These are the names of the children of Israel, who came to Egypt with Jacob; each man came with his household.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;

Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;

Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

All the people who emerged from Jacob’s loins were seventy souls; and this number includes Joseph, who was already in Egypt.

Joseph died, as was described in the final verse of Genesis, and then all of his brothers and all of that generation, Jacob’s children and their children who were born while the family was still in Canaan, also died.

The children of Israel, who were now developing from a family of seventy people into a tribe, were fruitful and propagated and increased and grew exceedingly mighty; they became a powerful presence in the land. In a short time, the children of Israel grew into a large tribe. And the land was filled with them. From the continuation of the narrative it will become apparent that not all the children of Israel remained in Goshen in seclusion from the Egyptians. Rather, some of them migrated to other regions, living in close proximity to the Egyptians. 1

A new king, from a new dynasty, 2 arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. It is likely that this king was aware of Joseph, his roots, and the revolutionary changes he brought about in Egypt. Nevertheless, he remained indifferent to Joseph’s legacy and unconcerned with the fate of his people.

He, the king, said to his people: Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and mightier than we. As they continue to multiply exceedingly quickly, they are becoming a demographic threat to our existence.

Let us be cunning with it; we must employ sophisticated methods to limit their growth, lest it increase, and it shall be that if a war will occur on the northern border, it too will join our enemies and wage war against us, and they will then go up from the land, leaving our country with a labor shortage. 3 Alternatively, Pharaoh was speaking euphemistically: If there will be a war, the children of Israel will join our enemies and we will go up from the land; we will be expelled. 4

They, the Egyptians, appointed overseers over it, in order to afflict it with their burdens. The centralized government of Egypt was administered by Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh installed overseers and conscripted many members of Israel into a labor force for public works for the benefit of Egypt. He hoped that the difficult life of servitude would cause the Hebrews to diminish in number, and that it would break their spirit. It, the Israelite nation, built storehouse cities for Pharaoh: Pitom and Rameses.

But as they would afflict it, so it would increase and so it would proliferate. Although the lives of the Israelites became more difficult, they continued to grow. Since the children of Israel were not confined to a particular area of Egypt, the Egyptians witnessed this surge in population, and they were revolted by the children of Israel.

The population growth that the Egyptians sought to suppress through conscription for labor was ineffective; on the contrary, the children of Israel only grew in number. The Egyptians therefore sought to worsen the plight of Israel, so they coerced the children of Israel to work with travail, forcing them to perform hard labor that would break them. It is possible that in an effort to break their spirits, the children of Israel were denied access to technologies and tools that were already in use in Egypt at that time.

They embittered their lives with hard work, with mortar and with bricks. The monumental structures of Egypt were built with ashlar stones quarried primarily in the south of the country. Simple utilitarian structures, such as homes and warehouses, were constructed from bricks, as there was an abundance of earth in Egypt with which to produce them. And in addition to the royal construction projects, they also worked with all work in the field, both in the service of the king and in private fields, in order to provide food for themselves or for others. They did all this together with all their work with which they worked for them, the Egyptians, with travail. The repeated emphasis on harsh labor hints to the tremendous time pressure that was imposed on the children of Israel, or to the imposition of tasks that were not appropriate for the strength or skills of the specific workers. All of these cruelties were designed to break their bodies and spirits. 5

Even hard labor and the embitterment of their lives did not have the desired effect upon the children of Israel; their numbers continued to rise. So the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shifra, and the name of the other, Pua. The names of the midwives are mentioned by the verse since it will become apparent that they were not mere vessels in the hands of Pharaoh, but independent personalities who acted according to their own discretion.

He said: When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you look upon the birthstool, if it is a son that was born, you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, she shall live. Pharaoh assumed that without a sufficient population of Hebrew males, the females would assimilate among the Egyptians, and Israel would cease to maintain an independent identity.

The midwives feared God, and therefore, they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, and instead, they kept the children alive. Not only did they deliver the children, but they also cared for those who were in danger. 6

The king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them: Why did you do this thing, and you kept the children alive? As I have not received reports of large-scale infant fatalities among the Hebrews, it is clear to me that you have not carried out my instructions.

The midwives were unable to make the argument to Pharaoh that his instructions were immoral or illegal. They therefore offered an excuse: The midwives said to Pharaoh: We were unable to carry out your instructions because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women with whom you are familiar, as they are vigorous and remain alert throughout the birthing process, as opposed to the pampered and weak Egyptian women, who would frequently tire and enter a semiconscious state during childbirth. As such, before the midwife comes to them, they have already given birth, and the midwife is therefore unable to interfere. The newborns are given to the midwives only after their mothers have already seen them.

In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh was far more than just a king. He was viewed as a deity or demigod, even while still alive. Accordingly, disobeying the king was an exceptional act. As a reward for their extraordinary courage, God favored the midwives and the people increased and became very mighty. The population of Israel was not suppressed; on the contrary, it continued to grow.

It was, because the midwives feared God, He established households for them. Their families grew and became honored and distinguished. 7

Since he was unable to carry out his intentions through the midwives, Pharaoh commanded all his people directly, saying: Every son who is born to the Hebrews, into the Nile you shall cast him, but every daughter you shall keep alive. Whether this order became official Egyptian policy to be enforced by the government, or it was a command directed at any Egyptian citizen who found a Hebrew child, every newborn Hebrew boy was sentenced to be drowned in the river.

A man from the house, the tribe, of Levi went and took a daughter of the head of the tribe of Levi.

The woman conceived and bore a son; she saw him that he was good; it was immediately apparent that he was special, 8 and she concealed him for three months because of the murderous decree upon all newborn Hebrew boys.

After some time passed, she could no longer conceal him because his voice became stronger as he grew, leading to the possibility that he would be discovered by the king’s agents or other informants. The woman refused to capitulate to the king’s decree, so she took drastic action, and she took a wicker basket for him and coated it with clay on the inside and with pitch on the outside, 9 to make it waterproof; she placed the child in it and placed it among the reeds growing on the bank of the Nile.

His older sister, Miriam (see 15:20), who was herself quite young, stationed herself at a distance, to know what would be done to him. Although she could not protect him from the decree, she watched from a distance to see what would be his fate. Perhaps because the child was noticeably special, they expected great things to come from him; she therefore wanted to see if these expectations would be fulfilled.

At that moment, Pharaoh’s daughter went down from her palace to bathe in the Nile, and her maidens, her servants, walked alongside the Nile to bathe as well, or to accompany and serve the princess. She, the princess, saw the basket among the reeds, and since it seemed unusual, she sent her maidservant and she took it .

She opened it and she saw the child, and behold, a boy was crying. She had compassion for him, and she said: This is from the children of the Hebrews. Perhaps she concluded that an Egyptian woman would not have abandoned a child in such a manner, or perhaps she was able to identify him as a Hebrew due to his skin color or facial features.

Presumably, the discovery of the child caused a stir. Miriam, who until now was standing at a distance, noticed the gathering of maidens around the baby and approached them: His sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter: Shall I go and call a wet nurse for you from the Hebrews, and she will nurse the child for you? It would seem that Pharaoh’s daughter picked up the crying child, but was unable to calm him. The child was too young to eat food, and she could not nurse him; if she wanted to keep the child, she needed a wet nurse. Miriam suggested a Hebrew wet nurse, not necessarily because the child was himself a Hebrew, but because Hebrew women were a source of cheap labor, especially in light of the fact that many of their babies were murdered by the Egyptians. These women would certainly be delighted to receive such employment.

Pharaoh’s daughter was indifferent regarding the ethnicity of the wet nurse: Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Go. The girl went, and summoned the child’s mother. This was obviously the preferable scenario, as the mother could now nurse her own child, and Pharaoh’s daughter would be unaware that the wet nurse was in fact his biological mother.

Pharaoh’s daughter said to her: Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages. Since Pharaoh’s daughter took an interest in the well-being of the child, he could safely be reunited with his mother. Now, the child’s mother would care for him just as before, and would even receive payment for nursing him. The woman took the child and nursed him.

The child grew, and once he was weaned, he could be cared for by a woman who was not a wet nurse. So she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he was a son to her. Pharaoh’s daughter adopted the child, and she called his name Moses [ Moshe ], and she said: I named him thus because I drew him from the water [ meshitihu ].

Despite being raised by Pharaoh’s daughter as a son of the Egyptian aristocracy, Moses was aware of his Hebrew ethnicity: It was in those days, Moses grew to adulthood, 10 and he went out to his brethren to familiarize himself with them. Until now, because the lowly Hebrews did not enter the court of Pharaoh, Moses was unfamiliar with them. And he saw their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man from his brethren. At this point, Moses felt a solidarity with the Hebrews.

He, Moses, turned this way and that, and he saw that there was no one in the vicinity. The area appeared secluded, although it seems that Moses did not look very carefully, as will become clear later on. He smote the Egyptian, killing him in a miraculous manner, or thanks to his strength of body and spirit, which Moses maintained until the age of 120 years. 11 And Moses then hid him by burying the body in the sand , and he assumed that this was the conclusion of this incident.

Still not entirely familiar with the Hebrews, but feeling a familial bond to them, he, Moses, emerged to see them again on the second day, and behold, two Hebrew men were fighting. Apparently, the two men did not merely exchange insults; at least one of them physically assaulted the other. And he, Moses, said to the wicked one, the one who struck the other: Why do you strike your neighbor?

He, the assailant, said: Who appointed you to be a leader and a judge over us, that you see fit to judge me? Since you hold no position of judicial authority, what can you do to me? Indeed, I am aware of your use of force; do you propose to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? Moses was frightened, because he knew he had broken the law, and he said: Indeed, although I thought my actions went unseen, the matter is known.

Pharaoh heard this matter. Perhaps the Hebrew man ceased to strike his colleague, but he did not remain silent, and the matter reached the ears of Pharaoh. It is unknown how Pharaoh related to the abandoned child his daughter brought home years earlier. Perhaps he only tolerated his presence, much as a parent might tolerate an abandoned kitten that his child rescued from the street, and therefore, once he became aware of what Moses had done, he sought to kill Moses, just as a parent might react toward his child’s pet after learning that the animal began to cause damage. Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he settled in the land of Midyan, and since he was a total stranger, he sat beside the well, which was an informal meeting place.

The priest of Midyan had seven daughters, who shepherded his flock, since he was not a wealthy man. They came to the well, drew water, and filled the troughs in order to give their father’s flock to drink.

The shepherds came and drove them away; Moses stood and rescued them. Once again, Moses demonstrated his extreme sensitivity to injustice. Despite being completely unfamiliar with these girls, he responded to the injustice occurring before him. 12 And not only did he save them, but he also gave their flock to drink. Although he was a total stranger, he sought to assist them in any way possible.

The girls did not engage Moses in lengthy conversation: They came to Re’uel, their father, and he said: Why were you so quick to come today? This question makes it clear that the girls were regularly driven away from the water by the other shepherds. Normally, they would return home late, as they needed to wait until the other shepherds finished giving their flocks to drink. It seems that their father was unable to offer much help to his daughters.

They said: An Egyptian man rescued us from the shepherds, and he also drew water for us and gave the flock to drink. Apparently, Moses spoke to them in Egyptian, or perhaps he was dressed in Egyptian garb. The Midyanite girls were unattuned to the differences between Moses, a Hebrew, and the native Egyptians.

He, Re’uel, said to his daughters: And where is he? After this stranger intervened on your behalf and assisted you with giving water to the flock, why did you leave the man? He must be waiting by the well for someone to strike up a conversation with him. At the very least, call him, and let him eat bread with us.

Moses decided, 13 or desired, 14 to live with the man, due to the pleasant manner in which he was accepted, and perhaps due to the personalities of his hosts; 15 and he gave his daughter Tzipora to Moses. It would thus appear that Re’uel had additional motivations for accepting Moses into his home.

She bore a son, and he called his name Gershom, as he said: I was a stranger [ ger ] in a foreign land, over there [ sham ]. 16

It was during those many days; the king of Egypt died. Presumably, this was the same king whose daughter raised Moses. Since the children of Israel were slaves of the government and labored on its behalf, the death of the king could have kindled hope for some measure of respite. However, the opposite occurred: 17 The children of Israel sighed due to the work, and they cried out, and their plea rose to God from the work.

God heard their groan and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, their forefathers.

God saw the children of Israel, and God knew; God connected Himself to them (see commentary on 1:8).

Moses was herding the sheep of Yitro, his father-in-law, priest of Midyan. It seems that Moses enjoyed this occupation, as it provided him opportunities to contemplate, pray, and connect to God. He led the flock far into the ownerless territory of the wilderness; that way, there would be no concern that the flock might cause damage to another’s property. Additionally, this reduced the chances of an enemy attack. And Moses came to the mountain of God, to Horev.

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from inside the bush, the angel revealed itself as a flame of fire; and he saw, and behold, the bush was burning in the fire, but the bush was not consumed.

Moses said to himself: I will turn now, and I will see this great and mysterious sight. Normally, a flame would have consumed a flammable object such as the bush; this must not be an ordinary fire. Although Moses did not see the angel, he recognized that this was an extraordinary scene, so he sought to understand: Why will the bush not burn?

The Lord saw that he turned and approached the bush in order to see it, and God called to him from within the bush, and He said: Moses, Moses. Although Moses did not know who was calling him, he said: Here I am.

He said: Do not approach here; remove your shoes from your feet, as the place upon which you are standing is sacred ground. Because the Divine Presence rests in this place, you must stand in it with proper awe and respect, and you must therefore remove your shoes.

Moses removed his shoes and approached the bush, and then he heard the voice of God identify Himself: He said: I am the God of your father, Amram, and also the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face, as he was afraid to look at God. Once Moses became aware that God was revealing Himself in the flame in the bush, he ceased to gaze at the flame out of reverence for God. 18 Alternatively, Moses feared that he would die. 19 Indeed, in similar instances, the revelation of an angel caused individuals to fear that this vision was to be their last, after which they would die. 20

The Lord said: I have seen the affliction of My people that is in Egypt, and I have heard their outcry because of its taskmasters, who abuse the people; as I know its pain.

I have descended and revealed Myself in the world both in order to rescue it, the nation, from the hand of Egypt, and to bring it up from that land, Egypt, to a good and expansive land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. They will not merely be rescued from the dire situation in Egypt, but they will also be brought to a far better place, namely to the place of the Canaanites and the Hitites and the Emorites and the Perizites and the Hivites and the Yevusites.

And now, behold, the outcry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression that the Egyptians are oppressing them.

I intend to rescue My people, but I require a messenger: Now, go and I will send you to Pharaoh and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

Moses said to God: Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should take the children of Israel out of Egypt?

He, God, said: Because I will be with you. I am not asking you to act on your own strength; you are merely a messenger. And this is your sign that I sent you: When you take the people out of Egypt, you will serve God upon this mountain. Although Moses would later be provided with additional signs, the primary sign of his appointment was that in just a short time, Moses would return to this mountain with the children of Israel, and God would reveal Himself to the entire nation. At that moment, the entire nation would be prepared to serve God.

Moses said to God: Behold, I come to the children of Israel, and I will say to them: The God of your fathers sent me to you, and they will say to me: What is His name? What shall I say to them?

God said to Moses: I Will Be As I Will Be. This response may be understood as a rejection of the question itself, indicating there is no significance to the knowledge of God’s name; 21 as a promise that God will always be with them; 22 or that this is in fact God’s name. 23 And He, God, said: When you speak to the children of Israel, do not begin with the frightening declaration: I Will Be As I Will Be. Although this statement contains the assurance that God will always be with them, this promise may itself seem threatening, as the appearance of God is not always a harbinger of respite. Therefore, so shall you say to the children of Israel: I Will Be sent me to you. Here it is clear that “I Will Be” is God’s name. Whereas God’s first response: I Will Be As I Will Be, refers to the fact that God is present in all places and at all times, His second response: I Will Be, relates specifically to His eternal existence.

God reveals another divine name to Moses: God again said to Moses: So you shall say to the children of Israel: The Lord, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob is the One who sent me to you. This special name is My name forever and this is My appellation for all generations. This is the name you shall use from now on; it is the most sacred of the divine names.

After responding to Moses’ question “What shall I say to them?” God now instructs Moses: Go and gather the elders of Israel and say to them: The Lord, God of your forefathers, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying: I have remembered you, and I have also considered what is being done to you in Egypt, your suffering.

I said: I will take you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the Canaanites and the Hitites and the Emorites and the Perizites and the Hivites and the Yevusites, to a land flowing with milk and honey.

God saw that Moses was hesitant, so He assured Moses: They will listen to your voice and you shall go, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt and you shall say to him: The Lord, God of the Hebrews, happened upon us, He has revealed Himself to us and given us a message. Now, please, let us go a journey of three days in the wilderness and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God.

And I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, except if I force him to do so with a powerful 24 hand.

I will send forth My hand, and smite Egypt with all My wonders that I will perform in its midst; and thereafter, that is, after smiting Egypt with all My plagues, he will send you forth.

I will give favor for this people in the eyes of Egypt. And therefore, it shall be that when you go out of Egypt, you will not go empty-handed.

Each woman will borrow, 25 or take 26 silver vessels and gold vessels and garments from her neighbor and from the resident of her house. By lending or giving these items to the women, the Egyptians will thereby demonstrate the respect toward the children of Israel foreordained in the previous verse. And you shall place them, all that you receive from the Egyptians, upon your sons and upon your daughters, and you will thereby despoil the Egyptians, in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham: “And afterward, they will emerge with great property.” 27

Moses remained hesitant: Moses answered and he said: But behold, or perhaps, 28 they will neither believe me, nor will they heed my voice, as they will say: The Lord did not appear to you.

The Lord said to him: What is that in your hand? And he said: A staff.

He, God said: Take the staff and cast it on the ground. He cast it on the ground and it became a serpent. Moses fled from it.

The Lord said to Moses: Send forth your arm and grasp its tail. He sent forth his arm and he seized it and it became a staff in his hand.

God explained: You may show this sign to the people so that they will believe that the Lord, God of their fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, appeared to you.

The Lord said to him further: Bring your hand under your garment, into your bosom. He brought his hand into his bosom and he withdrew it, and behold, his hand was leprous, like snow.

He, God, said: Return your hand into your bosom. He returned his hand into his bosom and he withdrew it from his bosom, and behold, it recovered like his flesh: that is, his flesh returned to its healthy state and the leprosy disappeared.

God said: It shall be, if they do not believe you, and do not heed the voice of the first sign, the sign of the staff turning into a snake and then reverting back into a staff, they will believe the voice of the latter sign, the hand that turns leprous and then miraculously heals.

And it shall be if they will not believe even these two signs, and they will not heed your voice, you shall take water from the Nile and you shall pour it on the dry land and the water that you take from the Nile will become blood on the dry land. Although there was no water in the wilderness with which to demonstrate this third sign, God promised Moses that it would indeed materialize if the situation required it.

Moses remained unsure of himself and lacked confidence in his ability to carry out his mission: Moses said to the Lord: Please, my Lord, I am not a man of words. I have never been able to express myself eloquently, neither yesterday nor the day before, nor since You have spoken to Your servant. Had You effected any change in me that would enable me to speak clearly from this point onward, perhaps I would be suitable for the task. However, even after revealing Yourself to me, I remain inarticulate. 29 I am unfit for this mission, as I am cumbrous of speech and cumbrous of tongue. It is unclear whether Moses suffered from a stutter, or an inability to correctly pronounce certain consonants, or some other speech impediment that inhibited his ability to communicate effectively. 30

The Lord said to him: Who gives a mouth to a person? Or who renders one mute or deaf, or sighted or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Since a person’s abilities and characteristics are entirely within My control, you need not be concerned with your speech impediment. If you should need to speak, I will give you the ability to do so.

Now, go, and I will be with your mouth, and I will instruct you that which you shall say. I will guide you throughout your mission.

Despite all the assurances of God, Moses did not want to accept his task: He said: Please, my Lord, please send by means of anyone else whom You will send.

The wrath of the Lord was enflamed against Moses and He said: Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak, and that he has the qualities of a leader. And also, here he is going out to meet you; I will ensure that he will go out to greet you, and he will see you, his younger brother, upon whom the mantle of leadership has been placed, and not only will he act courteously toward you, but he will also rejoice in his heart over the greatness bestowed upon you.

In order to overcome the limitations caused by your speech impediment, you will receive instructions from Me and convey them to Aaron, and he will be your spokesman: You shall speak to him, and you shall place the words in his mouth; and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will instruct you that which you shall do.

He shall speak to the people for you, and he shall be a mouth to speak for you, and you shall be a leader for him, as he will transmit only that which you instruct him to say.

And this staff you shall take in your hand, with which you will perform the signs, the sign of the snake that I have already shown you, and all the signs that I will command you to perform in the future.

Moses went and returned to Yeter his father-in-law, and he said to him: Many years have passed since I fled from Egypt. Please, let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt and see if they are still alive. In explaining his return to Egypt, Moses offered personal reasons instead of revealing anything to Yitro regarding his divine mission to redeem his people. Perhaps Moses was hesitant to reveal his mission before he could successfully carry it out, or maybe he was concerned that Yitro would not believe him. Yitro said to Moses: Go in peace.

Moses originally fled from Egypt as a fugitive accused of murder. With regard to Moses’ delay in returning to Egypt due to this accusation, the Lord said to Moses, while he was still with Yitro in Midyan: Go, return to Egypt, as all the men who seek your life have died. The situation in Egypt has changed, and you can now return to Egypt without worry.

Moses took his wife and his sons and mounted them on the donkey, and they returned to the land of Egypt. Presumably, Moses walked alongside the donkey. Moses also took the staff of God in his hand.

The Lord said to Moses: When you go to return to Egypt, see all the wonders that I have placed in your hand, the various signs you have been provided, and perform them before Pharaoh. That is, these signs are not meant solely for the children of Israel, but for Pharaoh as well. And be aware that I will harden his heart, and he will not send forth the people, despite your rhetoric and these miraculous signs.

You shall say to Pharaoh: So said the Lord: My firstborn son is Israel.

And I say to you: Send forth My son, and he will serve Me in the wilderness, and if you refuse to send him forth, behold, I will slay your firstborn son in retribution for your refusal to free My firstborn.

It was on the way, in the lodging, where Moses and his family rested on their way to Egypt, an angel of the Lord encountered him and sought to kill him. Moses was in critical condition, and may have appeared to be dying.

Tzipora, wife of Moses, was certain that this experience was due to some flaw in their behavior. Therefore, she took a flint and she cut her son’s foreskin, and touched it to his feet, Tzipora placed the foreskin beside the angel’s feet, or Moses’, or her son’s; 31 and she said to the child: For you are a bridegroom of blood to me. That is, now that I have circumcised you, there is a new connection between us. Alternatively, Tzipora said to Moses: You are a bridegroom of blood to me, as the merit of this circumcision saved you from death and atoned for your transgression, thus renewing the covenant between us. 32

After Tzipora circumcised the child, he, the angel, released him, Moses. Then she said: A bridegroom of blood because of circumcision.

The Lord said to Aaron: Go toward Moses to the wilderness. He went and he met him at the mountain of God, and Aaron greeted Moses with love and he kissed him.

Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord: That He sent him, and all the signs that He commanded him, since they would now be required to carry out the mission together.

Moses and Aaron went, and they assembled all the elders, the leaders, of the children of Israel.

Aaron, who was a skilled orator and was known to the people, spoke all the words that the Lord spoke to Moses, and he, Aaron, performed the signs that Moses received in order to validate his prophecy, in the sight of the people.

The people trusted and heard that the Lord remembered the children of Israel and that He saw their affliction. Moses’ concern that the people would react toward this declaration with skepticism was thus confuted. Although they were not personally acquainted with Moses, they believed him because of his personality, or because of the signs. And they bowed and prostrated themselves to God in gratitude for the news that the time for their redemption had arrived.

Then, once Moses and Aaron earned the people’s trust and the recognition of their leaders, they felt empowered to continue their mission, and they came and said to Pharaoh: So says the Lord, God of Israel: Send forth My people, and they will celebrate for Me in the wilderness.

Pharaoh said: Who is the Lord, that I should heed His voice to send forth Israel? I do not recognize the name of this deity; I have never heard of him. I do not know the Lord, and I also will not send forth Israel, as you have fabricated these claims.

They, Moses and Aaron, said: Since you do not recognize His name, we will tell you who the Lord is: The Lord is the God of the Hebrews, and He has called upon us and commanded us to leave Egypt to worship Him. Therefore, please, let us go a three-day journey into the wilderness and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He strike us with pestilence, or with the sword. The threat of punishment for failure to heed the voice of God was added by Moses and Aaron of their own accord (see 3:18).

The king of Egypt said to them: Why, Moses and Aaron, do you disturb the people from its tasks by implanting in their minds these strange notions? Go to your burdens. Do not offer any more suggestions and do not involve yourselves in politics.

Pharaoh said: Behold, the people of the land, the children of Israel, are now many, and with your declarations you will cause them to desist from their burdens. Egypt requires their labor; there is no time for festivals or celebrations.

Pharaoh now takes steps to extinguish the people’s hopes: Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, who were appointed by Pharaoh to oversee the labor of the children of Israel, that day and their foremen, the supervisors from the children of Israel, saying:

You shall not continue to give straw to the people to produce bricks, as previously. They will go and gather straw for themselves from the fields.

Despite the fact that they must now dedicate some of their time to gathering straw, they may not diminish their quota: But you shall continue to impose upon them the total of the bricks that they produced previously; you shall not diminish from it, because they are indolent. Therefore, they cry out, saying: We will go and we will sacrifice to our God. Since Pharaoh was unacquainted with the God of Israel, and since the children of Israel had hitherto not worshipped Him, he saw the demands of Moses and Aaron as nothing but a futile diversion that distracted the lazy slaves and deterred them from their labor.

By demanding the same quota of bricks without providing the necessary straw, let the work become weighty upon the people, and they will engage in it and they will not have the time to be occupied with false matters.

The taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out, and they said to the people, saying: So said Pharaoh: I am not giving you straw.

You, go take straw for yourselves from what you find, for nothing will be diminished from your work; your quota will remain the same.

The people scattered throughout the fields in the entire land of Egypt to gather stalks to cut up for straw.

The taskmasters goaded them to work faster, 33 saying: Complete your task, each day’s portion on its day, as when there was straw. The taskmasters demanded that they work faster in order to produce the same yield as before.

The foremen of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters appointed over them, were beaten. The foremen were men of stature from among the children of Israel who were appointed as low-level supervisors of the labor. 34 Although these foremen did not have any real authority, they were held accountable by the taskmasters for the productivity of the slaves. Thus, when the quota was not reached, the foremen were beaten, saying: Why did you not complete your quota to produce bricks as previously, both yesterday and today?

The foremen of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying: Why will you do this to your servants?

On the one hand, straw is not given to your servants, and on the other hand, they say to us: Produce bricks and behold, we your servants are beaten, and it is a sin to your people. Ultimately, the reduction in productivity will affect your people; you gain nothing from your harsh decree.

Although the foremen were in no way rebelling against Pharaoh, the king suspected that their petition was driven by the hopes that Moses and Aaron planted in the minds of the people. Since Pharaoh attributed the endurance of these hopes to idleness, he decided to further increase the people’s burdens. He said: You are indolent, indolent. Therefore you say: Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.

Now, go work, and straw will not be given to you, and the total of bricks, you will provide.

The foremen of the children of Israel saw them, themselves, in distress, saying: Do not diminish from your bricks, each day’s portion on its day. There was no escape from their predicament; they would be beaten for missing their quotas, despite the impossible demands placed on them.

They, the foremen, encountered Moses and Aaron, standing toward them as they came out from before Pharaoh.

They, the foremen, said to them: May the Lord look upon you and judge you, because you have damaged our reputations and rendered us putrid in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants; now, they have an excuse to put a sword in their hand to kill us. The foremen understood that their increased burdens did not stem from Pharaoh’s actual economic needs, but that Pharaoh sought to suppress the new ideas of rebellion that were introduced by Moses and Aaron.

For the first time, Moses initiates a dialogue with God: Moses returned to the Lord and he said: My Lord, why did You harm this people? Why did you send me?

Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has harmed this people, and You did not save Your people. Although I returned to Egypt to redeem the children of Israel, I have brought only more suffering upon them.

God did not criticize Moses for his sharp claims, as they were said from genuine pain: 35 The Lord said to Moses: Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh; for not only will he allow them to leave Egypt, but with a powerful hand he will send them forth, and with a powerful hand he will drive them from his land, he will demand that they leave Egypt. 36

God spoke to Moses, and He said to him: I am the Lord, who appeared to you at the burning bush.

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, although not in the manner that I appeared to you. To them I made Myself known as God Almighty, and that is what they called Me; but with My name, the Lord, the Tetragrammaton, I was not known to them. In other words, I did not reveal Myself to them to the same degree as to you, Moses. 1 Although the Tetragrammaton is written in Genesis, it is possible that it was unknown to the patriarchs, and it appears in the verse because it was revealed at a later time. 2

Yet I have also established My covenant with them, as I pledged, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their residence, in which they resided.

And I also have heard the groans of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians are coercing to work and I have remembered My covenant with the patriarchs.

Therefore, say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord. I am the Source of all existence, and Master of all strengths, and therefore I can guarantee that I will take you out from under the burdens of Egypt and I will deliver you from their work, so that you will no longer be slaves. And not only that, but I will also redeem you from Egypt with an outstretched arm, with great strength, and with great punishments that will be exacted upon the Egyptians. The redemption process will be so powerful that it will be clear to all.

I will take you for Me as My people, and I will be God for you and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who takes you out from under the burdens of Egypt. The nation of Israel was not established through natural processes, nor does it operate under such laws. When the Israelites will emerge united from under the burden of Egypt, all will know that the Lord has chosen them as His people.

I will bring you to the land with regard to which I raised My hand as a sign of My oath to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it you as an eternal heritage: I am the Lord.

Moses carried out the directive of God. He spoke so to the children of Israel, but they did not heed Moses, they remained unaffected by his statements, because of lack of patience, and because of hard work.

This verse introduces a new prophecy, 3 although it repeats certain elements from the revelation at the burning bush. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Come and speak again to Pharaoh king of Egypt and he will send forth the children of Israel from his land.

Moses spoke before the Lord, saying: Behold, the children of Israel did not heed me despite the fact that I conveyed good tidings to them. And how, then, will Pharaoh heed me when I come with demands? And I am one whose lips are obstructed; I do not speak well (see 4:10), so how can I successfully persuade him to obey?

God does not directly address the issues raised by Moses. Rather, He again includes Aaron in the mission, as He did at the end of the revelation at the burning bush. The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron and He commanded them to speak to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt. The aim of both missions was to take the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Thus far, the Torah has depicted the events of Moses’ life that prepared him for his mission: his birth and upbringing; his stay in Midyan; and his appointment by God at the burning bush and again in Egypt. Before describing Moses’ fulfillment of his mission, the Torah presents a genealogical summary of his place among the children of Israel, the family that became a nation in Egypt. These are the heads of their patrilineal houses in Egypt: This list, which follows the order of birth of the sons of Jacob, is only partial and concludes with the descendants of Levi, the tribe of Moses and Aaron. It parallels, to a certain extent, the list of Jacob’s descendants in Genesis 46:8–11. The sons of Reuben, firstborn of Israel: Hanokh and Palu, Hetzron and Karmi; these are the families of Reuben.

The sons of Simeon: Yemuel, Yamin, Ohad, Yakhin, Tzohar, and Shaul, who was apparently anomalous in that he was the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Simeon.

The genealogical list becomes more detailed as it nears Moses. These are the names of the sons of Levi by their descendants: Gershon, Kehat, and Merari. Since the chapter’s focus is on the tribe of Levi, it relates information about him that did not appear with regard to the previous sons of Jacob: And the years of the life of Levi were one hundred and thirty-seven years. From among all the sons of Israel, the verse relates only the life spans of Joseph, 4 who was their leader in Egypt, and Levi, who was the forefather of the family of Moses and Aaron.

The sons of Gershon: Livni and Shimi, according to their families.

The sons of Kehat: Amram, Yitzhar, Hevron, and Uziel; and the years of the life of Kehat, which are mentioned because he was the grandfather of Moses and Aaron, were one hundred and thirty-three years.

The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi; these are the families of the Levites by their descendants.

Amram took Yokheved his aunt, Levi’s daughter, as his wife, which was permitted before the giving of the Torah. And she bore him Aaron and Moses and their eldest child, Miriam. The verse does not mention her because it is dealing with the lineages of tribes and households, which are determined by patrilineal descent. And like Levi, the years of the life of Amram were one hundred and thirty-seven years.

Once the births of Moses and Aaron have been mentioned, the genealogical list refers only to those closely related to them. The sons of Yitzhar son of Kehat: Korah, who will later be revealed as a troublesome individual, 5 Nefeg, and Zikhri.

The sons of Uziel, son of Kehat: Mishael and Eltzafan, who will appear later in the Torah as well, 6 and Sitri.

Aaron took Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nahshon, for his wife. Nahshon is later listed as the prince of the tribe of Judah. 7 The fact that he married the sister of a prince of Israel indicates that Aaron was already considered an esteemed member of Israel. And she, Elisheva, bore him Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar.

The sons of Korah: Asir, Elkana, and Aviasaf; these are the families of the Korahites.

Elazar son of Aaron took from the daughters of Putiel, an otherwise unknown person, for his wife. Some identify Putiel as Yitro, who had many names; others say he was a member of the family of Joseph. 8 And she bore him Pinhas, who will later perform an important task. 9 It may be assumed that Itamar married as well, but the verse omits this fact because his marriage has no implications for future events. These are the heads of the house of the fathers of the Levites by their families.

The verse returns to the main story involving Moses and Aaron, listed above as the sons of Amram: These were that same Aaron and Moses, to whom the Lord said: Take out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt with their hosts, not only particular individuals or sections of the people, but the entire nation.

It is they who speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt to take the children of Israel out from Egypt: that Moses and Aaron.

After interrupting the narrative to present the tribal and familial background of Moses and Aaron, the verse reiterates the end of the earlier dialogue between God and Moses (6:11–12). It was on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I am the Lord; speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt everything that I speak to you.

Moses said before the Lord: Behold, I am one whose lips are obstructed and how will Pharaoh heed me?

The Lord said to Moses: See, I have put you as a god, meaning an angel 10 or a powerful figure, 11 for Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet, serving as your agent.

You shall speak all that I will command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh and ultimately he will send forth the children of Israel from his land.

But beforehand, I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and enable him to withstand severe punishments, and I will increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt, through which My might will be revealed to the world.

Pharaoh will not heed you and therefore I will put My stern hand upon Egypt, bringing many plagues and punishments upon this land; and I will take out My hosts, My people, the children of Israel, from the land of Egypt, with great punishments.

The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I extend My hand over Egypt to strike it, and I will take out the children of Israel from their midst.

Moses and Aaron did exactly as the Lord had commanded them; so they did. From this point forward, Moses and Aaron typically did not initiate actions themselves; they accepted the directives of God and carried them out dutifully as His agents.

Here the verse provides a biographical note: Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. Even though the average human lifespan was longer in those days, Moses and Aaron were by no means young. They began their public service at an age when the active years of most other people would be coming to an end. As the verse in Psalms states: “The days of our lives are seventy years, or if in might, eighty years.” 12 Indeed, this verse is ascribed to Moses himself. 13

The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying:

When you come before Pharaoh and he will speak to you, saying: Provide you a wonder, to prove that you are indeed God’s messengers, you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff and cast it before Pharaoh, and it will become a crocodile.

Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and they did so, as the Lord had commanded; Aaron cast his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants and it became a crocodile.

Pharaoh, mimicking Moses’ instruction to Aaron to produce a miraculous sign, 14 also summoned the wise men and the sorcerers of his court; and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did so with their artifices, by sleight of hand. 15

The magicians followed suit, as each man cast his staff, and they became crocodiles; and Aaron’s staff, in the form of a crocodile, swallowed their staffs, which had turned into crocodiles.

But the miraculous sign did not impress Pharaoh, perhaps because his sorcerers were able to produce the same result. Rather, Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken from the outset, saying that Pharaoh would not easily capitulate.

It is uncertain whether Pharaoh expressly rejected the demands of Moses and Aaron, or if he merely avoided addressing their requests in a direct manner. God therefore clarifies the matter. The Lord said to Moses: Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn and he will not listen; he refused to send forth the people.

Therefore, go to Pharaoh in the morning: Behold, he goes out to the water to bathe, relieve himself, relax, or worship. And you shall stand facing him on the bank of the Nile; and the staff that was transformed into a serpent, take in your hand.

You shall say to him: The Lord, God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying: Send forth My people and they will serve Me in the wilderness; and behold, you have not heeded until now.

So says the Lord: With this you will know that I am the Lord: Behold, I will strike with the staff that is in my hand on the water that is in the Nile, and it will be transformed into blood.

Consequently, the fish that are in the Nile will die, as they will be unable to survive in the river of blood, and the Nile will reek from the many dead fish. And Egypt will be unable to drink water from the Nile; the stench alone will prevent them from doing so.

The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron, your agent who will implement this plague: Take your staff and extend your hand over the water of Egypt. By raising your hand in the direction of the water, you will express the intent that the staff should affect all the waters of Egypt. Over their rivers, over their canals that bear water from the Nile, and over their lakes and over all their pools of water, and they will all become blood; and there will be blood in the entire land of Egypt, in the wood and in the stones. Even the water in the gardens, which is near wood and stone, will turn to blood. 16 Alternatively, even water inside wooden and stone vessels will become blood. 17 In sum, the plague of blood will not harm the Nile alone, but will affect all water located on Egyptian terrain.

Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord had commanded; and he, Aaron, raised the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants and all the water that was in the Nile was transformed into blood.

The fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile reeked; the Egyptians were unable to drink water from the Nile; the blood was in every water source in the entire land of Egypt.

The magicians of Egypt in Pharaoh’s court did so; they turned water to blood with their artifices, and as a result, Pharaoh’s heart hardened and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken.

Pharaoh turned from the Nile and came to his house and he did not pay attention to this either.

All of Egypt dug around the Nile, searching for clean water to drink, as they were unable to drink from the water of the Nile.

Seven days were completed after the Lord struck the Nile. In other words, the plague lasted seven days. 18 Nevertheless, Pharaoh did not relent.

The Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and once again say to him: So said the Lord: Send forth My people and they will serve Me.

If you refuse 19 to send them forth, alternatively, this phrase may be translated to mean if you are a defiant person, one who refuses to send them forth, 20 behold, I will afflict all your borders with frogs.

The Nile will swarm with frogs. Since there will be so many frogs, they will not stay in the river, but will spread throughout the entire land: And they will arise and come into your house and once there, they will not remain confined to one location; rather, they will enter into your bedroom, and upon your bed, and into the house of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls.

Not only will the frogs enter people’s houses, foods, and vessels, but upon you, upon your people, and also upon all your servants the frogs will arise. They will even enter people’s mouths. 21 In sum, the frogs will know no boundaries.

The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals, and over the lakes, and through this action, you will raise the frogs upon the land of Egypt.

Aaron extended his hand over the water of Egypt, and the frogs arose and, in their abundance, covered the entire land of Egypt.

The magicians did the same with their artifices and they raised the frogs upon the land of Egypt. This was rather unhelpful to Pharaoh, as instead of ridding Egypt of its frog infestation, they caused more frogs to ascend upon the land.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, and he said: Plead with the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will send forth the people, and they will sacrifice to the Lord. For the first time, Pharaoh expresses some measure of submission to Moses and Aaron.

Moses said to Pharaoh: Challenge me, you have the opportunity to glorify yourself in victory over me 22 by requesting a matter that you consider beyond my reach: For when shall I plead for you and for your servants and for your people, to excise the frogs from you and from your houses? Set a time when the frogs will be destroyed or removed, and from that moment only in the Nile will they remain. Moses wanted to show Pharaoh who was in control of this plague. The ability of Moses and Aaron to remove the frogs at will would increase Pharaoh’s fear of them and further demonstrate God’s power.

He, Pharaoh, said: Tomorrow, and he, Moses, said: It shall be as your word, so that you will know that there is none like the Lord our God.

Tomorrow, the frogs will depart from you and from your houses, and from your servants and from your people; only in the Nile will they remain. They will not harm anyone there, but will serve as a constant reminder and a threat that might be visited upon Egypt at any time.

Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence and Moses cried out to the Lord over the matter of the frogs that He had inflicted upon Pharaoh. Moses cried out in prayer before God because the removal of a plague at a specific time required a special request.

The Lord did in accordance with the word of Moses, and the frogs died from the houses, from the courtyards and from the fields.

They piled them into heaps, and the land reeked from the smell of the dead frogs.

However, Pharaoh saw that there was respite, as the frogs had gone, and he made his heart stubborn and he did not heed them, despite the fact that on this occasion he had asked Moses to plead on his behalf. This change of heart was as the Lord had spoken.

The Lord said to Moses: Say to Aaron: Extend your staff and strike the dust of the earth, and it will become lice in the entire land of Egypt.

They, Moses and Aaron, did so. Aaron extended his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and the lice were upon man and upon animal; all the dust of the earth was lice in the entire land of Egypt.

The magicians in Pharaoh’s court did so with their artifices: They attempted to draw out the lice, to mimic the plague by producing their own lice, 23 in order to mitigate the influence of the wonder produced by Moses and Aaron by showing that this, too, was within their capabilities, but they could not. Alternatively, they attempted to remove the lice but could not; 24 the lice infested man and animal.

The magicians said to Pharaoh: It is the finger of God. In other words, this infestation was not caused by an act of magic. Nevertheless, it is not a sign of divine intervention, as it is still within the bounds of natural occurrences. 25 Pharaoh accepted the magicians’ claim, and refused to be swayed by the fact that they were incapable of producing or removing the lice. Perhaps he thought that their failure was due to a lack of skill, whereas a more expert magician might have been successful. In any case, Pharaoh’s heart hardened and he did not heed them, and he refused to release the children of Israel, as the Lord had spoken.

The Lord said to Moses: Arise early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh; behold, he goes out to the water to bathe, relieve himself, relax, or worship (see 7:15). And you shall say to him: So said the Lord: Send forth My people and they will serve Me.

For if you do not send forth My people, I will cast the swarm of wild beasts 26 among you, among your servants, among your people, and in your houses; the houses of Egyptians will be filled with the swarm, as well as the ground on which they are.

I will distinguish on that day the land of Goshen upon which My people stands, so that a swarm will not be there. Although Goshen is not far from here, it will remain unaffected by this plague. This will occur so that you will know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. This differentiation between the Israelite and Egyptian population centers will demonstrate that God watches over and controls earthly events, as it will prove that the plague is intended solely for Pharaoh and his people.

I will set a division 27 between My people and your people; tomorrow this sign will come to be. Alternatively, this means: I will save My people while bringing the plague upon your people. 28 Some commentaries combine the two interpretations, explaining that the distinction between the peoples will be the salvation of the children of Israel. 29

The Lord did so the next day, and a heavy swarm of wild beasts came upon the house of Pharaoh and from there it spread to the house of his servants; in the entire land of Egypt the land was destroyed because of the swarm. The beasts roamed unrestrained, wreaking havoc and sowing fear throughout the land.

After the first three plagues yielded no change in Pharaoh’s behavior, the plague of wild beasts is apparently a turning point, as Pharaoh agrees to negotiate with Moses and Aaron. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and he said: Go, sacrifice to your God in the land. He granted them the freedom to perform their religious worship inside Egypt.

Moses said to Pharaoh: It is not proper to do so, as we will be sacrificing the abomination of Egypt to the Lord our God. Behold, will we sacrifice the abomination of Egypt before their eyes, and they not stone us? If we desecrate the honor of an Egyptian deity, they will certainly respond by stoning us.

Rather, we will distance ourselves from the Egyptians and we will go on a three-day journey into the wilderness and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He will tell us, in accordance with His command.

Pharaoh said: I will send you forth, and you will sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; just do not go very far; plead for me that the wild beasts will be removed from the land.

Moses said: Behold, I am departing from your presence and I will plead with the Lord and as a result, the swarm will depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow. Just, Pharaoh must not continue provoking by not sending forth the people to sacrifice to the Lord. Since Pharaoh had already reneged on his previous commitment to release the children of Israel (8:4, 11), Moses warns him to keep his word this time.

Moses departed from Pharaoh’s presence and he pleaded with the Lord. He did not pray in Pharaoh’s palace, as it was an unfit location for supplication.

The Lord did in accordance with the word of Moses and the swarm departed from Pharaoh, from his servants and from his people; not one remained.

Pharaoh made his heart stubborn this time as well and he did not send forth the people, notwithstanding his earlier pledge to release them.

The Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and speak to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews: Send forth My people and they will serve Me.

For if you refuse to send them forth, and continue to hold them,

behold, the mighty hand of the Lord, which is capable of inflicting harm, is already on your livestock that is in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the cattle, and on the flocks: A very severe pestilence.

And the Lord will distinguish between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, and nothing of all the livestock that belongs to the children of Israel will die.

To make matters clear, Moses added that the Lord set an appointed time, saying: Tomorrow, the Lord will perform this matter in the land. Moses warned Pharaoh of the impending epidemic, but did not wait for a response from him, as he expected Pharaoh to persist in his refusal to release the children of Israel.

The Lord did this thing on the next day and all the livestock of Egypt died, but from the livestock of the children of Israel not one died.

Pharaoh sent inspectors, and, behold, from the livestock of Israel not even one died. One would think that this was indisputable evidence that the plagues were brought upon Egypt by God, and were not naturally occurring events. But Pharaoh’s heart became stubborn and he did not send forth the people. Presumably, Pharaoh insisted that this too was the product of sorcery.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take for yourselves two handfuls of soot each, of a furnace, with your hands placed together, and Moses shall throw it heavenward before the eyes of Pharaoh.

It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. Generally, when one spreads a handful of soot over even a small area, it quickly dissipates. In this case, however, it will spread throughout Egypt, and it will become a rash of the skin, erupting in blisters on man and on animal in the entire land of Egypt.

They took soot of the furnace, they stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it heavenward; it became a rash erupting in blisters on man and on animal.

Not only were the magicians unable to produce a similar effect, but they could not even stand before Moses because of the rash, as the rash was on the magicians, and they were ashamed of their appearance or were experiencing extreme discomfort due to the rash; and the rash was also on all the Egyptians.

Pharaoh saw the magicians suffering, and perhaps even he too was afflicted by the rash. It is possible that he would have acquiesced, for he lacked the strength to persist in his stubborn stance, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

The Lord said to Moses: Arise early in the morning, stand before Pharaoh, and say to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews: Send forth My people and they will serve Me.

For this time, I will send all My strokes to your heart and against your servants and against your people, so that you will know that there is none like Me on the entire earth.

For I could have sent My hand now and smitten you and your people with pestilence and you would have been eradicated from the earth. The pestilence could easily have spread to the citizens of Egypt, and in that case there would have been no one left to oppose the release of Israel from Egypt, but also no one to recognize God’s kingship.

However, for this I have sustained you: In order to show you My power and in order to promulgate My name, My kingship, in the entire earth.

Yet you continue to abuse My people, in not sending them forth. Although you have expressed willingness to release them in principle, you have repeatedly failed to do so.

Behold, at this time tomorrow I will rain down a very heavy hail, that there has not been like it in Egypt from the day of its founding until now.

And now, send and collect your livestock that survived the pestilence, or which was imported from an unaffected area, e.g., Goshen, where the children of Israel had settled because it provided good pasture, 30 and everything that is yours in the field; every man and animal that will be found in the field and will not be gathered into the house, the hail will fall upon them and they will die. The force of the hail will kill any man or beast struck by it. Moses was interested only in the display of the awesome power of God, not the deaths of Egyptian civilians. He therefore advised the Egyptians to go indoors and bring in their animals as well.

He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh drove his servants and his livestock into the houses. Some of Pharaoh’s servants heeded Moses’ warning and thereby expressed a measure of fear of God.

But he who did not pay attention to the word of the Lord, he left his servants and his livestock in the field.

The Lord said to Moses: Extend your hand at the heavens and there will be hail in the entire land of Egypt, on man and on animals and on all the vegetation of the field in the land of Egypt.

Moses extended his staff at the heavens, and the Lord provided thunder and hail and, due to the lightning that accompanied the hail, fire descended to the earth; the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt.

There was hail and fire igniting amid the hail: Very heavy, that there had not been like it in the entire land of Egypt since it became a nation. Even though Egypt was an ancient civilization, no hail of this kind had been recorded in its history.

The hail struck in the entire land of Egypt everything that was in the field, from man to animal, and the hail struck all the vegetation of the field and broke every tree of the field.

Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail.

Pharaoh sent and summoned Moses and Aaron. Perhaps Pharaoh was especially frightened on this occasion because the hail descended from above, or due to the powerful thunder. Evidently Pharaoh had not heard such sounds in his life, certainly not accompanied by such a deadly hailstorm. And he said to them: I sinned this time; the Lord is the righteous and I and my people are the wicked.

Plead with the Lord; there has been too much thunder of God and hail. I will send you forth and you will not continue to abide.

Moses said to him: Upon my leaving the city, I will spread my hands in prayer to the Lord, as Moses would not pray in the midst of Pharaoh’s kingdom. The thunder will cease and the hail will be no longer, so that you will know that the earth is the Lord’s.

And as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God, as your admission of guilt was insincere.

The flax and the barley in the fields were struck by the hail, as the barley was just ripened and the flax was in stalk. Their stems had already emerged and they were no longer soft sprouts. As a result, they were damaged by the hail.

But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, as they are late ripening. Since they sprout later in the year, they were soft at the time and were not broken by the hail. The fact that some of the crops were not destroyed is important, as these were left to be damaged by the next plague.

Moses emerged from Pharaoh’s presence, from the city, and spread his hands to the Lord; the thunders and hail ceased and rain did not pour onto the earth.

Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunders ceased, and he continued to sin; he made his heart stubborn, he and his servants. Following the respite from the plague, Pharaoh reassured himself by rationalizing that the hail was nothing more than a passing natural phenomenon.

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not send forth the children of Israel, as the Lord had spoken at the hand of Moses.

The Lord said to Moses: Come to Pharaoh for I made his heart and the heart of his servants stubborn, in their continuous refusal to let the Israelites go, so that I might place these signs of Mine in his midst, and thereby display My power;

and so that you may relate, in the ears of your son and the son of your son, how I have harried Egypt. I did not strike them with the ultimate plague of death at the outset, but repeatedly with other plagues, all the while strengthening Pharaoh’s heart. And you will retell My signs that I placed among them; and you will know that I am the Lord.

Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and said to him: So said the Lord, God of the Hebrews: How long will you refuse to submit before Me and refuse to accept My authority? Send forth My people, and they will serve Me.

For if you refuse to send forth My people, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your border.

They, the great swarm of locusts, will cover the face of the earth, that one will be unable to see the earth, and they will devour the rest of that which was saved that remains for you from the hail, the young plants that survived the hail (9:32), and they will devour all the trees that grow for you from the field, since not all the trees were completely destroyed by the earlier hail. Anything remaining will be eaten by the locusts.

They will fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and the houses of all Egypt, as your fathers and the fathers of your fathers did not see from the day that they were upon the earth until this day. He turned and departed from Pharaoh’s presence, without waiting for a response. Moses’ dramatic exit from Pharaoh is an act of defiance, marking a turning point in their relationship.

Pharaoh’s servants said to him: Until when will this man, Moses, be a snare for us? He is constantly bringing upon us fresh troubles. 11 Send forth the people that they may serve the Lord their God; do you not yet know that Egypt is lost? While you sit in your comfortable palace, we move among the people. The kingdom is suffering from plague after plague, and the population cannot bear it anymore.

Moses and Aaron were returned to Pharaoh; messengers were sent to bring them back to the ruler, and he said to them: Go, serve the Lord your God. After expressing his agreement in principle, Pharaoh seeks to clarify the details: Who are those who are going?

Moses said: With our youth and with our elders we will go, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our cattle we will go. We will not leave anyone or anything here, young or old, male or female, human or animal, because it is a festival of the Lord for us. Moses is alluding to the fact that Israel’s exit will signal its independence, and he does not promise their return.

He, Pharaoh, said to them, angrily and with derision: So may the Lord be with you when I will send forth you and your children. In a mocking tone, Pharaoh makes it clear that he has no intention of allowing this to occur. See that evil faces you. You do not wish to go out to celebrate a religious holiday, but to seek trouble for yourselves.

Not so! Pharaoh continued. You do not get to decide. Rather, let the men go now and serve the Lord; as that, a one-time gathering to worship the Lord , is what you seek. The women and children, and certainly the flocks, are not required for such a purpose. He banished them from Pharaoh’s presence.

The Lord said to Moses: Extend your hand over the land of Egypt for the locusts, meaning, in order to begin the plague of locusts. 22 Alternatively, God commands Moses: Extend your hand while grasping a locust, or tie a locust to the end of your staff, as a symbolic action marking the plague that is about to occur. 33 And they shall go up upon the land of Egypt and eat all the vegetation of the land, everything that the hail left.

Moses extended his staff over the land of Egypt and the Lord directed an east wind in the land all that day and all the night; it was morning and the east wind carried the locusts.

The locusts went up upon the entire land of Egypt and settled within the entire border of Egypt; it was very severe; before them there were no locusts like them, and there will never be so after them.

They covered the face of the entire land, and the land was darkened, as it was covered with locusts. 44 Alternatively, the shadow of the flying swarm of locusts cast a giant shadow over the surface of the earth. 55 And they consumed all the vegetation of the land and all the fruit of the trees that the hail left, and no greenery remained on the tree or in the vegetation of the field, in the entire land of Egypt.

Pharaoh hastened to summon Moses and Aaron, and he said: I have sinned to the Lord your God and to you. This time he explicitly apologized for his rude behavior and for banishing them from his presence.

Now, please bear my sin just this time and plead with the Lord your God that He will remove from me just this death. Since it consumes all agricultural produce, the plague of locusts could kill us all.

He, Moses, departed from Pharaoh’s presence, and pleaded with the Lord to remove the locusts.

Countering the east wind that brought the locusts to Egypt, the Lord changed it to a very powerful west wind, and it carried the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea; not one locust remained within the entire border of Egypt.

However, after Pharaoh’s admission that he had sinned, his apology and his realization beyond a shadow of a doubt that Moses was capable of controlling these dramatic events, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not send forth the children of Israel.

The Lord said to Moses: Extend your hand at the heavens and let there be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will be a palpable, tangible entity, not merely the absence of light. 66 Alternatively, the verse means that the darkness will move, arriving from elsewhere. 77

Moses extended his hand at the heavens and there was pitch darkness, an absolute blackness, in the entire land of Egypt for three days.

They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place, for three days. Due to the intensity of the darkness, they could not move around. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. The darkness did not reach their vicinity. The Sages teach that the Israelites were accompanied by light wherever they went. 88

Pharaoh summoned Moses and he said: All of you, go, serve the Lord; only your flocks and your cattle will remain as security for your return; also your children will go with you. This time I am allowing all the people, including men, women, and children, to depart.

Moses said: We have no intention of leaving our herds and flocks behind. On the contrary, you too will put in our hand peace offerings and burnt offerings, and we will sacrifice to the Lord our God.

Our livestock will also go with us; a hoof from our animals shall not remain, as we will take from it, our herds and flocks, to serve the Lord our God, and we will not know with what we will serve the Lord until we come there. We do not know how, in what quantity, and which kinds of animals will be required as offerings until we reach the wilderness and God reveals Himself and instructs us in His worship.

The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not assent to send them forth, despite the fearful darkness.

Pharaoh said to him, Moses: Go from my presence; beware, do not continue to see my face, because on the day that you see my face you shall die. Once again, Pharaoh banished Moses, but this time he threatened his life if he dared approach him again.

Since Moses had already heard from God what would happen, as recounted in the following section, he knew that he would not need to initiate another meeting with Pharaoh at the palace. Therefore, he confirmed Pharaoh’s statement. And Moses said: You have spoken truly; I will not continue to see your face anymore.

The Lord said to Moses, after the plague of darkness: One more blow I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards, he will send you forth from here; when he sends you forth, he will completely expel you from here.

Therefore, the Israelites must prepare for the upcoming events: Speak now in the ears of the people, and they shall ask each man from his neighbor, and each woman from her neighbor, silver vessels and gold vessels. Although the Israelites were enslaved, they remained part of Egyptian society and maintained relationships with their neighbors. God commanded them, or perhaps merely requested, that they should borrow valuable objects from their Egyptian acquaintances.

One might have thought that the Egyptians would resent the Israelites after the plagues they had suffered on their account. However, the Lord granted the people favor in the eyes of Egypt. Initially victims of oppression and censure, the Israelites were now treated favorably by the Egyptians, who had become aware that a Great Power stood behind Israel. The social standing of the all the Israelites improved, while the man Moses was no longer looked upon as a stranger, but was very great in the land of Egypt, in the eyes of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the eyes of the people.

After the above interlude, the Torah narrates the conclusion of the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh in the palace. Although he has been banished by Pharaoh, Moses continues to speak before he leaves. Moses said: So said the Lord: About midnight, or: At midnight, 99 I will emerge in the midst of Egypt and strike the Egyptians.

Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, the highest and most important in the land, who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the maidservant, who possesses the lowest social status, as his mother performs the menial task of grinding grain while she is standing behind the mill, and all firstborn animals.

There will be a great outcry in the entire land of Egypt that there has not been like it, nor will there be like it again. The disaster will strike the entire land, as death will reach every household.

But for all the children of Israel, a dog will not extend his tongue at anyone, from man to beast. The dogs will not dare to so much as bark at the children of Israel or even at their animals, so that you will know that the Lord distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.

All these servants of yours, who surround you here, will descend to me and prostrate themselves to me, saying: Leave, you and all the people that follow you; 1010 and thereafter I will leave Egypt. He departed from Pharaoh’s presence in enflamed wrath, visibly angry.

This and the following verse conclude the account of the plagues, except for the very last and worst plague. The final plague is separated from the others both due to its severity and because of the commandments which will be given to the Israelites to be performed at the same time, as related in the next section. The Lord had said to Moses already: Pharaoh will not heed you, despite the threat against his own firstborn, in order to increase My wonders in the land of Egypt. This was stated before the onset of the plagues, in 7:4: “Pharaoh will not heed you.” 1111

Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, and the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not send forth the children of Israel from his land.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying:

This current month, Nisan, is for you the beginning of months; it is first for you of the months of the year.

The commandment of the beginning of months was given solely to Moses and Aaron because as heads of the judicial system, they were in charge of establishing the calendar and determining the months and years. The other commandments that God gave to Moses at this juncture had to be communicated to the people. Speak to the entire congregation of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month they shall take for themselves, each one, a lamb, a young sheep or goat, for each house of the fathers, a lamb for the household.

If the household will be too few for a lamb, as the family is too small to eat an entire lamb, then he and his neighbor who is near his house shall take one lamb together, according to the number of people; each according to the estimated amount of his eating you shall account, by setting the number of those appointed for eating the lamb. Since the lamb is an offering that must be eaten, only those who can actually consume some minimal amount may be numbered among those who will partake of it. The elderly, sick, or very young, who are unable to eat a minimal amount, are excluded from the tally for each particular lamb.

An unblemished lamb, a male in the first year of its life it shall be for you; you shall take it from the sheep or from the goats.

After setting the lamb aside on the tenth of the month, it shall be for you for safekeeping until the fourteenth day of this month and the entire assembly of the congregation of Israel shall slaughter it as an offering in the afternoon.

They shall take from the blood of the slaughtered lamb, and put it on the two doorposts of the entryway to the house and on the lintel, on the houses in which they will eat it. If more than one family eats in one house, or if a single family eats two lambs as separate groups in two houses, the blood must be sprinkled on each house in which the eating takes place.

They shall eat the meat on that night, roasted over fire, and they shall also eat it with unleavened bread, with either the leaves or stalks of bitter herbs.

You shall not eat from it half cooked, nor cooked in water, only roasted over fire, its head with its legs and with its innards. The entire lamb must be roasted as a single unit.

You shall not leave anything from it until morning, as it must be wholly consumed that night. And if this nevertheless occurs, that which remains until morning you shall burn with fire.

As well as the requirement that it be eaten in the manner of liberated people, there is a further significance to the consumption of the lamb. So you shall eat it: Your loins girded, your shoes on your feet. Many people, especially simple farm workers, would ordinarily go barefoot. The donning of shoes signifies that they are about to depart on a journey. And eat it with your walking staff in your hand; you shall eat it in haste, it is the paschal lamb to the Lord.

God informs Israel of the forthcoming events: I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to animal, and against all the gods of Egypt I will administer great punishments: I am the Lord.

The blood that you will place on the doorways shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are and I will see the blood; I will pass over you, or: I will have mercy upon you, that you will not be struck. And there shall not be a stroke against you to destroy, when I smite the land of Egypt.

Up to this point, the Israelites have been commanded only with regard to the next few days, until the fourteenth of Nisan of the current year. Now God instructs them to commemorate this date in the future as well: This day shall be a remembrance for you, and you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; for your generations, you shall celebrate it as an eternal statute.

These days shall be commemorated each year in the following manner: Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. At this point no explanation is given for this command. However, on the first day you shall eliminate leaven from your houses. For anyone who eats leavened bread from the first day until the conclusion of the seventh day of the festival, that person shall be excised from Israel.

It shall be for you a holy convocation, a gathering devoted to holiness, on the first day of the festival that will be celebrated in subsequent years, and a holy convocation on the seventh day. In addition, no labor shall be performed on them, except labor required in the preparation for that which shall be eaten for each person, such as slaughtering, cooking, and baking; it alone may be performed for you. The types of labor permitted on festivals are called by the Sages the labors necessary for preparing food. 1616

You shall guard the unleavened bread, to ensure that it shall not become leavened at all; because on this very day of the festival, I brought your hosts, camps, out of the land of Egypt; and you shall observe this day for your generations, an eternal statute. The significance of these events will remain important in your future as well.

In the first month, Nisan, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening, after nightfall, you shall eat unleavened bread with the offering that was slaughtered earlier that day in the afternoon, until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening.

Not only must you eat unleavened bread and refrain from eating leavened bread, but for these seven days, leaven, the sourdough used to leaven other dough, shall not be found in your houses; as anyone who eats leavening, sourdough , that person shall be excised from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land.

You shall not eat anything leavened, or containing leavening; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread during the festival of Passover.

The above commands were issued by God to Moses. Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them that they must prepare themselves: Select and take for yourselves lambs for your families and slaughter the paschal lamb.

You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and you shall touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin, and no man shall emerge from the entrance of his house until morning, as destruction shall be inflicted upon Egypt on this night.

The Lord will pass to strike the Egyptians, and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the entrance of your houses, and He will not allow the destroyer to come to your houses to strike.

You shall observe this matter as a statute for you and for your children forever. Some of the details mentioned here, such as the requirement to eat the paschal lamb with girded loins and shoes on one’s feet, applied only to the original Passover when Israel left Egypt. However, the festival itself must be observed in future generations.

It shall be when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as He spoke and promised, you shall observe this service. You are required to observe the laws of Passover in the future as well.

It shall be when your children will say to you: What is this service to you? For what purpose are you performing these complicated rites?

You shall say: It is the paschal offering to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck Egypt, and our households He saved. From that time onward, we celebrate our salvation with this offering. The people bowed their heads upon hearing this message, and prostrated themselves. They thereby indicated their willingness to follow these instructions. This response also expressed their gratitude at the tidings of their imminent release from bondage, as until now they had not been given a specific date on which they would be free.

The children of Israel went and did; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did, in compliance with all the details of the commandment.

It was at midnight, and the Lord smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the exalted firstborn of Pharaoh, the prince, who was sitting on his throne, to the lowliest firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn animal.

Pharaoh arose during the night, he, and all his servants, and all Egypt, and there was a great outcry in Egypt. The cries of anguish filled the land because there was no house in which there were no dead.

He summoned Moses and Aaron at the middle of the night and said: Rise and go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have spoken.

Take both your flocks and your cattle, as you have spoken, and go and bless me too. I can do nothing but ask that you include me in your prayers.

The Egyptians urged the people, to hasten to send them forth from the land. The Egyptians realized that they had been stricken because they forced the Israelites to stay in their land. Now, in terror of death, they urged them to leave immediately. As they said: We are all dying.

In their haste, the people carried their dough before it became leavened; their kneading bowls, in which they prepared the dough, were bound in their garments on their shoulders. They did not have time to let the dough rise, and as the kneading bowls were full of dough they could not be packed up with the rest of their belongings. Therefore, they carried those bowls separately.

Beforehand, the children of Israel acted in accordance with the word of Moses, and they requested silver vessels, gold vessels, and garments from Egypt.

The Lord granted the people favor in the eyes of Egypt, and they acceded to their request, and they stripped Egypt, taking everything they could.

The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, the place with the greatest concentration of Israelites, where the Egyptians built large cities, to a place called Sukot. The Israelites numbered some six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children, women, and the elderly.

A mixed multitude of other peoples came up with them. Once the possibility of leaving Egypt became available, the Egyptians lost control of their borders and many others took advantage of the opportunity and joined Israel. And the Israelites took with them the flocks and cattle that they owned, very considerable livestock.

They baked the dough that they took out from Egypt into unleavened cakes, as it was not leavened, because they were banished from Egypt and could not linger and wait for the dough to rise. Although they knew about the exodus in advance, the events unfolded at an unexpectedly rapid pace. Moreover, they had only a limited time to prepare both the paschal lamb and the unleavened bread they ate the night before. And due to these pressing circumstances, they also did not prepare the requisite provisions of a long journey for themselves.

The Torah provides a historical summary: The dwelling of the children of Israel that they dwelled in Egypt was thirty years and four hundred years.

It was at the end of thirty years and four hundred years; it was on that very day mentioned above, the first day of Passover, that all the hosts of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt. The people who left Egypt were not a random group but a nation that would serve as the hosts of the Lord. This role will be clarified in greater detail in the account of the giving of the Torah.

It is a night of vigilance of the Lord. God had waited with anticipation for this night, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; it is this night for the Lord. This is not only the night on which Israel was saved. God designated this night ahead of time and imbued it with a significance that goes beyond the events of that period. This night will become one of vigilance for all the children of Israel for their generations. Israel will always remember and celebrate this night and pass on the commemoration of these events to future generations.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: This is the statute of the paschal lamb. In addition to the practical instructions stated above, which apply only to the paschal lambs in Egypt, the following general commands relate to all paschal offerings in the future: No foreigner from another nation shall eat from it, despite the fact that a mixed multitude also left Egypt at the exodus.

Any man’s slave, purchased with silver: You shall circumcise him, then he shall eat from it. Only the circumcised may partake of the paschal offering. The Sages debate whether the last clause of this verse is referring to the slaves themselves or to their master, who also may not eat from the offering if a male of his household is uncircumcised.

A resident alien, a non-Jew who lives among you, and a gentile hired laborer shall not eat from it, even though they are considered part of the household.

It, the paschal lamb, shall be eaten in one house; you shall not remove any of the meat from the house to the outside. It is entirely consecrated as an offering and must be eaten in a designated space. And you shall not break a bone of it, as you must consume it in the manner of kings.

The entire congregation of Israel shall do it.

When a stranger resides with you, not a temporary resident or a hired hand, but someone who wishes to convert and join the nation of Israel and worship God, and he performs the paschal offering to the Lord, before he may do so, one must circumcise every male of his. One of the necessary conditions of conversion is that all the male members of the household who wish to convert must enter into the covenant of circumcision. And then he shall approach to perform it, to offer the paschal lamb, and he shall be like a native of the land; but all uncircumcised persons shall not eat from it, including one who was born an Israelite but is not circumcised.

In this matter, there shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who resides among you.

The children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. They followed his instructions precisely on the night of the redemption, when they partook of the paschal lamb. 2626

It was on that very day, following the night when they ate the paschal lamb, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.

The Torah presents commandments that relate to commemorating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt on the same night that God struck down the firstborn of Egypt. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Sanctify to Me every firstborn; the first issue of any womb among the children of Israel, from man and animal, is Mine. Its sanctification expresses the fact that it belongs to God.

Before mentioning the matter of the firstborn, the command he received from God in the previous verse, Moses addresses other matters. Moses said to the people: Remember this day, on which you departed from Egypt, from the house of bondage , the place where you were slaves. You did not have to flee from there, for with strength of hand, by force, the Lord took you out from this; and leavened bread may not be eaten during the exodus itself and on the dates set aside to commemorate the exodus in future generations.

This day, in this season, 2727 you depart, in the month of the ripening. This is not only a description of the season when Israel left Egypt. It is also a normative instruction, as the festival of Passover must always occur in the spring. 2828

The festival of Passover is relevant not only for the present. It shall be when the Lord shall bring you to the land of the Canaanites, the Hitites, the Emorites, the Hivites, and the Yevusites, that He took an oath to your forefathers to give to you, which is a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall perform this service that you observed in Egypt, of the paschal offering, in this month of spring.

Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day is a festival to the Lord.

Only unleavened bread shall be eaten for the seven days. You are not obligated to eat unleavened bread for all seven days, as might have been inferred from the previous verse. Rather, if one wishes to eat bread during these seven days, it must be unleavened. 2929 Not only is consuming leavened bread prohibited, but neither leavened bread shall be seen with you, nor shall leaven be seen with you, within your entire border.

You shall tell your son on that day, when you commemorate the exodus, saying: It is because of this, in order that I will preserve the memory of these events and perform the commandments, that the Lord did this, all the signs and wonders, for me upon my exodus from Egypt.

It, the story of the exodus, shall be a sign for you on your hand and a remembrance between your eyes. You must write a reference to this story on an object that you will attach to your arm and between your eyes, so that the law of the Lord will be in your mouth, because you must remember that with a powerful hand the Lord took you out of Egypt.

In addition to the various means of commemorating the exodus throughout the entire year, you shall observe this statute, the paschal lamb, at its appointed time, from year to year.

Up to this point, Moses has detailed the various rituals dedicated to the remembrance of the exodus: Eating unleavened bread and refraining from consuming leavened bread on the festival of Passover; establishing that festival in the spring; eliminating leaven from one’s possession for this festival; telling the story of the exodus; and binding a written sign to one’s arm and head. He now returns to the command that God had earlier instructed him to give to Israel: It shall be when the Lord will take you to the land of the Canaanite, as He took an oath to you and to your forefathers, and He shall give it to you,

you shall transfer to the Lord each first issue of the womb; and of each first issue discharged from the body of an animal that you will have, the males are sanctified and are the Lord’s.

Every first issue of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. The firstborn of a donkey is sacred but it may not be used in its consecrated state. Instead, it must be exchanged for a lamb, which is given to the priests, as is explained later. 3030 And if you do not redeem it, the firstborn donkey, then you shall behead it. It is not clear why someone would refuse to redeem his donkey. Perhaps he is angry with his local priest or he cannot get hold of a lamb for whatever reason. And all the firstborn of man among your sons, who of course may not be offered upon the altar either, you shall redeem.

It shall be when your son asks you tomorrow, saying: What is this? Why do you redeem the human firstborn and the firstborn of a donkey, and consecrate the firstborn of sheep, goats and cattle? You shall say to him: With strength of hand, power and force, the Lord took us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage.

It was when Pharaoh hesitated to send us forth, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn man to the firstborn animal, and only such measures persuaded Pharaoh to let us go. Consequently, God took all the firstborn as His possession. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord every first issue of the womb, the males; and all the firstborn of my sons I will redeem. I give to God the firstborn that He selected for Himself.

It, the sanctity of the firstborn, in addition to the story of the exodus (13:9), shall be a sign upon your arm, and an ornament between your eyes; for with strength of hand the Lord took us out of Egypt. He chose us and wants us to be His people. This is commemorated both by the giving of the firstborn to God and through the donning of phylacteries, which symbolize the unique bond between Israel and God.

It was, in Pharaoh’s sending forth the people, that God did not guide them via the land of the Philistines, along the Mediterranean coast, although it was near, for God said: Lest the people reconsider when they see war. Although the Philistines were not a large nation, they were militarily powerful. Passing through their land risked a war which might have caused the Israelites to reverse course and return to Egypt.

God led the people circuitously, via the wilderness of the Red Sea. Instead of turning northward, toward the Mediterranean coastline, God led them southeast. And the children of Israel came up armed from the land of Egypt, as they assumed that they would eventually be forced to fight. 2 God decided that they were not yet ready to stand in battle, and He therefore guided them on a path that would avoid direct confrontation with the Philistines.

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he, Joseph, had administered an oath to the children of Israel, the children of Jacob, 3 or the Israelites in general, saying: God will remember and redeem you; and when this occurs, I request that you shall bring my bones up from here, from Egypt, with you.

They, the Israelites, traveled from a place called Sukot; alternatively, from a place where there were booths [ sukkot ], and they encamped in Etam, at the edge of the wilderness. Until this point, the Israelites traveled in fertile areas that were part of Egypt or Goshen. Now, they begin to travel in uninhabited areas.

So that they could navigate the desert, an angel of the Lord was going before them by day in a pillar of cloud to guide them on the way. They followed the cloud, which represented the glory of God. And by night He would go with them in a pillar of fire to illuminate for them, to go day and night. It is unclear whether the Israelites actually traveled by night. In any event, the pillar of fire gave them the ability to do so. 4

The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night would not move from before the people. The Israelites did not know where they were traveling; these two pillars represented God’s guiding hand in the wilderness.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the children of Israel, that they return in the direction of Egypt and encamp before Pi HaHirot, a famous place at the time. The name Pi is Egyptian. It is located between Migdol and the Red Sea, before the pagan god Baal Tzefon. Opposite it you shall encamp, by the sea. On their way to Canaan, the Israelites did not need to cross the Red Sea. From the eastern bank of the Nile, their way was open toward the Land of Israel, even if the Red Sea once extended further north than it does today. Still, God instructed Moses to turn from their route and camp by the sea.

Pharaoh will then say of the children of Israel: They are astray in the land. They have lost their way, and are doubling back. The wilderness has closed in on them, allowing them to travel no further.

I will harden Pharaoh’s heart. After the plagues, the ruin, and the destruction inflicted upon Egypt, Pharaoh’s heart will be hardened one last time, and he will pursue them; and I will be exalted through Pharaoh, and through his entire army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, for something will occur now more miraculous than the plagues of Egypt. And they, the Israelites, did so.

Meanwhile, it was told to the king of Egypt that the people had fled. The three days originally agreed upon (see 8:23–24) had passed, and the Israelites did not seem bound for any particular destination. The heart of Pharaoh and his servants was transformed with regard to the people, and they said: What is this that we have done, that we have sent Israel from our servitude? This nation of slaves filled an important economic function for us, and was part of our way of life. We did not mean to set them free, only to allow them a respite.

He harnessed his chariot. Pharaoh commanded that his horses be harnessed to his personal chariot. And he took his people, his soldiers, with him.

He took six hundred select chariots, the best he had. These were the elite forces of Egypt, whose size is comparable to that of a modern armored division. And he took as well all the chariots of Egypt; chariots played a dominant role in Egypt’s military. A nd there were auxiliaries with all of them. In addition to the driver, who held the reins, and the warrior, who held a weapon, usually a bow, as seen in ancient Egyptian drawings, Pharaoh added an officer over each chariot.

The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; the children of Israel went out with a high hand, not as escapees.

Egypt pursued them; all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh and his horsemen and his army caught up with them encamped by the sea, by Pi HaHirot, before Baal Tzefon.

Pharaoh approached the Israelite encampment; the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold, the forces of the Egyptians were traveling after them, and they were very frightened. They were startled to see an entire army advancing on them. Despite all the losses that the Egyptian army suffered during the plagues, they had enough animals left to mount a campaign. The children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

After crying out to God, they said to Moses: Is it due to the lack of graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? If we are to die now, we might as well have died in Egypt, without going through the trouble of traveling through the desert. What is this that you have done to us, to take us out of Egypt? They, as much as Pharaoh, were filled with regret at their release (see above, 14:5).

Is this not the matter of which we spoke to you in Egypt, saying: Let us be; stop tempting us with the unrealistic prospect of leaving Egypt for a good and spacious land, and we will serve Egypt? For serving Egypt is preferable to us to dying in the wilderness. Already in Egypt we told you to leave us to our work and not to fill our heads with unattainable dreams; now you see that your dreams were for nothing.

Moses said to the people: Fear not; stand and see the salvation of the Lord that He will perform for you today; for as you saw the Egyptians today, you shall not see them ever again. God’s salvation will ensure that they never threaten you again.

The Lord will make war for you, and you will not need to do anything; rather, you will be silent.

The Lord said to Moses: For what are you crying out to Me? This is no time for lengthy prayers; you need to act. 5 Speak to the children of Israel that they will travel. It seemed as though the Israelites had no means of escape. They could not retreat, since that would send them into the arms of the Egyptian army. Perhaps they could have run to one side or another, but it is nearly certain that the Egyptians would have quickly caught them. God instead ordered them to march forward, into the sea.

And you, raise your staff, and extend your hand over the sea, and you will thereby split it; and the children of Israel will go into the sea on dry land. That is, they will march into the sea, and it will turn into dry land.

As for me, behold, I am hardening the heart of Egypt, and they will come after them. Were the Egyptians to act rationally, they would not choose to enter the sea in pursuit of the Israelites, since they had already been stricken by plagues that targeted them selectively. But because I am hardening their hearts, they will enter the sea. And I will be exalted through the demise of Pharaoh and through his entire army, through his chariots and through his horsemen.

Egypt will know that I am the Lord, when I am exalted through Pharaoh, through his chariots, and through his horsemen. All the power of Egypt is concentrated here. When I break that power, My honor will grow in the eyes of those Egyptians left alive who will hear of these events.

The angel of God, who was going before the camp of Israel, traveled and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud, which during the day embodied the angel of God and was always in front of the camp, traveled from before them and stood behind them, at the back of the camp.

It, the cloud, came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel and there was the cloud and the darkness in the space between the camps, and it illuminated the night. erhaps the pillar of fire shone from within the cloud, or the pillar of cloud turned to fire, and thus lit up the night. On the Egyptian side, the cloud and darkness hid the Israelites from the view of the Egyptians; on the Israelite side, the fire illuminated the night. And one, the Egyptian camp, did not approach the other, the Israelite camp, the entire night, due to the thick fog separating them.

Moses extended his hand over the sea, and the Lord moved the sea with a powerful east wind the entire night, and it rendered the sea dry land, and the water split.

The children of Israel came into the sea , but on dry land; and the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left. The sea did not disappear entirely. Rather, a path, or perhaps several paths, took shape, through which the Israelites could pass. Although dry strips of land may naturally appear in the water during low tide, here the water stood up like walls on either side of the Israelites.

Egypt pursued and came after them. It is probable that as morning approached, the pillars of fire and cloud disappeared, and the Egyptians caught sight of the Israelites marching into the sea and gave chase. All Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen pursued them into the sea.

It was at the morning watch, the final third of the night, and the Lord looked down at the camp of Egypt and struck at them with a pillar of fire and cloud that approached the camp, and the Lord confounded the camp of Egypt.

He removed the wheels of its chariots and caused them to drive with difficulty. The pillars of fire and cloud caused the wheels to separate from their chariots. Even if only some of the wheels fell off, it caused the chariots to lose their balance, so that the horses could not pull them. This caused panic in the camp. The Egyptians could not move, let alone fight, so Egypt said: I will flee from before Israel, as the Lord is making war for them against Egypt. Now there can be no doubt that some supreme power is aiding them. This place is strange and dangerous; we would do well to flee.

The Lord said to Moses: Extend your hand over the sea again, so that the water will return to its place, upon Egypt, upon its chariots, and upon its horsemen.

Moses extended his hand over the sea that had turned in just a few hours into dry land, and the sea returned to its original vigor before morning, as morning approached. 6 The waters previously stood as walls on either side of the dry path; they now came crashing down into the Egyptians’ path as they fled toward the shore. And thus, Egypt was fleeing toward it, the water that came crashing down between them and the shore, and the Lord shook up the Egyptians in the sea.

The water returned to its normal state, and it covered the chariots and the horsemen, all the army of Pharaoh that came after them into the sea. The walls of water collapsed onto the Egyptians so forcefully that they wiped out their entire army. Not one of them remained. The chariots, horsemen, and infantry disappeared; all of them drowned in the supernaturally stormy waters.

While the Egyptians drowned in the water, the children of Israel walked on the dry land in the sea; and the water was a wall for them on their right and on their left. It seems that these walls guided their route through the sea.

The Lord saved Israel on that day from the hand of Egypt, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Dead bodies in the sea usually wash up on the shore; the Israelites thus saw a tremendous number of dead Egyptian soldiers on the beach.

Israel saw the great power that the Lord wielded against Egypt. God’s ability to perform miracles was established beyond all doubt to the Israelites when they witnessed the unnatural behavior of the sea, the fate of the Egyptians, and their own salvation. And the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in Moses, His servant. They saw with their own eyes that Moses acted according to the will of God, and that God had suspended the laws of nature in response to Moses’ actions.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord. It seems that Moses led the people in song; he would sing a verse, and they would repeat it after him. The Talmud presents other opinions regarding the recitation of this song. 8 And they said, saying: I will sing to the Lord, as He is highly exalted; He has exalted Himself by displaying His power, for the horse and its rider He cast into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and song. The meaning of this Hebrew phrase is uncertain, though it occurs elsewhere in the Bible. 9 Other interpretations have been suggested: The strength and song of God; a song of praise for God’s strength; strength expressed by God cutting down His foes; 10 my strength is God’s and my song is directed to Him. 11 And He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will glorify Him . 12 Some would translate this as: I will enshrine him; 13 my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.

The Lord acted like He is a warrior by doing battle for us. The Lord is His name. He fought and no other, and in doing so revealed His name.

Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He cast in the sea, and the elite of his officers were drowned in the Red Sea.

The deep covers them, Pharaoh’s army. They descended into the depths of the sea like a stone. One infers from the song that the Egyptians sank in stormy waters, which overcame them with tremendous force. They were tossed and thrown about in the waves.

Your right hand, Lord, is glorious in power, Your power is enormous; 14 Your right hand, Lord, shatters an enemy. Alternatively: Your right hand, Lord, glorious in power, shall shatter the enemy. 15

In the abundance of Your majesty You overthrow those who rise against You, Your enemies; You send forth Your wrath, which is sometimes likened to fire; 16 it consumes them like flames consume straw.

With the blast of Your nostrils, the strong east wind that blew through the night (14:21), the water was piled. 17 Some translate this: The water became intelligent, behaved unnaturally. 18 Fluids stood like a mound; the deep was congealed 19 in the heart of the sea.

The enemy said: I will pursue, I will overtake the Israelites, I will divide the spoils after I defeat them. The Egyptians did not expect to engage in battle, but assumed they would easily overtake and capture the Israelites and plunder their possessions. My desire shall be sated upon them, I will devour them; I will draw my sword, my hand will dispossess them.

But You blew with Your wind, and the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty water.

Who is like You among the powers, Lord? Who is like You, mighty in sanctity, awesome in praise, exalted in praise, performer of wonders?

One of the wonders You just performed: You extended Your right hand against the enemy and the earth swallowed them.

Until now, the song addressed the defeat of the enemies and their demise at sea. Now it turns in a new, softer direction: You guided with Your kindness, this people You redeemed; You directed them with Your strength to reach their ultimate goal, Your holy abode, the Land of Israel. Alternatively, this is a prophecy for the future: You will direct them with Your strength until they reach Your holy abode, the Land of Israel.

Since the song refers to the march to the Land of Israel, it addresses the dramatic impact of the exodus and the parting of the Red Sea on the surrounding nations: Nations, when they heard, they were agitated; trembling has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. The Philistines feared the Israelites would pass through their land.

Then the chieftains of Edom were alarmed, lest the Israelites cross their borders; trembling gripped the powers, the leaders, of Moav; all the inhabitants of Canaan have dissipated, as they knew that the Israelites were marching toward their land.

May dread and fear fall over them; with the display of the greatness of Your arm may they be stilled as a stone from fear; until Your people will pass to their destination, Lord, until this people whom You have acquired will pass.

Eventually, You will bring them, the Israelites, and plant them in the mountain of Your inheritance, the place You fashioned for Your dwelling, Lord, the Sanctuary, my Lord, that Your hands have already established. This is the intended goal toward which the Israelites are directed: They will enter Canaan, settle it, and build the Temple of God.

The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

The verse provides a prose summary of the song: For the horses of Pharaoh came with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord returned the water of the sea upon them to drown them; and the children of Israel walked on dry land in the sea. The Israelites did not walk on land that had historically been sea but had become shallow and fordable. Rather, the area of their passage turned miraculously from sea into dry land at God’s command so that the Israelites could pass.

Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took the drum in her hand, and all the women came out after her with drums and in dance. Alternatively: With tambourines and with hollow [ ĥalul ], or round, instruments. 20

As the women sang and danced, Miriam called and sang to them the first verse of the Song by the Sea: Sing to the Lord, as He is highly exalted, the horse and its rider He cast into the sea; and all the women followed Miriam in song.

Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out to the wilderness of Shur on the western edge of the Sinai. From the fact that the wilderness of Shur is mentioned in the story of Hagar’s wanderings, 21 it is apparent that this wilderness is not very far from Canaan. They walked three days in the wilderness, and did not find water to drink.

They came to Mara, perhaps adjacent to one of the saltwater lakes near the Nile, and they could not drink the water from Mara, as it is bitter. Therefore, its name is called Mara, meaning bitter.

The people complained against Moses, saying: What will we drink? For three days we have found no water in the wilderness. Now that we have finally reached a body of water, it is undrinkable.

He, Moses, cried out to the Lord, and the Lord indicated the natural properties of a certain tree to him, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters sweetened from their contact with the tree. Apparently, the Israelites stayed for a time at Mara, for there He, God, instituted for it statutes and ordinances. Until now, the Israelites were largely commanded to observe laws connected specifically to the exodus and the paschal offering. Now, however, they were ready to receive new laws and commandments. At Mara, the Israelites received a few ritual commandments and civil laws; the Sages identify these based on oral tradition. 22 And there He tested it, Israel, by the bitter waters. In this case, the Israelites passed the test and became stronger for it.

God said: If you heed the voice of the Lord your God and will perform that which is right in His eyes and listen to His commandments and observe all His statutes, all of the diseases that I placed on Egypt I will not place upon you, as I am the Lord your healer, and I will protect you from sickness.

The Israelites traveled from Mara and they came to Eilim, and there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees; they encamped there by the water after their wearying journey.

They traveled from Eilim, and the entire congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Tzin, which is between Eilim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month since their exodus from the land of Egypt, the month of Iyyar.

The entire congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites likely still had some grain and livestock. However, a whole month had passed since they left Egypt, and they had exhausted much of their food supply.

The children of Israel said to them: If only our death had been at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots, when we ate bread until satiation. hen, at least, we had food to eat. For you have taken us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly through famine.

The Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am raining a miraculous form of food for you from the heavens; and the people shall go out and gather each day’s portion on its day, so that I may test them, to see whether they will follow My law, and gather only one portion each day, or not.

It shall be on the sixth day, that they will prepare that which they will bring , and it will be twice what they gather each day. As will be explained, the Sabbath is a day of rest, and it is therefore prohibited for the Israelites to gather the manna, or cook or bake it, on that day. To ensure they have enough food for the Sabbath, God will provide a double portion of manna on the sixth day for them to gather.

Moses and Aaron said to the entire children of Israel: In the evening you will know that the Lord took you out of the land of Egypt. God listens to you and attends to your needs.

And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because He has heard your complaints against the Lord. And as for us, why do you bring complaints against us? We make no decisions on our own; we are only messengers of God, and you are subject to His direct supervision.

Moses said: You will be convinced of God’s providence with the Lord giving you meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to be satiated, with the Lord hearing your complaints that you bring against Him, then what are we? Your complaints are not against us, but against the Lord.

Moses said to Aaron: Say to the entire congregation of the children of Israel: Approach before the Lord, as He has heard your complaints.

And it was, as Aaron spoke to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, that they turned toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying: In the afternoon you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be sated with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

Indeed, it was in the evening that the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. In springtime in the desert, formation of a layer of dew around the camp at night is a natural phenomenon.

When the morning sun warmed the air, the layer of dew lifted and behold, the Israelites found that on the surface of the wilderness there lay a fine, grainy substance; alternatively, this may be translated to mean that it was a fine substance that dissolved easily. 23 It was fine as the frost on the earth, but it was clear that this was not frost.

The children of Israel saw it, and they said one to another: What [man] is it? 24 Others would translate: It is food, 25 or: It is a portion. 26 As they did not know what it was, Moses said to them: It is the bread that the Lord has given you for eating throughout your journey.

This is the matter that the Lord has commanded: Gather from it, each man according to his eating; an omer, a dry measure greater than two liters, for a person, according to the number of your people, you shall each take for whomever is in his tent. God will provide every person the same measure.

The children of Israel did so, and they gathered the manna that was scattered on the surface of the ground; some diligent or greedy people took more, and some, who were slower or less interested, took less.

But they measured it with an omer measure after gathering it in all their different vessels, and they found that he who took more did not have excess, and he who took less did not lack; all their different vessels held the same measure per person. Each gathered according to his eating. Already from the gathering of this food, it became apparent that it was an unnatural substance.

Moses said to them: The manna collected in the morning is meant to be consumed throughout the day, but no later. Therefore, no man may leave from it until morning.

But they did not heed Moses; people left from it until the morning. As can be found in any large group, there were some who were averse to any authority imposed upon them. Perhaps it was these individuals who refused to heed the instructions of Moses. However, it is possible that people left some of their manna overnight because they were not told that the manna would fall again the next day; they were therefore worried they would have no food. And it, the manna, became infested with worms and reeked; and Moses became angry with them for disregarding his instructions, and in the process, disgracing the manna, a miraculous gift from God. Here, yet another extraordinary property of the manna was revealed. Normally, worms do not appear in food within a matter of hours, and the process of decomposition takes longer. 27

They gathered it each morning, just as the dew evaporated, each man according to his eating, as much as he needed to eat, 28 or according to the size of his household; 29 and then the sun grew hot and it melted.

It was on the sixth day that they gathered double the bread, two omer for each one. As always, the amount they gathered was independent, miraculously, of their efforts. On the sixth day, everyone found they had gathered two omers per person, rather than one. And all the princes, leaders, of the congregation came and told Moses about this anomaly.

He said to them: It is what the Lord said: Tomorrow is a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Tomorrow is the holy day of which we spoke at Mara, 30 whose laws were not explained until now. Perhaps this is the first time he used the word Sabbath. That which you would bake, bake, and that which you would cook, cook today, on the sixth day; and all that remains, set aside for safekeeping until morning. You cannot eat the extra food today; set it aside for tomorrow.

They set it aside until the morning, as Moses had commanded; and, unlike what had occurred on the previous days, it, the manna gathered on the sixth day, did not reek on the seventh, and there were no maggots in it.

Moses said: Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath of the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. God Himself rests today, as it were, and does not produce manna.

This will be the arrangement from now on: Six days you shall gather it, and on the seventh day it is Sabbath; there will be none on it. No manna will fall on the seventh day.

Indeed, it was on the seventh day, and some of the people who did not believe Moses and wanted to see for themselves, or who were greedy, went out to gather and they did not find any manna.

The Lord said to Moses: Until when do you continue to refuse to observe My commandments and My laws? I gave very few restrictions, but already some people are beginning to flout them.

See that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore, He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Remain each man where he is; no man shall leave his place on the seventh day.

The majority of the people 31 rested on the seventh day.

The house of Israel called it manna, after their initial response to it (above, verse 15). For want of another name, this word endured. And this is a description of the manna: It was like a white coriander seed, meaning that it was perfectly round, like coriander, but white, unlike coriander, which is brown; and its natural taste was like a cake with honey.

The following passage was actually stated at a later point; however, it is brought here since it relates to the manna: 32 Moses said: This is the matter that the Lord has commanded: An omerful from it, the manna, is to be kept for safekeeping for your generations, so that they, your descendants, will see the bread that I fed you in the wilderness when I took you out of the land of Egypt. It shall be kept as a reminder of these events.

Moses said to Aaron: Take one jar and put there an omerful of manna and set it before the Lord for safekeeping for your generations.

As the Lord had commanded Moses to place the manna before the Lord, Aaron set it before the Ark of the Testimony in the Tabernacle, for safekeeping, as a reminder of the miracles that God performed for the Israelites in the wilderness.

The children of Israel ate the manna for forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. When Joshua eventually led the Israelites across the Jordan River, the manna ceased to fall.

The Torah notes: And the omer is one-tenth of an ephah, another dry measure.

The entire congregation of the children of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Tzin on their travels, at the word of the Lord, by the guidance of the pillar of cloud; they encamped in Refidim, and here again, there was no water for the people to drink.

The people quarreled with Moses and said: Give us water that we may drink. Moses said to them: Why do you quarrel with me? You know that these matters are not in my control. And furthermore, why do you try the Lord, rather than trusting Him? In the meantime, there is no need to complain, for perhaps tomorrow we will be commanded to travel elsewhere.

They remained there, and the request turned into a complaint. The people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses and said: Why did you bring us up from Egypt, to kill me and my children and my livestock with thirst? Their language was becoming belligerent and confrontational.

Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: What shall I do for this people? A moment more and they will stone me. Moses was afraid that the complaints would increase in intensity until they led to a riot.

The Lord said to Moses: Pass before the people ceremoniously, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. This procession of Moses with his staff and the elders was meant to remind everyone that he was acting as the messenger of God.

Behold, I am standing before you there upon the rock at Horev, Mount Sinai; you will feel My presence there; and you shall strike the rock, and when you do so water will emerge from it, and the people will drink. Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. The elders saw with their own eyes the water flow from the rock as Moses struck it.

Pursuant to this, he called the place Masa, trial, and Meriva, quarrel , due to the quarrel of the children of Israel, and due to their trying of the Lord, saying: Is the Lord among us, or not? At first, the Israelites expressed doubts as to whether God cared for them, as He sent them to a place without water. These doubts then evolved into a quarrel with Moses.

Amalek came from its territory, and made war with Israel in Refidim, in the wilderness. There is no indication that Amalek was a particularly large or strong nation, yet it nevertheless had the courage to leave its own territory and attack the Israelites, who were already great in number. It seems that Amalek dared attack the Israelites because the Israelites had not yet organized themselves militarily into effective fighting units, making them vulnerable. 33

Moses said to Joshua, his servant: Choose men for us who are capable of fighting, as most of the people are simple slaves with no combat experience, and go out and fight with Amalek; tomorrow, during the battle, I will be standing on top of the hill and the staff of God will be in my hand. It will symbolize God’s support for you.

Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek; and Moses, Aaron his brother, and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.

So it was that when Moses raised his hand, Israel prevailed in battle; and when he tired and lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.

Moses’ hands, held up continuously, perhaps holding the staff, 34 were heavy as the battle went on; and they took a stone and they placed it beneath him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur supported his hands without having to lift their own, as Moses was seated, one of them on this side, and the other on that side, and his hands were steady , 35 or raised in prayer, 36 until the setting of the sun.

Joshua defeated Amalek and its people by sword.

The Lord said to Moses: Write down this episode of Amalek as a remembrance for all time in the book, and set it in the ears of Joshua as a lesson for the future: For I promise that I will expunge the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Because of its intrinsic hatred for Israel, there can be no coexistence with Amalek. It will fight Israel as long as it survives.

Moses built an altar out of gratitude to God, and he called it: The Lord is my standard.

He said: Because a hand is on the throne of the Lord. Raising one’s hand expresses an oath, 37 as does holding a sacred object. 38 The image of a hand gripping God’s throne, which symbolizes His kingship, signifies that God vows on His very kingship that the Lord’s war with Amalek is from generation to generation, until all descendants of Amalek have been wiped out.

Yitro, priest of Midyan, father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done to Moses, and to Israel His people, that the Lord took Israel out of Egypt. Due to the exceptional nature of the events, news of the ten plagues and the exodus of an entire nation from Egypt had reached Midyan, despite the fact that it was not located in close proximity to Egypt. Indeed, reports of the miraculous events spread to even more distant places. 1 Yitro now realizes that Moses did not return to Egypt merely to visit his family.

Yitro, father-in-law of Moses, took Tzipora, wife of Moses, after she had been sent away, after Moses had sent her to her father’s house. 2 Moses had not arranged for Tzipora’s return or even contacted her, but nevertheless Yitro felt that the time had come to bring Moses his wife.

And her two sons, of whom one was named Gershom, as he, Moses, said: I was a stranger in a foreign land. The name Gershom is composed of two Hebrew words: stranger [ ger ] and there [ sham ]. 3

And the name of the other was Eliezer, derived from the following statement of Moses: For the God of my father was my assistance, and He delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. The name Eliezer contains the two Hebrew words: my God [ Eli ], and my help [ ezri ]. It is possible that Eliezer was born after the death of the Pharaoh who sought to kill Moses (2:15), which is how he was certain that he had been saved from Pharaoh. 4 In naming his sons, Moses referred to critical events in his own life, indicating that he did not consider them the unwanted progeny of a brief visit in a foreign land. Yitro thus understood that it was important to reunite Moses with his sons.

Yitro, father-in-law of Moses, came with his sons and his, Moses’, wife to Moses, to the wilderness where he was encamped, which is the place of the mountain of God.

He, Yitro, said to Moses, by means of a messenger he had sent ahead: I, your father-in-law Yitro, am coming to you, and I bring your wife and her two sons with her.

Moses went out toward his father-in-law, and prostrated himself and kissed him. Although it is unclear from the Hebrew text who prostrated himself, it was likely Moses who prostrated himself in honor of his father-in-law. Although he may have been no older than Moses, Yitro was a dignitary in his own region. Despite the fact that Moses himself had become the leader of a large nation since his marriage, he continued to act deferentially toward his father-in-law, as was his practice in the past. 5 And each man greeted the other, and they came into the tent of Moses.

Moses related to his father-in-law everything that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians on behalf of Israel. Until this point, Yitro had gleaned information merely from passing travelers; now he heard firsthand how the events had actually transpired. Moses also described to him all the adversity that encountered them on the way, and how the Lord delivered them from Pharaoh and his pursuing army, as well as from other dangers along the way.

Yitro rejoiced over all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, that He had delivered it from the hand of Egypt.

Yitro said: Blessed is the Lord, who delivered you from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh; and not just you, or a small band of individuals, but who delivered the entire people from under the hand of Egypt.

Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, as God saved the Israelites and punished the Egyptians in, through, the very matter that they, the Egyptians, conspired against them. Yitro considered the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea as divine retribution for their decree to cast all newborn Israelite males into the Nile (1:22). Since the Egyptians drowned Israelite children in the Nile, they themselves were drowned. This was not merely an impressive miracle that brought salvation to the Israelites, but a demonstration of God’s execution of the appropriate punishment, measure for measure, for their crime. 6

Yitro, father-in-law of Moses, took a burnt offering and feast offerings to God. The custom of sacrificing offerings predated the giving of the Torah. Aaron, Moses’ brother, and all the elders, dignitaries of Israel, came to break bread in the ritual consumption of the offerings with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

It was the next day that Moses sat, as was his custom, to judge the people and to administer communal affairs, and the people stood over Moses from the morning until the evening.

The father-in-law of Moses saw everything that he, Moses, was doing with the people. Yitro saw the disarray surrounding Moses, as a huge number of people were gathered around his tent, all waiting to hear direct instructions from their leader. And he said: What is it that you are doing with the people? Why are you sitting by yourself and all the people stand over you, waiting for you from morning until evening?

Moses said to his father-in-law: Because the people come to me to seek God, as I am their prophet and know God’s laws. Even if this encounter transpired before the giving of the Torah, it is still logical that they turned to him, as Moses was the most senior figure, and inquiries of judicial matters were naturally directed to him. 7

When they have a matter that requires judgment, it comes before me; and I adjudicate between one man and another, including those who are not quarreling but simply seeking general advice with regard to proper conduct, and I communicate the statutes of God and His laws.

The father-in-law of Moses said to him: It is not a good thing that you are doing.

You will wither away, like a plant that lacks the requisite conditions for growth. Both you and this people that is with you cannot maintain the current practice, as the matter is too arduous for you; you cannot do it by yourself. The large nation will only become more numerous, and you will not be able to attend to every individual case. Furthermore, the people are also suffering from the lack of a formal arrangement, as they are forced to wait long hours to speak to you.

Now heed my voice, let me advise you, and may God be with you, to help you execute this plan. You will be the representative for the people before God, and you will bring the matters to God. When weighty matters arise, which must be resolved, you shall present them before God.

You shall caution them of the statutes and the laws that you receive from God, and shall communicate to them the path in which they should walk and the actions that they should perform by providing general guidelines for them to follow. 8

In addition, you shall identify from all the people capable men, accomplished in various fields, who are courageous individuals with leadership qualities. From this group, you shall select those who are also fearers of God as well as men of truth, haters of ill-gotten gain. hese are the essential characteristics of a good judge. 9 Set these judges over them, the people, in a hierarchy as leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens.

They shall judge the people at all times; it shall be that every major matter, which has ramifications for the entire nation, they shall bring to you, and every minor matter, for which they do not require your ruling, they shall adjudicate themselves. It will ease the burden of leadership from upon you, and they will bear it together with you.

If you do this thing, and God commands you to act accordingly, as I know that you will not follow this plan without receiving confirmation from God, then you will be able to endure; and also this entire people, who are currently suffering from a lack of order and sufficient leaders, will come to their place in peace.

Moses heeded the voice of his father-in-law and did everything that he said.

Moses selected capable men from all Israel. No mention is made, however, of the other qualities outlined by Yitro above. Perhaps Moses was unable to find enough leaders with all of those qualities, and those who were capable had to suffice. 10 And he set them to be heads over the people, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, and leaders of tens. Moses established the hierarchy according to their merit, despite the fact that all the candidates were fundamentally qualified for the positions.

They would judge the people at all times. Since there were now many judges, they could handle all small matters, and the litigants no longer had a long wait. The difficult matter they would bring to Moses, and any minor matter they would adjudicate themselves.

Moses sent forth his father-in-law, and he went to his land. Although this occurred at a later time than the previous narrative, 11 it is mentioned here because it concludes the account of Yitro’s visit.

In the third month, the month of Sivan, from the exodus of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, on that day, the first of the month, 12 they came to the wilderness of Sinai.

They traveled from Refidim and came to the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness; Israel encamped there next to the same mountain familiar to Moses from his first revelation, when God informed him that the people would worship Him there (3:12).

Moses ascended the mountain to God; the Lord summoned him from the mountain, saying: So you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell to the children of Israel:

You saw what I did to Egypt, all the signs and the miracles, and I bore you on the wings of eagles. You arrived here in a wondrous fashion. Such a long journey for a large nation, including all of the families and baggage, is no simple matter. And I brought you to Me, to this place, where the entire people will experience a direct encounter with God, an unprecedented event in history.

Here God summarizes the significance of the forthcoming revelation: N ow, if you will heed My voice, and observe My covenant, then you shall be distinguished, a special treasure for Me from among all the peoples, not only the nations of the region, as all the earth is Mine. Until now God has revealed His love for the Israelites and has aided them in their plight. Here, for the first time, He establishes a covenant with them, which includes mutual obligations.

You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests, a people who serve as priests for all humanity, and a holy nation. Matters that are considered reasonable by others are not necessarily normal for you. 13 The destiny that Israel will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation is not merely a promise of a lofty status; it entails a serious commitment, as explained below. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel. If the Israelites accept this role upon themselves, they will be given detailed instructions through the Ten Precepts and all of the 613 commandments. However, before this special covenant between God and the people can take effect, they must accept the basic obligations: To listen to His commands, to observe the covenant, and to be His holy people.

Moses came and summoned the elders of the people, in the presence of the entire people, and he set before them all these matters that the Lord had commanded him.

All the people answered together and said: Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform. We accept upon ourselves the terms of the covenant with God, to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, and we will obey His commands. Moses returned the statement of the people to the Lord. Since Moses was sent to relay the statement of God to the people, it is proper etiquette for him to return to God, either in body or perhaps just spiritually, 14 with their response, despite the fact that God was of course aware of what they had said. 15

The Lord said to Moses: Behold, I am coming to reveal Myself to you in a thickness of the cloud. 16 The cloud serves as a kind of physical intermediary, allowing My presence to be grasped by humans, so that the people will hear while I speak with you. In contrast to all other prophecies, which God conveys to the soul and mind of a single prophet, this revelation through a cloud will enable His word to be heard in public. And they will believe also in you forever, with a stronger faith. Moses related the statement of the people to the Lord, that they had agreed enthusiastically. 17

The Lord said to Moses: Go to the people and sanctify, summon, and prepare them, 18 today and tomorrow for the revelation; and they shall wash their garments as part of the purification process that would become the accepted one in Israel.

They shall be ready for the third day, as on the third day the Lord will descend before the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai.

In addition, you shall restrict the people all around, saying: This border shall signify the location of the forbidden area. Beware of ascending the mountain or even touching its edge, as anyone who touches the mountain, thereby entering the sanctified area, shall be punished by being put to death.

However, no hand shall touch him, that person who enters the forbidden place, for if others chase after him to catch him, they too will enter the demarcated area. 19 Therefore, he shall be stoned from afar or shot with arrows; whether it is an animal that wandered inside or man, it will not live. Only later, with the extended blast of the shofar, or alternatively, when that sound ceases, which is the signal for the cessation of the event, they, anyone who wishes, shall be permitted to ascend the mountain.

Moses descended from the mountain to the people. He sanctified the people and they washed their garments.

He said to the people: As part of your sanctification process, be prepared in three days; do not approach a woman. Refrain from sexual relations during these three days in order to focus your minds and prepare for the encounter.

It was on the third day, when it was morning, and there was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the blast of a shofar was extremely powerful, and all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Moses took the people out of the camp toward God. Despite the warning against approaching too close to the central area of the event, it was appropriate for the people to advance as close as they could within the permitted area. And they stood at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was all smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its thick, concentrated smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, which is produced by a large fire in a small area. And the entire mountain trembled greatly.

The loud blast of the shofar, which was initially heard together with the other noises, grew continuously stronger. As this occurred, Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice. The people heard this conversation between Moses and God.

The Lord descended upon Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain; the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, while all the people listened in order to hear the exchange between them, and Moses ascended.

The Lord said to Moses: Descend, and again warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to see. When they realize that this is no ordinary fire, the smoke is unusual, and the shofar is unlike any other shofar they have heard, they might be drawn to the place out of curiosity and yearning for God. And if they do come near, many of them will fall, either because there are guards stationed there, instructed to stop anyone who attempts to approach, or due to divine retribution for this infraction.

Also the priests, those who perform the sanctified rites and who approach the Lord and stand in front of the people at the foot of the mountain, 20 shall sanctify themselves, lest the Lord burst out against them.

Moses said to the Lord: Why do I need to warn them a second time? After all, the people will not be able to ascend Mount Sinai, as you have already warned us, saying: Demarcate the mountain, and sanctify it.

The Lord said to him: Go, descend, and you shall ascend, and Aaron with you. Your brother shall accompany you part of the way. It is evident from the verses below that even those close to Moses, who were permitted to ascend higher than the rest of the people, were not permitted to reach the spot of the encounter itself, where Moses alone ascended (see 20:18). God again warns: But the priests and the people shall not advance and break through to ascend to the Lord, lest He burst out against them.

Moses descended to the people, and said God’s repeated warning to them. Apparently, he then ascended the mountain again. 21

God spoke all these matters, saying: It is unclear from the continuation of the account whether the entire people heard all the precepts directly. 24 In any case, they certainly heard the first section from God.

I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. According to some commentaries, this is not a separate command, but the Speaker presenting Himself, since without the acceptance of this basic identification of God there is no meaning to the commands that follow. 25 Others maintain that this is a command to believe in God and to know Him. 26

The previous declaration leads to the demand for exclusivity: You shall have no other gods before Me, together with Me. There is no other god but Me.

Furthermore, faith alone is not enough. You shall not make for you an idol to worship, nor any item that is an image of that which is in the heavens above, or that which is on the earth below, or that which is in the water beneath the earth, anywhere on earth. The phrase “that which is in the water beneath the earth” might also allude to large, primeval sea creatures, which were considered powerful beings that people would worship.

You shall not prostrate yourselves to them, and you shall not worship them, because I am the Lord your God, a zealous God, and cannot stand another god to be worshipped together with Me. I am He who reckons the iniquity of the fathers against the children, against the third generation, grandchildren, and against the fourth generation, great-grandchildren, to My enemies. I recall transgressions and even punish one’s descendants to the fourth generation, in accordance with the wicked deeds of the fathers, if the descendants continue on their evil path. For a lengthy description of this principle, see Ezekiel 18 and Berakhot 7a. Some maintain that this principle applies only to the severe transgression of idolatry, whose worshippers are called “My enemies.” 27

And conversely, I am also a God who engages in kindness for the thousands of generations, as in the verse: “Who maintains the covenant and the kindness to those who love Him and those who observe His commandments, for one thousand generations.” 28 God’s loving-kindness extends far beyond the four generations that apply in the case of a sinner. This kindness is for those who love Me and observe My commandments. God’s zealousness, which demands exclusivity, entails both the negation of all competitors as well as a great love for the faithful.

The previous precept of not worshipping other gods leads to the requirement to honor and fear God: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, by swearing falsely or mentioning it for no reason. This is a severe prohibition, as the person who does so disrespects the honor of the one Ruler of the entire world. As the Lord will not absolve one who takes His name in vain. It is difficult to achieve atonement for the desecration of God’s name. In general, the Ten Precepts deal with the laws themselves, not the punishments for those who violate them. The desecration of the name of God is an exception in this regard, as the punishment for the violator cannot always be administered by the court or society, and it is far more serious than other sins. Not even Yom Kippur and suffering can atone for the damage to one’s very relationship with God. 29 The Sages have said that if there is any remedy for the desecration of God’s name, it is through the opposite type of act, of increasing the sanctification of the name of God. 30

The next precept is one that creates the basic framework for Jewish life: Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. The Sabbath was already given to the Israelites (16:23–30), but here it is granted the lofty status of a uniquely holy day. One of the ways in which this precept is fulfilled is through the recitation of Kiddush, the blessing of Sanctification, on the Sabbath, in which the day is praised and its special value underscored. In the Kiddush of Friday night, one welcomes the holy day. 31 The remembrance of the Sabbath day and its sanctification are also fulfilled through other customs and halakhot , such as the choice food one eats and the wearing of fine garments. 32

Six days you shall work and perform all your labor. The six weekdays are for people to work and accomplish all their necessary tasks.

The seventh day is Sabbath for the Lord your God. On this day God rested, as related at the beginning of the Torah. 33 You, too, Israel, who are entering a covenant with God, shall not perform any labor on this day. This applies not only to you personally, but also to the members of your extended household: And your son, and your daughter, your slave, and your maidservant, and your animal, and your stranger who is within your gates. Since the Sabbath belongs to the entire nation, all are prohibited from performing labor on this day,

because in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, as the day on which the labor of creation was completed. And furthermore, He set aside the Sabbath and sanctified it from the beginning of creation. 34

Honor your father and your mother. Honoring one’s parents does not involve a ritual act, but is a requirement of daily life, so that your days will be extended on the land that the Lord your God gives you. The reward for one who honors his parents is a long life in this world. 35 In addition, in a society where the elderly generation is respected, there will be long life, as aging parents will be confident that they can rely on the younger generation, and they will be valued as important members of the family and the wider society. 36

You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. This prohibition of adultery is defined by Jewish law and the traditional commentaries as pertaining to the relationship of a married woman with a man other than her husband. 37 The commands against taking the life of another and damaging his family structure are followed by a prohibition against taking his property: You shall not steal. Following the absolute prohibitions that define the basic behavior required toward one’s fellow man, such as murder, adultery, and theft, the Torah presents a command that is seemingly less severe than the previous ones, but which refers to a common social situation: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The halakhic definition of this prohibition is the submission of untrue or invalid testimony over the course of a trial in court. Such testimony undermines the trust between people.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his slave, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s. This coveting is the notorious, unshakable sin of envy, which has not disappeared in more than three thousand years since the Torah was given.

All the people were seeing the thunder, and the lights that glowed like flames, and the blast of the shofar, and the mountain smoking; the people saw these phenomena and trembled, instinctively recoiling, and stood at a distance. They had formerly recognized the prophet as God’s spokesperson, but now, for the first time, they were granted a taste of the process of hearing and receiving a prophecy, and they felt its accompanying terror.

Therefore, they, the people, said to Moses: You speak with us and we will hear, and God should not speak with us, lest we die.

Moses said to the people: Do not fear; God will not continue to speak to you in this manner every day, 38 as it is in order to test [ nasot ] you that God has come. You are being tested to see whether you can withstand the experience and accept the word of God. The term for test [ nes ] can also mean a banner, as one who passes the test is elevated like a banner, since he has survived the direct encounter with the Divine and successfully heard the voice of God. 39 And He has also come so that His fear will be on your faces, so that you will not sin. One who has personally heard the voice of God and remembers the unmediated event will find it more difficult to sin.

Ultimately, the people stood at a distance, as they retreated further back, and Moses approached closer to the place of the lightning and smoke, to the fog where God was. Certainly Moses was afraid as well, but his desire to come close to God and the knowledge that he was representing the entire people helped him overcome his fears.

The Lord said to Moses: So you shall say to the children of Israel: You saw that from the heavens, from an abstract place, I spoke with you.

Since you did not see any sort of image in your encounter with Me, You shall not make with Me, or for Me, any physical image or bodily form; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. It is permitted to worship God through a ritual that involves physical objects, but only if these fulfill specific conditions:

You shall make for Me an altar of earth and shall slaughter upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I mention My name, every place where I choose to rest My Presence, which will lead you to mention My name, 40 I will come to you and I will bless you. Alternatively, the verse can be explained as follows: When you, man, pray to Me and serve Me, I in turn will be present and mention My name. This is similar to the saying of the Sages that the Divine Presence rests upon every group of ten individuals of Israel. 41 Indeed, this is a general declaration with regard to prayer and the mention of God’s name, which are not restricted to any particular place, just as the presence of God and His blessing are not limited to a specific place.

If you make Me an altar of stone, rather than the altar of earth mentioned in the previous verse, which will be built for the Tabernacle, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for you wielded your sword upon it and profaned it. The traditional explanation of this verse is that the Torah prohibits such stones because it does not want any destructive iron tool to be used in the preparation of the altar, which provides atonement and brings peace. 42 This is supported by the verse: “You shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield iron upon them.” 43

You shall not ascend on stairs to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed upon it. At that time, people wore gowns or robes of various lengths, and undergarments were not worn at all. Consequently, when one climbed stairs, parts of the body were liable to be exposed. Even if no part of the body of a priest was actually visible due to the trousers worn by the priests under their robes (28:42), the very act of climbing stairs may have appeared to be immodest. 44

These are the ordinances pertaining to the establishment of a properly functioning society that you shall place before them. It is likely that Moses transmitted these laws to the people immediately after the giving of the Torah, before he ascended to Mount Sinai for an extended period of time (24:15–18). He did so because the overall structure of society, which is the crux of the laws in this section, is more pressing than other matters. 1

If you acquire a Hebrew slave, six years he shall work. His servitude is for a limited period, and he does not become the personal property of his master. The Hebrew slave is an Israelite who finds himself in such difficult financial straits that he cannot support himself, and has to sell himself as a slave in order to survive. Alternatively, he is an Israelite who stole an item that he cannot repay and is therefore sold by the court (see 22:2) in order to compensate the victim of the theft. According to a tradition of the Sages, the six-year term applies only to a slave who was sold by the court rather than one who sells himself. 2 However, a simple reading of the text supports the possibility that the law applies to any Israelite slave. 3 And in the seventh year he shall go free, without charge. He does not have to redeem himself at the conclusion of his term of servitude. Furthermore, the master is required to give his Hebrew slave gifts upon his release. 4

If he shall come into his term of servitude by himself, without a wife and children, he shall leave when he completes his period of servitude by himself. If he is the husband of a wife when he becomes a slave, upon his release his wife shall leave with him.

However, if his master shall give him a gentile maidservant as a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master and he, the Hebrew slave, shall leave by himself.

But if, after six years in which the Hebrew slave has had children with the woman he received from his master, it is possible that when it is time for him to go free, the slave shall say: I love my master, as I have lived with him as a member of his family, as well as my wife, whom I received from my master, and my children that she has born to me. Consequently, I will not go free; I prefer to remain here as a Hebrew slave, despite the inherent limitations of that status.

Then his master shall ceremoniously bring him to the judges; he shall bring him to the door at the entrance to the house, or to the doorpost, the structure that frames the door on both sides, and his master shall perforate his ear with an awl, as a sign that he has relinquished his freedom, 5 and he shall serve him forever. According to rabbinic tradition, this means that the slave serves his master until the Jubilee Year. 6 The word “forever” in the Bible can mean a very long time; it should not always be understood literally. 7

If an Israelite man sells his minor daughter as a maidservant, she shall not leave like gentile slaves’ leaving. The status of a Hebrew maidservant is higher than that of a gentile maidservant, just as a Hebrew slave is superior in status to a gentile slave.

If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master, to whom she was designated, he shall facilitate her redemption. Upon purchasing a Hebrew maidservant, the master must take into account that he is commanded to marry her, or have her marry one of his sons. If she is displeasing to him, she can be redeemed in the following manner: The sum of her purchase is divided by six, which determines the value of each year of her servitude, and if she is willing to compensate him for the remaining years of her service, he must accept the payment and she returns home. 8 Alternatively, he must allow this compensation to be paid by someone else if the maidservant is interested in that individual’s patronage. In any case, he shall not presume to sell her to a foreign people, another family, 9 in his betrayal of her. She entered his household under the assumption that she would marry one of the family members. If this marriage does not come to fruition, which is a form of betrayal, the master may not sell the rights to the maidservant to anyone else. Rather, he must allow her to go free. 10

If he designates her for his son in marriage, he and his son may not consider her as their property. Rather, he shall treat her as is the practice of the daughters . From a legal perspective, the purchase of the Hebrew maidservant is considered the first step toward marriage, similar to betrothal. 11 Although this marriage was not established in the conventional method, it is considered like a regular marriage and she must be treated in the same manner as any other Israelite woman.

Consequently, if he , the son takes another wife for himself, after marrying the Hebrew maidservant, the rights of the former maidservant remain protected. He is required to fulfill all his marital obligations toward his first wife, and therefore he shall not diminish her food, her garments, or her conjugal rights. 12

If he does not perform one of these three for her, in that he does not marry her, have her marry his son, or facilitate her redemption, 13 she shall leave without charge; there is no payment, and all her obligations to the master are canceled. 14

One who strikes a man in any fashion, and he dies as a result of his wounds, shall be put to death. The murderer is liable to receive the death penalty.

But for one who killed another but did not have intent to kill him, and God caused it to come to his hand through some accident, he is not liable to receive the death penalty. Rather, I will provide you a place where he shall flee, as explained in detail elsewhere. 15

If a man shall act intentionally against his neighbor to kill him cunningly, he is liable to receive the death penalty. Consequently, you shall take him even from My altar to die. There indeed were cases of individuals who grabbed hold of the corners of the altar in an attempt to seek refuge, under God’s protection, from the rule of law. 16 However, the altar does not protect one from his rightful punishment. Although he is not actually killed at the altar, and in this sense it does provide him with temporary protection, he must be removed from the Temple compound to the court, where he is judged and sentenced. 17

Similar to the preceding laws involving murder, the following laws are also related to the Ten Precepts. One who strikes his father or his mother, even if he does not kill them, has violated a severe prohibition, as he has acted in a manner that is diametrically opposed to the commandment to honor one’s parents. Consequently, he shall be put to death.

In the case of one who abducts a man and he sells him as a slave, or he, the kidnapped man, is found in his, the abductor’s, possession before he could be sold, 18 he, the kidnapper, shall be put to death. The Sages contend that the prohibition of stealing listed in the Ten Precepts applies specifically to kidnapping, which is punishable by the death penalty. 19

One who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. Although the biblical term for “curse” may apply to any expression of derision or contempt, 20 cursing one’s parent is punishable by death only in particularly harsh expressions of wishing evil upon one’s parent. Merely contemptuous remarks addressed to a parent are the subject of a different verse: “Cursed is one who demeans his father or his mother.” 21

If men quarrel, and in the course of their argument one strikes the other with a stone or with a fist, forcefully enough to cause death, and he does not die but collapses into bed due to his injuries,

if he, the injured person, arises and walks outside on his walking cane, 22 as he is healing and is able walk without assistance from others, then the assailant shall be absolved of the death penalty, which would have applied had the victim died. He shall give only his loss of livelihood, and he shall provide healing. The assailant must compensate his victim for the wages he lost while he was unable to work due to his injuries. The assailant must also pay for the medical treatment the victim required to recover from his wounds.

If a man strikes his gentile slave or his gentile maidservant, whose status is lower than that of a Hebrew slave or maidservant, 23 with a staff, and he, the slave or maidservant, dies under his hand, from the master’s blows, he shall be avenged. he master is liable to receive the death penalty for killing a human being, regardless of the fact that he was a gentile slave.

However, if he, the slave, shall survive a day or two days, despite his grave injuries, he shall not be avenged. The master is not liable to receive the death penalty, as he, the slave, is his property. The master is less accountable for the outcome of his aggression than others, due to the fact that he struck him in the regular manner in which masters discipline their slaves. Conversely, if one strikes someone who is not a gentile slave and the victim dies, one is liable to receive the death penalty even if the victim does not die immediately. 24

If men fight, and as they struggle, they accidentally strike a bystander who is a pregnant woman and her children are miscarried, but there is no fatality of the woman herself, 25 he, the individual who struck the woman, shall be fined, as the husband of the woman shall impose upon him. The woman’s husband may sue him for the loss of the offspring, and if they fail to reach an agreement with regard to the compensation, he shall give in court, in accordance with the determination of the judges.

But if there will be a fatality, the woman died, then you shall give a life for a life. From the context it can be inferred that this is referring to monetary payment rather than the death penalty, as this is not a case of premeditated murder but an accidental killing due to negligence. 26

Similarly, if one caused permanent bodily damage to another, whether in the course of a fight or in some other manner, he must pay an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth; a hand for a hand; a foot for a foot;

a burn for a burn; an open wound for a wound; an injury, without breaking the skin, for an injury.

The Torah states another law involving physical injury: If a man shall strike the eye of his gentile slave, or the eye of his gentile maidservant, and he thereby destroys it, by rendering it permanently unusable, he shall send him to freedom in compensation for his eye.

Furthermore, even if he, the master, shall merely dislodge the tooth of his slave or the tooth of his maidservant, he shall be penalized by having to send him to freedom for his tooth.

Up to this point, with the exception of Hebrew slaves and maidservants, all of the laws in this section are cases of criminal law, illegal acts such as murder and inflicting bodily harm, as well as acting disrespectfully toward one’s parents, which is a crime in Jewish law. When there was a criminal justice system that functioned in accordance with Jewish law, capital punishment could be meted out for certain infractions of criminal law. Criminals were judged by a special rabbinical court of twenty-three judges. From this verse onward, the focus is mainly on civil law. If an ox belonging to someone gores a man or a woman and he shall die, the ox shall be stoned, and its meat shall not be eaten. As soon as the ox is sentenced to stoning its meat is rendered forbidden for consumption. 27 And the owner of the ox is absolved from personal responsibility for the victim’s death, and he is not punished beyond the loss of his ox.

But if this is not the first occurrence of such a terrible event, as the ox was wont to gore people and endanger them previously, 28 and witnesses had testified to these events in the presence of the owner, and its owner was warned by the court that this is a dangerous ox, but nevertheless he did not guard it and it killed a man or a woman, then the ox shall be stoned for killing a person, and its owner too shall die [ yumat ]. The wording “and its owner too shall die” is formulated in an unusual manner. It differs from the double formulation [ mot yumat ] that appears in many other verses (see, e.g., verse 16). The reason for this distinction is that although the owner of the ox may be worthy of death for his negligence, he is not liable to receive the death penalty by the court. 29

Instead, when a monetary ransom is imposed upon him, the owner of the ox, then he shall give ransom of his life, in accordance with all that will be imposed upon him by the court. Instead of being executed, he pays the value of his life as ransom. Some Sages explain that the ransom is the value of his victim’s life. The amount to be paid is determined by objective criteria used for assessing the value of a person. 30

Whether it shall gore a son or it shall gore a daughter, even if it gores a minor, in accordance with this ordinance shall be done to him. These laws do not depend upon the victim’s age.

If the ox shall gore a gentile slave or a gentile maidservant, who do not have the status of full citizens, he, the owner of the ox, shall give thirty silver shekels to his, the slave’s, master, and the ox shall be stoned, like any case where an animal causes the death of a human being.

The Torah states another case involving civil law and injury: If a man shall uncover a pit that had previously been covered up properly, or if a man shall dig a pit himself and he does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey or any other living creature 31 falls there,

the owner of the pit, the one who dug the pit or uncovered it 32 is responsible for the damage and he shall pay. He shall compensate its owner with silver and the carcass shall be his. Once the individual responsible for the pit has paid the owner of the animal, he has the right to take the dead animal, which still has some value. The owner of the animal has no rights to the carcass because he has been compensated for the full value of his animal. 33 Alternatively, this verse teaches the opposite, that the dead animal remains the property of its original owner. The owner of the pit, after returning the carcass to its owner, may subtract the value of the carcass from the value of the live animal that he must pay in compensation . 34

If the ox of a man shall strike and injure the ox of his neighbor in any manner, such as by pushing or goring it, 35 and it dies, they shall sell the living ox that caused the damage and divide its value, the price received for its sale, and they shall divide the price for which they can sell the carcass too. In this manner, the owner of the ox that caused the injury compensates the other owner for half the damage, as he pays the value of half of his ox minus half the value of the carcass. The sale mentioned in the verse represents the share of the live ox that is granted to the owner of the dead ox.

Or if 36 it became known to the court that it is an ox wont to gore previously, and this is at least the third or fourth time that it has gored 37 and yet its owners would not take the necessary steps to guard it properly, he shall pay a live ox in exchange for the dead ox, and the carcass shall be his own, as the owner of the dead ox has received full compensation for his loss (see verse 34).

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, this is not a simple case of greed, where the offender succumbed to a momentary temptation, but a crime committed over an extended period of time and which eventually leads to the loss of the stolen item. Therefore, he shall pay five oxen for the ox, and four sheep for the sheep. The thief pays four or five times the value of the animal he stole, unlike standard cases of theft where one pays only double the value of the item he stole (see 22:3).

If the thief is found while excavating in order to break in through a tunnel and he is struck by the homeowner or someone else and he dies, there is no bloodguilt for him. The person who kills him is not liable for his death. A burglar is treated more stringently than an ordinary thief because, under certain circumstances, he is suspected of being prepared to kill anyone who stands in his way or attempts to stop him. Consequently, if the homeowner attempts to prevent the theft and ends up killing the burglar, he is exempt from punishment because he is considered to have acted in self-defense. 38

If the sun shone upon him, he burglar,1 meaning that he broke into the house during the day 39 or he emerged from his tunnel to the sunlight, 40 it is assumed that he is only attempting to steal but is not prepared to kill anyone, as he assumes that the homeowner is not at home. In contrast, one who breaks in at night knows that the homeowner will be present and will attempt to defend his property. Consequently, the burglar by day is not considered a potential murderer but a simple thief, which means that if one kills him there is bloodguilt for him, the thief, and the killer is liable for murder. If this burglar steals property, he shall pay; if he has nothing with which to pay, then he shall be sold as a Hebrew slave (see 21:2–4), and the price of his purchase is used to pay for his theft.

If the theft shall be found alive in his possession, whether an ox, or a donkey, or a sheep or any other animal, he shall pay double. He must return the stolen item and also pay a sum of money equivalent to its value. This law applies to any stolen item, not just to animals (see verse 6).

If a man grazes an animal in a field or a vineyard, 41 and dispatched his animal, either intentionally or through failing to take the necessary precautions to keep it enclosed, and it grazes in another’s field, he shall pay the best of his field and the best of his vineyard. This means that in a case where the individual responsible for the damage chooses to compensate the damaged party with land, he must give his highest quality field or vineyard. 42

If a fire spreads from the spot where it was started and encounters thorns, and as a result a grain pile or standing grain or a field is consumed , the one who ignited the fire shall pay for all of the damages.

If a man gives silver or vessels to his neighbor to safeguard and it is stolen from the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. The rule that a thief must pay back double the value of the item he stole applies to any stolen article, not only live animals, as might have been inferred from verse 3.

If the thief is not found, and the bailee with whom the object was safeguarded claims that the item disappeared without his knowledge, the question arises as to whether it was really stolen by a third party at all. Therefore, the householder, meaning the bailee, shall be brought to the judges to swear that he did not extend his hand to the property of his neighbor.

For every matter of transgression, where the bailee claims that the item he was safeguarding was lost and he is accused of having taken it himself, whether for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a garment, or for any lost item, with regard to which he, the owner of the item, shall say: This is it, as the item is one that he could point to if it were present and claim that it is his, the statement of both parties shall come to the judges for a ruling. Whomever, any bailee, whom the judges shall condemn shall pay double to his neighbor, the individual who entrusted his item in his care. 43