Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40
11:1 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH OD NEGA ECHAD AVIY EL PAR'OH VE AL MITSRAYIM ACHAREY CHEN YESHALACH ET'CHEM MI ZEH KE SHALCHU KALAH GARESH YEGARESH ET'CHEM MI ZEH
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה עוֹד נֶגַע אֶחָד אָבִיא עַל פַּרְעֹה וְעַל מִצְרַיִם אַחֲרֵי כֵן יְשַׁלַּח אֶתְכֶם מִזֶּה כְּשַׁלְּחוֹ כָּלָה גָּרֵשׁ יְגָרֵשׁ אֶתְכֶם מִזֶּה
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD said unto
Moses, Yet will I bring one plague more upon
Pharaoh, and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go hence: when he shall let you go, he
shall surely thrust you out hence altogether.
BN (BibleNet translation):Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and upon Mitsrayim; afterwards he will let you go from this place. But when he lets you go, he will surely drive you out entirely.
NEGA: Yet again: is it correct to translate this as "plague"? But the god has now achieved his hidden purpose and secret agenda.
One enduring question: if Mosheh knows that they are being driven out entirely, why does he not say so to the people when they demand a return to "the fleshpots of Egypt"?
But on the other hand, in the last chapter we witnessed Pharaoh suspecting that they were planning to leave and not return, and this was the pretext he used, first to only allow the men, then to hold back the cattle. So whose decision is this: Mosheh is using the 3-day Pesach journey as a pretext for a complete get-away, or Pharaoh is using for an expulsion? It cannot be both., not even liturgically.
11:2 DABER NA BE AZNEY HA AM VE YISH'ALU ME ET RE'EHU VE ISHAH ME ET RE'UTAH KELEY CHESEPH U CHELEY ZAHAV
One enduring question: if Mosheh knows that they are being driven out entirely, why does he not say so to the people when they demand a return to "the fleshpots of Egypt"?
But on the other hand, in the last chapter we witnessed Pharaoh suspecting that they were planning to leave and not return, and this was the pretext he used, first to only allow the men, then to hold back the cattle. So whose decision is this: Mosheh is using the 3-day Pesach journey as a pretext for a complete get-away, or Pharaoh is using for an expulsion? It cannot be both., not even liturgically.
11:2 DABER NA BE AZNEY HA AM VE YISH'ALU ME ET RE'EHU VE ISHAH ME ET RE'UTAH KELEY CHESEPH U CHELEY ZAHAV
דַּבֶּר נָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב
KJ: Speak now in the ears
of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of
her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
This is an important verse. Later, when the Golden Calf is built, and the gifts are brought for the Tabernacle, we will ask: where did they get all this gold and jewellery and fine linen and copper? Were they not slaves? The scribes recognised the problem, and both Torah and Midrash offer explanations; this is the favourite, that they simply begged it of the Egyptians, who, some would say, were happy enough to give it to them to ensure they went. But this is like asking the citizens of Texas to give their jewellery to their illegal immigrant housekeepers before they get deported back to Mexico. Unlikely!
Much more likely, as the notes in the Yoseph story have demonstrated, and as I keep repeating ad nauseam, they were not slaves at all, but bondsmen, which is to say: compare the status of African slaves in the USA before and after abolition; before they were slaves, who owned nothing; afterwards they became indentured labourers, who may have had little, but still had.
RE'EHU: "Neighbour" is accurate, but also not. The word can simply mean "companion", which is slightly less than a friend but a good deal more than a mere acquaintance. Neighbours infers the people next door, or downstairs, or at least in the same street or apartment block; but that doesn't work in a societal structure where the Beney Yisra-El are living in Goshen, and no one else, and all the Beney Yisra-El are leaving, so twice over there are no neighbours to ask this from.
On the other hand... if this was liturgy, and what is about to follow is the Hajj, then those who are not participating are highly likely to be willing, even keen, to support the pilgrims with rich gifts and sacrificial objects, and could well be standing in the streets to cheer the pilgrims on their way.
11:3 VA YITEN YHVH ET CHEN HA AM BE EYNEY MITSRAYIM GAM HA ISH MOSHEH GADOL BE ERETS MITSRAYIM BE EYNEY AVDEY PHAR'OH U VE EYNEY HA AM
וַיִּתֵּן יְהוָה אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרָיִם גַּם הָאִישׁ מֹשֶׁה גָּדוֹל מְאֹד בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בְּעֵינֵי עַבְדֵי פַרְעֹה וּבְעֵינֵי הָעָם
KJ: And the LORD gave the
people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great
in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants, and in the sight of
the people.
Yes, we can understand after all those miraculous events which he appeared to control, that Mosheh was held in high esteem. But in what way did he and his people find such favour that the Egyptians would happily give them their jewellery and their best linen - which is rather more than a mere gift for the god as you head off on pilgrimage? Because they were the slaves who built the store-cities and the Egyptians were grateful for this - the evidence of anti-Semitism down the centuries does not provide much evidence for that argument; if anything, the successful building of what were the equivalent of department stores was likely to have increased not decreased hatred? Because their god could do wonders and so they were glad to see the back of them? Yes, but not to the extent of my most expensive jewellery and my best linen. Because this was the group selected to go out to the holy mountain and take part in the great ceremony? To some degree. Because the Pharaoh of old has been overthrown by a new Pharaoh, one Ahmose (Ach-Mousa), and now he is taking our brothers, fathers, sons with him to expand the empire, but stopping for the feast of Passover at the holy mountain en route? Possibly, but only if we accept that two entirely different legends have been merged. We also have to wonder if Habiru is not an Egyptian synonym for either Dalit or haji.
GADOL: Great because of the wonders and miracles he had performed? Great because he was brought up in the royal household? Great because he was their chief priest?
11:4 VA YOMER MOSHEH KOH AMAR YHVH KA CHATSOT HA LAILAH ANI YOTSE BETOCH MITSRAYIM
וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה כַּחֲצֹת הַלַּיְלָה אֲנִי יוֹצֵא בְּתוֹךְ מִצְרָיִם
KJ: And Moses said, Thus
saith the LORD, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:
Some translations give "about midnight", but the text is millennially precise. "On the stroke of midnight" would be even better, though the text isn't quite that emphatic. And even if it was not so precise, we can state categorically that sun-gods do not go about in the night-time; only moon-goddesses do. This confirms that it was Ra or Horus who was identified with the locusts; and in fact we should have recognised that anyway, because a sun-god can only bring partial darkness when he covers his face (HISTIR PANAV) - and that of course is why the references to evil were in that verse. We already know we are in the realm of the moon-goddess, because of the three days of darkness.
11:5 U MET KOL BECHOR BE ERETS MITSRAYIM MI BECHOR PAR'OH HA YOSHEV AL KIS'O AD BECHOR HA SHIPHCHAH ASHER ACHAR HA RECHAYIM VE CHOL BECHOR BEHEMAH
וּמֵת כָּל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם מִבְּכוֹר פַּרְעֹה הַיֹּשֵׁב עַל כִּסְאוֹ עַד בְּכוֹר הַשִּׁפְחָה אֲשֶׁר אַחַר הָרֵחָיִם וְכֹל בְּכוֹר בְּהֵמָה
KJ: And all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon
his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the
mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.
KOL BECHOR: The traditional sacrifice of the first-born, which is the culmination of the New Year ceremonies, and which are presumably what was really happening when the previous Pharaoh commanded the deaths of all the male Ivrim. We have to assume that, in the original version, the Egyptians willingly participated in these sacrifices. Nor is it difficult to explain why they would have taken place at midnight. In a lunar calendar, that is the point at which the day, the month, the year, the millennium ends, and the new one begins. Osher is finally reborn!
ACHAR HA RECHAYIM: Treadmill, rather than just a plain mill, because the root, RACHAH, is more about the treading than the mill. And what else is slavery, if not a treadmill?
11:6 VE HAYETAH TSE'AKAH GEDOLAH BE CHOL ERETS MITSRAYIM ASHER KAMOHU LO NIHEYATAH VE CHAMOHU LO TOSIPH
וְהָיְתָה צְעָקָה גְדֹלָה בְּכָל אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר כָּמֹהוּ לֹא נִהְיָתָה וְכָמֹהוּ לֹא תֹסִף
KJ: And there shall be a
great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor
shall be like it any more.
But is TSE'AKAH a wailing and a crying of tears, or an outcry of protest, or perhaps the celebratory shout to welcome in the Hogmanay? Probably all three, depending on which group you belonged to.
11:7 U LE CHOL BENEY YISRA-EL LO YECHERATS KELEV LESHONO LE ME ISH VE AD BEHEMAH LEMA'AN TED'UN ASHER YAPHLEH YHVH BEYN MITSRAYIM U VEYN YISRA-EL
לְכֹל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יֶחֱרַץ כֶּלֶב לְשֹׁנוֹ לְמֵאִישׁ וְעַד בְּהֵמָה לְמַעַן תֵּדְעוּן אֲשֶׁר יַפְלֶה יְהוָה בֵּין מִצְרַיִם וּבֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: But against any of the
children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that
ye may know how that the LORD doth put a difference between the Egyptians and
Israel.
The KJ, like most translations, infers a negative here, probably because we find the idea of child-sacrifice repellent. But that moment of "dashing the little ones against the rocks" is, as the Psalm (137:9) insists, a happy moment, and they are crying cheers of liberation, renaissance, rebirth. Winter is over, possibly the despotism of the Hyksos coinciding on this occasion, but the event is annual, so with them or without them; winter is over, vegetation is resprouting, the plagues which symbolise winter have passed, and we have reached the Guy Faux moment, the burning of the ultimate chamets, before those who have that privilege set off in the morning on the Hajj - lucky Beney Yisra-El, the ones who are going, sacred pilgrims, "untouchables" for being so, so that even the dogs can't lick them; they are sacred, chosen, superior, holy...
YECHERATS KELEV LESHONO: And why, of all similes, this one of the dog? Possibly a connection with dog-headed Anubis, whose priests wore exactly the same horned mask in which Mosheh will be described later (Exodus 34:29). Possibly a foreshadowing of the role and importance of Kalev (Caleb), one of the twelve spies and the inheritor of Chevron, before it became David's city. Possibly just a good poetic simile and intended literally.
11:8 VE YARDU CHOL AVADEYCHA ELEH ELAI VE HISHTACHAVU LI LEMOR TSE ATAH VE CHOL HA AM ASHER BE RAGLEYCHA VE ACHAREY CHEN ETS'E VA YETS'E ME IM PAR'OH BA CHARI APH
וְיָרְדוּ כָל עֲבָדֶיךָ אֵלֶּה אֵלַי וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לִי לֵאמֹר צֵא אַתָּה וְכָל הָעָם אֲשֶׁר בְּרַגְלֶיךָ וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן אֵצֵא וַיֵּצֵא מֵעִם פַּרְעֹה בָּחֳרִי אָף
KJ: And all these thy
servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get
thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out.
And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.
BN (mythology translation): "But all of these, your worshippers, shall come over to me, and prostrate themselves before me, saying: Go now, you and all the people who are genuflecting before you. And after that I will leave." And he went out from Pharaoh with his nostrils inflamed.
Osher versus Set, and, at the moment of the Spring equinox, Set doesn't have a chance: tomorrow morning, the last of your worshippers will finally abandon you, and become my my worshippers. The first time that AVADIM has been used, simultaneously, to mean both "slaves" and "worshippers".
The punctuation here is not convincing. There is no punctuation in the Yehudit text; it has been added in mediaeval texts, by deduction, and it appears to have been deduced incorrectly. Mosheh is delivering YHVH's words to Pharaoh, so there is speech within speech; and then YHVH himself uses projected speech. Is YHVH saying "and after that I will go out", meaning once my people are gone you will hear from me no more? Or is Mosheh responding to Pharaoh's "get out of my sight" by stating that, once the sacrifice of the first-born is complete, then he will go. It does not radically alter the meaning, but it would make this a strong statement of defiance by Mosheh and help us understand the relationship between him and Pharaoh better.
samech break
11:9 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH LO YISHMA ALEYCHEM PAR'OH LEMA'AN REVOT MOPHTAI BE ERETS MITSRAYIM
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֹא יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵיכֶם פַּרְעֹה לְמַעַן רְבוֹת מוֹפְתַי בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם
KJ: And the LORD said unto
Moses, Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you; that my wonders may be multiplied in
the land of Egypt.
The author of this appears to have completely forgotten the existence, and the key role, of Aharon, because Mosheh was quite clear that he could neither speak nor act without his elder brother there to hold his hand! And at the beginning Aharon was there, and spoke, and acted, but he seems rather to have vanished lately.
11:10 U MOSHEH VE AHARON ASU ET KOL HA MOPHTIM HA ELEH LIPHNEY PHAR'OH VA YECHAZEK YHVH ET LEV PAR'OH VE LO SHILACH ET BENEY YISRA-EL ME ARTSO
וּמֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן עָשׂוּ אֶת כָּל הַמֹּפְתִים הָאֵלֶּה לִפְנֵי פַרְעֹה וַיְחַזֵּק יְהוָה אֶת לֵב פַּרְעֹה וְלֹא שִׁלַּח אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאַרְצוֹ
KJ: And Moses and Aaron
did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so
that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
U MOSHEH VE AHARON: My apologies! There he is, after all, remembered, albeit as an afterthought.
Pharaoh is portrayed throughout as the bad-guy, but theologically this is unacceptable; if YHVH willfully hardens his heart, to make him hold back the Habiru, then he must be exonerated from any blame; YHVH himself must take the blame, and eventually does, according to the Midrashim, when he calls on the Habiru not to glorify in the deaths of so many Egyptians when the flood-waters pour back over them (itself, as we shall see, a further chapter in the Creation myth which this story is).
Yes, Pharaoh speaks of his sin (CHET); and it may be that in the original liturgy he was required to play this hard-hearted role, perhaps because this phase of the annual cycle denoted him in the role of Set, who had to be overcome by Osher (the original and ultimate first-born sacrificial son, Egyptian Jesus) on his return from the Underworld (the period of three days of darkness), so that Hor could reign supreme (Osher in his full-grown state, as Horus was Ra in his) and be worshipped at his sacred mountain (in the form of a Golden Calf, his emblem).
samech break
Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40
Copyright © 2020 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
No comments:
Post a Comment