Vayehi sham l’goy gadol, and there they became a mighty nation: The Haggadah comments: “Israel became distinctive (mitzuyanim) there.” This word implies that the Israelites were recognizable both in their bodies and in the clothing they wore. Anyone who saw them immediately knew that they were from the seed of Israel; not a single one of the Israelites wore Egyptian clothing, or cut his hair in the fashion of the Egyptians so that they could escape bondage by blending in with the Egyptians. The Ritba, Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham Ishbili , draws this teaching from the word goy, nation, which implies that Israel remained a distinctive nation. But if that is how we learn this teaching, then why is it necessary for the Torah to tell us that they were a goy gadol, “a mighty nation.” The word “nation” does not necessarily imply that they were “a mighty nation.” The verse goes on to explain the continuation of the verse by saying that they were gadol v’atzum, “both great and mighty.” The Pesikta explains the word mighty in the following fashion: Israel was considered great because Joseph had left instructions in the palace that they were to feed the family of Jacob according to the number of people and children. But when the Israelites increased at such a great rate they had to stop feeding them. Thus the word gadol implies that they were of high status and great importance. People of great importance are fed by royalty. The word gadol, then, implies importance and not quantity. And the next statement in the Haggadah is not a comment on gadol but on the word atzum – not on their status but on their quantitative number.

Gadol v’atzum, Great and mighty: The Israelites did not all increase in the same way. The word atzum, mighty, is understood as many while gadol, great, implies importance. The proof text which suggests that Israel increased contains four different terms to describe the four different ways in which the Israelites increased, including “multiplied, swarmed, increased and became mighty.” While the tribe of Levi had a natural increase in population because it was not subjugated by the Egyptians, those who were enslaved and oppressed increased at an unnaturally fast and significant rate like certain species of animals. The word paru, they increased, is usually used for human beings. The Torah describes the increase of others with the word vayishritzu, they swarmed, from the word sheretz which refers to a crawling insect or creature. Some became many, vayirbu , which is a word associated with fish, and still others became mighty, v’ya’atzmu, a word used to describe the mighty increase of locust.