דַּבֶּר־נָ֖א בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וְיִשְׁאֲל֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ ׀ מֵאֵ֣ת רֵעֵ֗הוּ וְאִשָּׁה֙ מֵאֵ֣ת רְעוּתָ֔הּ כְּלֵי־כֶ֖סֶף וּכְלֵ֥י זָהָֽב׃
Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.”
וַיִּתֵּ֧ן ה' אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָעָ֖ם בְּעֵינֵ֣י מִצְרָ֑יִם גַּ֣ם ׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ מֹשֶׁ֗ה גָּד֤וֹל מְאֹד֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּעֵינֵ֥י עַבְדֵֽי־פַרְעֹ֖ה וּבְעֵינֵ֥י הָעָֽם׃ {ס}
ה' disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people. Moreover, Moses himself was much esteemed in the land of Egypt, among Pharaoh’s courtiers and among the people.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה כֹּ֖ה אָמַ֣ר ה' כַּחֲצֹ֣ת הַלַּ֔יְלָה אֲנִ֥י יוֹצֵ֖א בְּת֥וֹךְ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
Moses said, “Thus says ה': Toward midnight I will go forth among the Egyptians,
דבר נא. אֵין נָא אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן בַּקָּשָׁה, בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִמְּךָ הַזְהִירֵם עַל כָּךְ, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר אוֹתוֹ צַדִּיק אַבְרָהָם "וַעֲבָדוּם וְעִנּוּ אוֹתָם" (בראשית ט"ו), קִיֵּם בָּהֶם, "וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יֵצְאוּ בִּרְכֻשׁ גָּדוֹל" (שם), לֹא קִיֵּם בָּהֶם:
דבר נא SPEAK נא — The word נא is always an expression of entreaty. Here it means: I entreat you, admonish them about this which follows (impress this injunction upon them), so that righteous man, Abraham, may not say: the prophecy (Genesis 15:13) “they shall serve them, and they shall afflict them” He permitted to be fulfilled in them, but the promise (Genesis 15:14) “and afterwards they shall go forth with great substance” He did not bring to fulfilment for them (Berakhot 9a-b).
ואמר דבר נא באזני העם, בצאתך מלפני פרעה:
SPEAK NOW IN THE EARS OF THE PEOPLE. I.e., after you depart from Pharaoh.
דבר נא באזני העם וישאלו. שלא ידאגו שמא בסבת הממון ימסרו עצמם לרדוף אחריהם, כי בזה תהיה תשועתם:
דבר נא באזני העם וישאלו, they needed to be encouraged to ask for this as they might have worried about the Egyptians pursuing them in order to retrieve their riches. It worked in reverse; the very fact that the Egyptians chased after the Israelites, i.e. reneged, was the immediate reason G’d came to the Israelites’ assistance and drowned their pursuers. That is what made them absolutely free.
דבר נא דבר עכשיו באזני העם, כי אין שהות בדבר מאחר שילכו להם מכל וכל אבל במכות שלמפרע אלמלא היו מצרים משאילים להם יאמרו להם השב לי את אשר השאלתי לך כשיראו פרעה מסרב ליתן להם רשות לצאת לצמיתות.
דבר נא, “speak please;” Moses was to do this at this time as they would not have any time to do so once Pharaoh would discharge them unconditionally, i.e. even expel them. If the people had made these requests still earlier, Egyptians would have demanded that they would give back what they had borrowed, seeing that Pharaoh had refused to allow them to leave permanently.
מאת רעהו וכי מצרים היו להם רעים לישראל אלא מלמד שאחרי המכות היו כרעים ואוהבים ישראל להשאיל להם כליהם.
מאת רעהו, “from his friend or comrade;” to the question of: “since when were the ordinary Egyptians the personal friends of the Israelites?” The answer is that after the plagues had ceased, the Egyptians’ attitude towards the Israelites underwent a drastic change, and they became very willing to let them use their vessels.
כלי כסף וכלי זהב במקום שהניחו ישראל בתיהם ושדותיהם וכליהם שלא יכלו לשאת עמהם שהרי היו להם לישראל נחלות במצרים כדכתיב ויאחזו בה.
כלי כסף וכלי זהב, “silver vessels and golden vessels.” It was no more than a fair exchange, seeing that the Israelites left behind their houses and their fields which no one compensated them for. We read already in Genesis 47,27 ויאחזו בה, that the sons of Yaakov instead of or in addition to being shepherds, also became land owners.
וטעם ויתן ה' את חן העם בעיני מצרים שלא היו אנשי מצרים שונאים אותם על המכות, אבל מוסיפין בהם אהבה ונושאים חן בעיניהם, לאמר, אנחנו הרשעים גם עושים חמס, וראוי הוא שיחונן אתכם האלקים.
AND THE ETERNAL GAVE THE PEOPLE FAVOR IN THE SIGHT OF THE EGYPTIANS. The purport thereof is that the Egyptians did not hate them because of the plagues. Instead, they conceived affection for them, and the Israelites found favor in their eyes, the Egyptians acknowledging, “we are the wicked ones. There is violence in our hands, and you merit that G-d be gracious to you.”
גם האיש משה גדול מאד הוא נתינת טעם לניצול מצרים כמו נתינת חן העם והיו ישראל מוציאים ממצריים הרבה שנותנים להם בשביל כבודו של משה.
גם האיש משה גדול מאד, “also the person called Moses was a very greatly esteemed man.” The Torah writes this in order for us to understand the reason why the Torah reports that the Israelites “emptied out” Egypt. Many Egyptians gave gifts to the Israelites as a sign of their high esteem for their leader Moses.
ובעיני העם של מצרים.
ובעיני העם, “as well as in the eyes of the people.” (the Egyptian people, not only in the eyes of Pharaoh’s officials.)
״דַּבֶּר נָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם״ וְגוֹ׳. אָמְרִי דְּבֵי רַבִּי יַנַּאי: אֵין ״נָא״ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן בַּקָּשָׁה, אָמַר לֵיהּ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה: בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִמְּךָ, לֵךְ וֶאֱמוֹר לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל: בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִכֶּם, שַׁאֲלוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב, שֶׁלֹּא יֹאמַר
Since the last topic discussed in the Gemara revolved around the exodus from Egypt, the Gemara cites additional aggadic midrash on that subject. With regard to the verse: “Speak, please [na] in the ears of the people, and they should borrow, every man from his fellow and every woman from her fellow, silver and gold vessels” (Exodus 11:2), the word please [na] is unclear. The students of the school of Rabbi Yannai said: Please [na] is nothing more than an expression of supplication. Why would God employ an expression of supplication in approaching Israel? The Gemara explains that the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: I beseech you, go and tell Israel: I beseech you; borrow vessels of silver and vessels of gold from the Egyptians in order to fulfill the promise I made to Abraham in the “Covenant between the Pieces,” so that