## Chizkuni, Exodus

###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:1:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:1:1)

**ואחר באו משה ואהרן** זה שיסד הפייט יכנס הבא במנה ואלה לבד באחרונה. ויום הולדת את פרעה היה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואחר באו משה ואהרן אל פרעה ויאמרו וגו, “and after this Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh” this line is the basis of the liturgist’s poem in the Shabbat morning prayer of the Shabbat before Passover after the line: חי וקים נורא וקדוש שמו, inserting his poem commencing with the words: ירדת להצל עמך, “You descended in order to save Your people.” Among other lines it contains the phrase: יכנס הבא במנה, a reference to the day when Moses and Aaron went to see Pharaoh without an appointment apparently. It was Pharaoh's birthday, and when advised that two elderly men stood outside waiting to be admitted, Pharaoh thought that they must have come to pay him homage. When asked about their message, they replied that the G-d of the Hebrews commanded Him to release the Hebrews to serve Him in the desert.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:1:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:1:2)

**ויחגו לי** ויזבחו לי לשון אסרו חג בעבותים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
The expression ויחגו which occurs here for the first time is familiar to us from the line: אסרו חג בעבותים, (Psalms 118,27) “bind the festival offering!”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:3:1)

**ויאמרו אלקי העברים** אתה אמרת לא ידעתי את ה׳‎ אותו שאמרנו אלקי העברים. אלקי אבותם של אלו ויש לו דין עליהם כי הוא אלקיהם והם עבדיו ועמו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאמרו: אלוקי העברים, they said in response to Pharaoh denying that there was a G-d called Hashem (or a people called Israel), that they were talking about the G-d of the Hebrews. The G-d of the Hebrews sits in judgment of His people as He is their G-d and are His servants and His people.”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:3:2)

**פן יפגענו** אני ואתם. אני אם נבטל מצותו ואתם אם תכבשו בנו יהיה לכם חסרון יותר. ד״‎א **פן יפגענו** עצמינו לבד ונמצאת מפסיד הכל מוטב לך שנלך ונשוב משנמות ונפסיד הכל.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
פן יפגענו, “so that He will not afflict us;” when using the plural mode “us,” Moses and Aaron implied that they included Pharaoh in the people who would feel the wrath of the G-d of the Hebrews. A different interpretation: Pharaoh was not included in what Moses and Aaron said, but if the G-d of the Hebrews were to kill us, he, Pharaoh, would not only lose their work for a few days, but that he would lose the work of the Hebrew slaves permanently and irrevocably; thus it would be in his interest to grant their request.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:3
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:3:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:3:3)

**בדבר או בחרב** כאן עשה משה מצותו של הקב״‎ה להתרות בפרעה בתחלה במכת בכורות כמו שפרש״‎י גבי הנה אנכי הורג את בנך בכורך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בדבר או בחרב, “either through pestilence or the sword.” Here Moses already hinted for the first time that G-d had told him to warn Pharaoh of fatal consequences, i.e. the death of the firstborn if he were to refuse to obey His commands. Rashi points that out when he says on 4,23 that Moses warned Pharaoh already of the last plague on his first encounter with him


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:4:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:4:1)

**[למה תפריעו העם** בטל ממצות פרעה] **לכו לסבלתיכם** הטעם מפני מה זכו שבטיו של לוי להיות חפשי משעבוד מצרים, כששעבדו מצרים בישראל מתחלה היה פרעה משעבד עצמו עמהם כדי שיתאמצו במלאכה כדדרשינן בפרך בפה רך באותה שעה נזכר שבטו של לוי מה שצוה יעקב בשעת פטירתו שלא ישאהו לוי לפי שהיה עתיד לשאת את ארון קודש ולא רצה לשעבד את עצמו ולא הכריחם פרעה, מיום ההוא והלאה הוקבע להיות משועבד כל מי ששעבד עצמו. ועוד נמצא באגדה, אברהם מסר כל קבלת התורה ליצחק ויצחק ליעקב ויעקב ללוי ולוי וזרעו הושיבו ישיבות במצרים ולפי שלא היו יודעים שום מלאכה ולא נסו בה רק בתורה היה כל עסקיהם לא נשתעבדו במצרים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
!לכו לסבלותיכם, “go back to your labours! “The reason why the tribe of Levi had been exempted from performing slave labour when the Egyptians first began to enslave the Israelites was that Pharaoh pretended to share that burden with them in order to encourage them to perform these labours for patriotic reasons, building fortifications against potential invaders. This is how the sages interpreted the word: בפרך in Exodus 1,13, i.e. as meaning: בפה רך, “spoken softly.” Pharaoh had appealed to their loyalty and told them that by performing this labour they could prove that they were loyal Egyptians citizens. The Jews of then [as we know only too well from all the Jews serving in the German Kaiser’s army in the first world war, 12000 of them giving their lives for the aggressive designs of Germany, Ed.] were only too eager to prove their loyalty, not suspecting how they would be exploited. At that time the tribe of Levi remembered what their founding father Yaakov had said to them on his death bed, that Levi was not to be one of his pall bearers as that tribe was destined in the future to carry the Holy Ark on its shoulders. They therefore declined at the time to participate in the building of fortifications, and Pharaoh did not make an issue of this as also the Egyptians had a caste of priests who Joseph during the years of famine had completely excused from any taxation. Furthermore, we found a Midrash according to which Avraham already taught his son Yitzchok the whole Torah (the written Torah that would be given to the Israelites in the desert) Yitzchok in turned transmitted it to Yaakov, and Yaakov to Levi, who in turn transmitted it to his direct descendants. Seeing that these people had not learned any vocation, they were not physically suitable to perform the kind of physical labour the other tribes were used to. They were therefore rewarded by G-d not to have to share this burden with their brethren. (Compare Torah shleymah by Rabbi M. Kasher item 32 on our verse.) According to that, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron not to try his patience and be content that they, being Levites, were not required to do slavelabour.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:7:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:7:1)

**לא תאסיפון** אל״‎ף לא קרי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
לא תאספון, “ you must not continue!” the letter א תאספון is not to be read, (as it would mean changing the meaning of the word beyond recognition).


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:9:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:9:1)

**ואל ישעו בדברי שקר** לשון רפיון כמו ״‎השע ממני״‎ (תהלים לט,יד). ״‎שעו מני״‎ (ישעיה כב,ד). פי׳‎ אל ירפו ידיהם מן המלאכה בשביל דברי שקר שאומרים להם משה ואהרן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואל ישעו בדברי שקר, “let them (the Israelites) not pin their hopes on falsehoods.” According to Ibn Ezra, the meaning of ישעו is derived from the root שען, the letter נ being missing here. The meaning is: “to lean on something for support.” Examples quoted are: השע ממני Psalms 39,14: “look away from me; (do not count on me for support)” also Isaiah 22,4 השע ממני. “leave me alone!” Let them not slacken their labor because of the lies that Moshe and aaron have told them.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:12:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:12:1)

**ויפץ העם בכל ארץ מצרים** לפי שהיו המצריים עתידים ללקות ושמא יאמרו עם הארץ מפני מה אנו לוקים מה פשענו בהם לכך נתן הקב״‎ה בלב פרעה לעשות צווי זה והיו בני ישראל מקוששים קש ובאים וחובטים ומכים אותם אפילו השפחות והעבדים ולכך לקו כולם. **קש לתבן** במקום התבן ילקטו קש לעשות ממנו המלאכה כמו והחמר היה להם לחמר.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויפץ העם בכל ארץ מצרים, “the people spread out throughout the whole land of Egypt.” We know from Genesis 11,34, that straw was needed to make mud bricks. The search for straw to build the Tower led to G-d punishing those people once, and here, indirectly, it provides G-d with the justification to punish the entire Egyptian nation. Up until the time when Pharaoh issued the decree to withhold straw from the people, only few Egyptians had been directly involved in mistreating them. Now that the Israelites had to forage for straw wherever they could find some. Once they found straw they were beaten by the Egyptians, even by their slave-women. Thus, the entire Egyptian people had become involved in abusing the Jewish people, both men and women. G-d “inspired” Pharaoh to come up with the idea of withholding straw so as to eventually being justified to issue a decree which to some might have been viewed as collective punishment.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:14:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:14:1)

**גם תמול.** שעשה משה האותות לעיני העם ולא נתעסקו במלאכתם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
גם תמול, “also yesterday;” on the day when Moses performed the miracles, and the people on account of that did not perform their daily routine,


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:14:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:14:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:14:2)

**גם היום.** שבאו משה ואהרן אל פרעה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
גם היום, as well as to day, when Moses and Aaron had gone to speak to Pharaoh, (and they were awaiting the results of that conversation.).


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:19:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:19:1)

**ויראו שטרי ישראל אתם ברע** השוטרים ראו את עצמם ברע שהרי מקודם לכן לא מצינו שדחקו מצריים לשנות המנהג ועכשיו הוכו, ועוד שפרעה אמר להם ותבן לא ינתן לכם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויראו שוטרי בני ישראל אותם ברע.” The Hebrew supervisors of the labourers of the Children of Israel saw that they were in an untenable situation;” we read earlier that their Egyptian superiors had pressured them to change the routine by both withholding straw and insisting on the daily number of bricks remaining the same, thus making their brethren’s lives even more intolerable; they therefore rather absorbed physical punishment themselves than becoming partners to Pharaoh’s overseers through pressuring the Israelites. Pharaoh had told them that no straw would be given to them to distribute to their brethren.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:19:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:19:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:19:2)

**אתם** עצמם כמו והשיאו אותם עון אשמה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אותם themselves, as in (Leviticus 22:16) And they will burden אותם with iniquity of trespass”.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:21:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:21:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:21:1)

**הבאשתם את ריחנו** גריתם בנו פרעה ועבדיו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
הבאשתם את ריחנו, “you have made us loathsome in the eyes of Pharaoh, etc.”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:22:1)

**וישב משה אל ה'.** אל המקום שהיה מדבר עמו שם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וישב משה אל ה, “Moses returned to Hashem;” to the site from which He had spoken to him last. (Rash’bam)


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:22:2)

**ויאמר אדני.** באל״‎ף דל״‎ת.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאמר: א־דני, “he said,” using the name of G-d we spell with .אד


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:3
[Chizkuni, Exodus 5:22:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/5:22:3)

**למה הרעות, למה זה שלחתני.** וכי לא היה משה יודע שלא ישלחם פרעה בכך עד שיעשה כל האותות הרי כבר נאמר לו, ״‎ואני ידעתי כי לא יתן אתכם מלך מצרים להלוך״‎ וגו'. אלא סבור היה משה לכל הפחות יתחיל פרעה להקל העול בדברים הראשונים לפיכך אמר ״‎ומאז באתי אל פרעה לדבר בשמך״‎ וגו'. והצל לא הצלת את עמך ואתה אמרת וארד להצילו והקב״‎ה השיבו עתה תראה מכאן ואילך כשאתחיל להכות מצרים אז יקילו מעליהם השעבוד.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
למה הרעות, “to what purpose did You worsen (the people’s plight)?” ולמה זה שלחתני, “and if so, for what purpose have You sent me?”Did Moses then not know from what G-d had already told him that Pharaoh would not be responsive? G-d had told him explicitly in Exodus 3,19, that Pharaoh would not consent to let the Israelites go? Moses had thought that while Pharaoh would not consent to let the Israelites go, at least he would lighten their burdens. This is why he added in frustration that instead of a marginal improvement in the Israelites’ sorry state, it had now worsened dramatically due to his intervention! This is why he added (improperly) “and You have certainly not saved Your people!” He quoted G-d as having said: “I’ll descend and save it.”G-d responded that “now you will see,” as from now on I shall commence applying pressure to him via My plagues.” They will soon feel a drastic reduction in their suffering.