19) And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Take your rod and hold out your arm over the waters of Egypt—its rivers, its canals, its ponds, all its bodies of water—that they may turn to blood; there shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”
לֵךְ אֶל פַּרְעֹה בַּבֹּקֶר הִנֵּה יוֹצֵא הַמַּיְמָה, לֹא הָיָה יוֹצֵא אֶלָּא הַמַּיְמָה בַּבֹּקֶר, לְפִי שֶׁאוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע הָיָה מִשְׁתַּבֵּחַ וְאוֹמֵר שֶׁהוּא אֱלוֹקַּ וְאֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא לִנְקָבָיו, לְפִיכָךְ הָיָה יוֹצֵא בַּבֹּקֶר, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהוּא נִצְרַךְ תְּפֹשׂ אוֹתוֹ. וְהַמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר נֶהְפַּךְ לְנָחָשׁ תִּקַּח בְּיָדֶךָ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּתְיָרֵא מִמֶּנּוּ.
Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is coming out of the water: he only went to the water in the morning, because that evil one praised himself and said that he was a god and didn't have the same bodily needs (as other people) thus he went out in the morning. When he is busy with his needs, that's when you catch him. And the staff you turned into a snake, take in your hand, so that he will be afraid of it.
...לְפִיכָךְ הָיָה יוֹצֵא הַמַּיְמָה בְּהַשְׁכָּמָה, שֶׁלֹּא יִרְאוּהוּ בְּנֵי אָדָם שֶׁעוֹמֵד בְּקָלוֹן. לְכָךְ אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה: עֲמֹד בְּהַשְׁכָּמָה בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהוּא נִצְרָךְ, תְּפֹשׂ אוֹתוֹ וֶאֱמֹר לוֹ: כֹּה אָמַר ה' כִּי בַּפַּעַם הַזֹּאת אֲנִי שֹׁלֵחַ אֶת כָּל מַגֵּפֹתַי.
(1) And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the morning? Because the wicked one boasted that since he was a god, he had no need to go to the water to relieve himself. Therefore he went out early in the morning so that no one would see him performing a demeaning act. That is why the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Rise up early in the morning, when he must (go out), and say unto him: Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews … for I will this time send all My plagues upon thy person, etc. (Exod. 9:14).
What is the purpose of satire?
https://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/spiegel-interview-with-mel-brooks-with-comedy-we-can-rob-hitler-of-his-posthumous-power-a-406268.html
SPIEGEL: Your new comedy The Producers is set at the end of the 1950s on Broadway and concerns a Nazi musical that breaks box office records. It shows a dancing and singing Hitler. Isnt that a bit tasteless?
Brooks: Of course. But its also funny, isnt it? The film revolves around a Broadway producer who, for financial and technical reasons, wants to produce a flop. After he turns down the chance to adapt Kafkas The Metamorphosis, he comes up with the idea of creating a musical about Hitler, produced by the lousiest director in the city, cast with the worst actors by far - in the middle of the Jewish metropolis of New York. Hes sure it wont work. Yet because the audience considers the piece to be a brilliant parody, his worst fears are realized, its a hit. The Producers therefore deals with the difficulty of having a flop.
SPIEGEL: Which you of course know well yourself. The Producers is based on a musical that you produced that ran successfully on Broadway for five years and also on the film The Producers that you shot in 1967. How did the audience react to the film back then?
Brooks: The Jews were horrified. I received resentful letters of protest, saying things like: How can you make jokes about Hitler? The man murdered 6 million Jews." But "The Producers" doesnt concern a concentration camp or the Holocaust.
....
Brooks: ... You can laugh at Hitler because you can cut him down to normal size.
SPIEGEL: Can you also get your revenge on him by using comedy?
Brooks: Yes, absolutely. Of course it is impossible to take revenge for 6 million murdered Jews. But by using the medium of comedy, we can try to rob Hitler of his posthumous power and myths. In doing so, we should remember that Hitler did have some talents. He was able to fool an entire population into letting him be their leader. However, this role was basically a few numbers too great for him - but he simply covered over this deficiency.
Interview conducted by Lars-Olav Beier.
Exodus 14:11 - "Was it for a lack of graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert?"
Balaam; Esther. And more.
Rashbam: Take a morning stroll.
Bekhor Shor: Morning stroll and birding.
Ibn Ezra: Measure the level of the river.
Targum Jerusalem: A dip in the refreshing water.
Targum Jonathan, Moed Katan and others (Neofiti): Perform divination.
Midrash Sekhel Tov: Worship it.
(א) הנה יוצא המימה. דרך השרים והמלכים לטיל על שפת הנר ומוליכים עופות בידם כגון אושטיר"א ואשפרברי"ש ולוקחין להם עופות אחרים וקורין דיבר"א ושם תדבר עמו כי שם לא יהיה עמו רוב עם ותוכל אליו לדבר שם:
It is the way of officials and kings to stroll on the banks of rivers while leading birds on their hands like ostriches (?) and (parrots?) >>> and they would take other birds and call >>>> and he would speak with it there because there weren't a lot of people with him and he was able to speak there.
It was the custom of the king of Egypt (to this day) to go out to the Nile in Tammuz and Av and see if the level has risen. And God instructed Moses to go out in the morning and stand before the Nile and perform the sign that would smite the Nile before Pharaoh. And he instructed him to take the staff that had changed to a snake before going to see Pharaoh. ANd he gave it to Aaron to cast over the waters of Egypt so that Pharaoh would see with his own eyes, that the moment Aaron smote the Nile with the staff the water would turn to blood.
ומניין שהיאור הוא אלקיו, שנא' הנה יוצא המימה ונצבת לקראתו על שפת היאור (שמות ז טו), שהיה בכל בוקר משמש למימי היאור,
How do we know that the Nile was a god? Because it is written, as he is coming out to the water, and station yourself before him at the edge of the Nile, because he would go each morning to worship the water of the Nile.
https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-pharaoh-went-to-the-nile
At no time would any of Pharaoh’s daily rituals have taken place at the Nile. From pre-dawn until the completion of the morning offering, he would have been preoccupied with religious duties within the temple. This then, rules out Rashbam’s idea that Pharaoh enjoyed his morning leisure there. We also must reject Rashi’s explanation and the midrashic traditions that inform it. Like the accusations of magic and divination, we must consider them entirely polemical. Moreover, from very ancient times, Egypt’s elite enjoyed the luxury of indoor bathrooms replete with cleaning staffs.[17] Indeed, there would have been no need for Pharaoh to use the river for this purpose...
What about the proposal that Pharaoh went to the Nile to worship it? Even if we put aside, for the nonce, the fact that Pharaoh would not have been near the river in the morning, this interpretation also is highly unlikely. In point of fact, there is very little evidence for the royal worship of the Nile god Hapi during the pharaonic period (Fig. 6). While the general population certainly greeted the annual inundation with jubilation, Hapi never had his own temple.
Measuring the Nile
This, then, brings us to Ibn Ezra’s proposal that Pharaoh might have gone to the Nile to measure its height, a suggestion that Driver and Sarna also noted.[25] As Ibn Ezra admits, he drew upon knowledge of the practice in his own day. Indeed, he must have had in mind the very public and ceremonial role that the Caliph played in the Fatimid period during the annual inundation, when he perfumed the Nilometer with saffron at Rhoda Island (Fig. 7).[26]
Nile measurements certainly took place also in pharaonic times, not just to determine the level of the river, but to calculate the levy of taxes (Fig. 8).[27] Nevertheless, in pharaonic times such duties were delegated to officials. Thus, we must look elsewhere for a likely explanation for Pharaoh’s trip to the river in Exod 7:15.
Literary Purpose - To Demonstrate Divine Order behind the Chain of Events
To this point, the evidence has ruled out all but one explanation—a literary purpose. I already have noted Propp’s observation that placement by the river is required by the plot and that it literarily recalls other passages involving royalty near the Nile. However, the narrative of the plagues is even more sophisticated. Its redacted form adheres to four literary structures simultaneously.
Structure One
The first structure groups the plagues “biblically” two-by-two. Thus, the first two involve the Nile (blood, frogs), the second—insects (lice, swarms), the third—illness (anthrax, boils), the fourth ruins the crops (hail, locusts), and the fifth entails darkness (three days of darkness, firstborn die at midnight).[28]
Structure Two
The ten plagues also follow a tripartite structure of three plagues each, plus one (the tenth).[29] The first plague in each of these series (1st, 4th, 7th) contains Yahweh’s commandment to Moses to “station himself” before pharaoh, each time employing the Hebrew root נצב. Each also contains the phrase “in the morning.” The second plague in each series (2nd, 5th, 8th) employs the command “Go to Pharaoh,” each time using the verb בוא. Moreover, within each of the three sets, Yahweh issues a warning for the first and second plagues, but not the third. Finally, Aaron serves as an agent during the first set of three plagues, whereas Moses performs the final three.
Structure Three
A third structure operative in the account is concentric and divides the plagues into two sets of five that reflect upon each other chiastically.[30] Thus, the first and tenth both contain introductory and closing formulas, the second and ninth refer to the hardening of the heart both at the beginning and the end, and they introduce a specific request. The third and eighth plagues contain a prophetic formula and specific request to serve Yahweh. In the fourth and seventh, the opening formula contains a command to Moses for Aaron. The fifth and tenth both feature a prophetic formula and specific request to serve Yahweh.
Structure Four
The fourth structure at work employs a biblical literary device that underscores the importance of the seventh and tenth items in rosters of ten.[31] In this case, the tenth plague serves as the obvious climax for the entire narrative. It kills all the firstborn Egyptian males, including Pharaoh’s heir, as a lex talionis response to the king’s decree to kill all firstborn Israelite boys (Exod 1:16, 1:22).
Yet, the seventh plague (hail and fire) ranks next in importance. It receives the most space other than the tenth, it constitutes a manifestation of the divine presence, it was more severe than the previous plagues, and it was unprecedented in history (Exod 9:18, 9:24). The plague of hail also is the first to force Pharaoh to repent (Exod 9:27).[32] Moreover, unlike the first and third plagues, the narrator’s announcement of the seventh plague omits the words “Behold, he (Pharaoh) goes out to the water.” The change in formula suspends the reader’s anticipation of water, which appears just a few verses later in the form of hail.
The narrative’s four sophisticated structures serve to demonstrate the existence of a divine order behind the catastrophic chain of events. In effect, they convey by literary means the redactor’s theological view that the events were Yahweh’s plan. They also provide ample evidence for why Moses was commanded to go to Pharaoh “in the morning” as “he goes out to the water.” Pharaoh was not present to perform magic or divination, or to worship the Nile. Nor was he there to relieve himself, bathe, stroll, or measure the level of the river. He was there to serve the needs of the redactor.
View Footnotes
Prof. Scott B. Noegel is Professor of Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literatures in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington.