Exodus 10

ויאמר ה' אל משה בא אל פרעה AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES GO IN UNTO PHARAOH and warn him.

שתי means my setting (an infinitive of שית), so that the phrase, which literally means “for the sake of my setting these my signs”, denotes “that I may set”.

התעללתי means I HAVE MOCKED, as in, (Numbers 22:29) “Because thou hast mocked (התעללת) me”; (I Samuel 6:6) “Indeed, when he mocked (התעולל) them”, which, also, is said in reference to Egypt. It is not an expression denoting doing and action, for were this so it should have written עוללתי, similar to (Lamentations 1:22) “And do (עולל) unto them as thou hast done (עוללת) unto me”, and to (Lamentations 1:12) “which he has done (עולל) unto me”.

לענת Translate as the Targum — TO BE HUMBLED. It is of the same derivation as עני poor, so that the passage signifies, “thou refusest to be poor and lowly before Me”.

את עין הארץ means THE COLOUR OF THE GROUND.

ולא יוכל AND HE — i. e. anyone who is looking — WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE EARTH; it speaks in (uses) an elliptical expression.

הטרם תדע means KNOWEST THOU NOT YET that Egypt has perished — (Cf. Rashi on Exodus 9:30.)

ויושב [AND MOSES AND AARON] WERE BROUGHT BACK (The verb has a passive meaning [Hophal], not an active as the particle את before משה and אהרן might lead one to suppose) — They were brought back by a messenger: they (Pharaoh’s servants) sent people after them and these brought them back to Pharaoh.

כאשר אשלח אתכם ואת טפכם [MAY THE LORD BE WITH YOU] AS I WILL LET YOU AND YOUR LITTLE ONES GO — even though I were to let go also the flocks and herds as you have said.

ראו כי רעה נגד פניכם Understand this as the Targum takes it — See, the evil you are about to do wilt turn against yourself. I have heard a Midrashic explanation: There is a certain star the name of which is רעה “Evil”. Pharaoh said to them, “By my astrological art I see that star rising towards you in the wilderness whither you wish to proceed. It is an emblem of blood and slaughter”. Consequently, when Israel sinned by worshipping the calf and the Holy One, blessed be He, intended to slay them, Moses said in his prayer, (Exodus 32:12) “Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, He brought them forth together with רעה (i. e. under the influence of the star רעה); this is, indeed, what he (Pharaoh) has already said, “See, the ‘רעה’ is before you”. At once, “the Lord bethought Himself concerning ‘רעה’”, and He changed the blood of which this star was an emblem to the blood of the circumcision because indeed Joshua had them circumcised. This is the meaning of what is said, (Joshua 5:9). “This day have I rolled from off you the reproach of the Egyptians”, for they said to you. “We see blood impending over you in the wilderness. (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 1:392; cf. also Rashi on Joshua 5:9.)

לא כן NOT SO as you have said, to take the children with you, but 'לכו נא הגברים ועבדו את ה GO YE WHO ARE ADULT MEN AND SERVE THE LORD.

כי אתה אתם מבקשים means FOR THAT IS WHAT YE DID SEEK till now: let us sacrifice to our God — and it is not the custom for little children to offer sacrifice.

ויגרש אותם AND HE DROVE THEM OUT — This is an elliptical phrase and it does not expressly state who drove them out (i. e. the subject of the verb is omitted).

בארבה means on account of the plague of locusts (the prefix ב signifies “on account of”).

ורוח הקדים THE EAST WIND — It was an east wind that brought the locusts because that came (blew) from the direction opposite to it (to Egypt), since Egypt was in the south-west, relative to Palestine, as it is explained in another place (Numbers 34:3).

ואחריו לא יהיה כן NEITHER AFTER THEM SHALL BE SUCH — That plague of locusts which happened during the days of Joel of which it is said, (Joel 2:2) “there hath not been ever the like” — which statement teaches us that it was more grievous than that in the days of Moses — was, however, caused by many species of locusts, together, those called ארבה and ילק and חסיל and גזם; but that which happened in the days of Moses consisted of only one species (the ארבה) and any ארבה like that there never was and never will be.

כל ירק means any green leaf (not “any herb”, since it speaks of the ירק of the trees); old French verdure.

רוח ים is A WEST WIND.

ימה סוף INTO THE RED SEA — I say that the Red Sea was, as to part of it, in the west opposite the whole southern side of Palestine, and was also eastward of the Land of Israel; therefore a west wind blew the locusts into the Red Sea which was in the opposite direction to the west of Egypt. Thus do we find mentioned regarding the boundaries of Palestine that it (the Red Sea) faces the east of Palestine, since it states, (Exodus 23:31) “[And I will set thy boundaries] from the Red Sea even unto the sea of the Philistines”, which means from east to west since the sea of the Philistines was in the west, as it is said of the Philistines, (Zephaniah 2:5) “the inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites (the Philistines)”.

לא נשאר ארבה אחד THERE REMAINED NOT ONE LOCUST — not even those which they had salted — for they had salted some of them (Exodus Rabbah 13:7).

וימש חשך signifies and it (the darkness mentioned in the preceding phrase, ויהי חשך) shall darken for them the natural darkness to a higher degree than the darkness of night: i. e. the darkness of night shall become even more black and dark.

וימש means as much as (is a contraction of) ויאמש (a Hiphil form of אמש, evening darkness). We have many words in which an א is omitted; since the sound of the א is not very marked, Scripture is not particular about omitting it. An example is: (Isaiah 13:20) “the Arabian לֹא יַהֵל there”, which is the same as לא יַאֲהֵל, shall not pitch his tent. Similar is, (II Samuel 22:40) “וַתַּזְרֵנִי with strength”, which is the same as וַתְּאַזְרֵנִי “And thou hast girded me” (cf. Psalms 30:12). Onkelos translated it in the sense of removing, from the same root as, (Joshua 1:8) “it shall not depart (ימוש)”, his rendering being, “[and there shall be darkness..] after the darkness of night has departed”, i. e. when the time approaches near to the light of day. But the statement does not then fit with the ו of וימש, because this word is written after ויהי חשך. A Midrashic statement explains it in the sense of (Deuteronomy 28:29) “groping (ממשש feeling) at noon-day”, so that the meaning would be that it was of such a double character and so thick that there was something tangible in it (Exodus Rabbah 14:1-3).

שלשת ימים denotes a triad of days — old French terziane; so, too, שבעת ימים everywhere it occurs denotes in old French a septaine of days (a period of seven days).

ויהי חשך אפלה … שלשת ימים — there was darkness of gloom when no man saw another during those three days, and there was moreover another period of three days’ darkness twice as thick as this when no man rose from his place: one who happened to be sitting when this second period of darkness began was unable to rise, and one who was then standing was unable to sit down. And why did He bring darkness upon them? Because there were wicked people amongst the Israelites of that generation who had no desire to leave Egypt, and these died during the three days of darkness so that the Egyptians might not see their destruction and say, “These, (the Israelites) too have been stricken as we have”. And a further reason is that the Israelites searched (the darkness came just in order that they might do this) and saw their (the Egyptians’) jewels, and when they were leaving Egypt and asked them for their jewels, and they replied, “We have none at all in our possession”, they answered them, “I have seen it in your house and it is in such and such a place” (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Bo 1; Exodus Rabbah 14:3).

יצג means SHALL REMAIN STANDING in its place.

גם אתה תתן THOU MUST GIVE ALSO — It will not be enough for you that our cattle will go with us but you will give also of yours.

פרסה is the hoof of the foot; in old French plante.

לא נדע מה נעבד means WE DO NOT KNOW WITH WHAT WE MUST SERVE we do not know how heavy will be the service: perhaps He will ask more than we have in our possession.

כן דברת signifies RIGHTLY HAST THOU SPOKEN, and in its proper time hast thou spoken; for it is true that I will not see thy face again (Mekhilta; Exodus Rabbah 18:1; cf. also Onkelos).

Who will go — Par'oh and all ancient idol worshippers thought that there was a force of good and a force of evil, and would serve the force of good in order that it would do good for them, and serve the force of evil to appease it so that it would not do evil to them, and their service would be different. For the force of good they wouldn't slaughter animals, for it didn't want blood and the murder of flock and herd. It was only that they came before it with their wives and children and infants, to celebrate with drum and tambourine, as it desired good and joy. And for the force of evil they served it with slaughter and sacrifice, to appease its anger with blood. Infants and children would not come, lest it injure them with its evil or wish that they be slaughtered on its altar, for it desired human sacrifice. And regarding this Par'oh asked, who will go - for if their service was to the good force, infants and women also went, but they wouldn't take herds and flocks, and if they served the evil entity the herds and flocks would go and not the women and infants.