AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: YET ONE PLAGUE MORE WILL I BRING UPON PHARAOH. “This [prophecy] was spoken to him while he was still standing before Pharaoh, for after he left him he did not see his face again.” Thus the language of Rashi. Our Rabbis have similarly said:⁷⁵ “G-d sprung upon Moses. He, as it were, entered Pharaoh’s palace, [which was replete with abominations], for the sake of Moses — who had said, I will see thy face again no more —⁷⁶ so that Moses might not be branded a liar. Now you find no other occasion on which the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to Moses in the royal palace except this moment. Whence may we deduce this? From the verse, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread forth my hands unto the Eternal.⁷⁷, 9:29. And see Ramban there. But now the Holy One, blessed be He, sprang upon Moses and said to him, Yet one plague more, etc.” Now here too⁷⁸ there is a shortening of narrative. G-d said to Moses, Yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, and He informed him of the nature of that plague, saying to him, At midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, as well as the whole communication stated in this section, [further in Verses 5-8, as Moses’ address to Pharaoh in the Name of G-d]. But Scripture did not want to lengthen the account by first narrating what G-d said to Moses, it being sufficient to state what Moses said to Pharaoh, i.e., Thus saith the Eternal,⁷⁹ just as I have explained in the case of the locusts.⁷⁸ There are many such sections in the Torah. In this Seder (section of the Torah), in the segment, Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn,⁸⁰ Scripture shortens the subject which the Holy One, blessed be He, communicated to Moses, and it prolongs the account of Moses’ words to the people, i.e., Remember this day, etc.,⁸¹, Verse 3. and so on to the end of that entire segment.⁸² They really are G-d’s words to Moses, which he said to Israel in the very language with which he was commanded.

footnotes: ⁷⁵ Shemoth Rabbah 18:1. ⁷⁶ Above, 10:29. ⁷⁷ Ibid. ⁷⁸ See Ramban above, 10:2. ⁷⁹ Verse 4. ⁷⁸ See Ramban above, 10:2. ⁸⁰ Further, 13:2. ⁸¹ Ibid. ⁸² I.e., to the end of Verse 16 there.

SPEAK NOW IN THE EARS OF THE PEOPLE. I.e., after you depart from Pharaoh.

AND THE ETERNAL GAVE THE PEOPLE FAVOR IN THE SIGHT OF THE EGYPTIANS. The purport thereof is that the Egyptians did not hate them because of the plagues. Instead, they conceived affection for them, and the Israelites found favor in their eyes, the Egyptians acknowledging, “we are the wicked ones. There is violence in our hands, and you merit that G-d be gracious to you.”

MOREOVER, THE MAN MOSES, who brought the plagues upon them, WAS VERY GREAT IN THE ENTIRE LAND OF EGYPT, IN THE SIGHT OF PHARAOH’S SERVANTS — his opponents — AND IN THE SIGHT OF THE PEOPLE, Israel.⁸³ as referring to the Egyptians. Ramban will refer to this explanation further on. After [the officers of the children of Israel] had said to Moses and Aaron, The Eternal look upon you, and judge,⁸⁴ after they hearkened not unto Moses for impatience of spirit,⁸⁵, 6:9. he now became very great in their sight when they saw that he was established to be a prophet of the Eternal.⁸⁶ And some scholars⁸⁷ say that the expression, in the sight of the people, means the Egyptians. The reason Scripture does not state [that Moses was very great] “in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants,” [but instead mentions only Pharaoh’s servants], is that G-d made Pharaoh’s heart obstinate towards Moses because he [Pharaoh] had twice spoken to him improperly,⁸⁸), and ibid., Verse 28 (Get thee from me). and He desired that Pharaoh come to Moses and bow down to him as one comes before his enemy, all this being a sign of the power and achievement of Moses. Now it is impossible to explain the expression, And the Eternal gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, as referring to the favor they found in the eyes of the Egyptians at the time of the borrowing, [mentioned further, 12:36]. In that case, the verse there relates that G-d later fulfilled the promise He made here.⁸⁹ If the verse here were establishing the Divine promise, [i.e., that the people will find favor in the sight of the Egyptians and that they will let them have what they asked], the verse here should not have said, And the Eternal gave; it should have said, “And I will give the people favor.” [Hence we must conclude that the intent of the verse here is to be explained as above, i.e., that the Egyptians bore no grudge against the Israelites because of the plagues.] It is further on at the time of the actual event that Scripture says, And the Eternal gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked.⁹⁰

footnotes: ⁸³ Unlike Ibn Ezra, who explains in the sight of the people ⁸⁴ Above, 5:21. ⁸⁵ Ibid. ⁸⁶ I Samuel 3:20. ⁸⁷ Ibn Ezra. ⁸⁸ Above, 10:10 (So be the Eternal with you, as I will let you go ⁸⁹ The explanation refuted now by Ramban is that of Ibn Ezra [in Verse 3 before us]. ⁹⁰ Further, 12:36.

AND MOSES SAID: THUS SAITH THE ETERNAL: ABOUT MIDNIGHT WILL I GO OUT INTO THE MIDST OF EGYPT. Moses said this to Pharaoh and to his servants, as he mentioned at the end of his words, And all these thy servants shall come down unto me.⁹¹ Now he did not explain on what night this plague will take place, since this Divine communication to Moses and the transmission thereof to Pharaoh happened before the first of Nisan,⁹² the first of Nisan. In my opinion, this is to be explained on the basis of that which Ramban wrote in Seder Shemoth (4:21), that at the very first time that Moses came before Pharaoh, he warned him of the last plague which will force him to let the people go. In that case, the Divine communication to Moses and the transmission of it to Pharaoh did indeed take place before the first of Nisan. The verse here, yet one plague more will I bring upon Pharaoh, must then be understood in the sense that G-d told Moses that the time had come for the final plague of which He had told him in the beginning and which Moses had related to Pharaoh. See also my Hebrew commentary, p. 323, for further discussion of this problem. and when he said about midnight, he did not yet know on which night it would be. Thus Moses did not inform them of the specific night on which this plague would take place, but instead he said in kindled anger, “I will see thy face again no more.⁹³ It is you who will call upon me at about midnight to go out from your country, and your servants will bow down to me.”⁹¹ In the second section He elucidated to Israel, And I will go through the land of Egypt in that night,⁹⁴ and in the third section Scripture states, And it came to pass at midnight,⁹⁵, Verse 29. i.e., the night mentioned when they were eating the paschal lamb.

footnotes: ⁹¹ Verse 8. ⁹² In view of the fact that Ramban wrote above (10:4) that the plague of the locusts occurred in the month of Nisan, it is difficult to understand his statement here that the Divine communication to Moses and the transmission thereof to Pharaoh concerning the plague of the firstborn happened before ⁹³ Above, 10:29. ⁹¹ Verse 8. ⁹⁴ Further, 12:12. ⁹⁵ Ibid.

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO MOSES: PHARAOH WILL NOT HEARKEN UNTO YOU. It was to be expected that Pharaoh and his servants should dread the plague of the firstborn and be in consternation thereof moreso than for anything that had happened to them — indeed they had previously seen all the words of Moses fulfilled. G-d therefore informed Moses that it is He Who is hardening his [Pharaoh’s] heart, so that His wonders would be multiplied through the plague of the firstborn in both man and beast and the judgments He will execute against their gods.⁹⁴ Rashi commented: “So that My wonders may be multiplied. This refers to the slaying of the firstborn, the division of the Red Sea, and the overthrowing of the Egyptians in it.” This explanation is not possible, because of the verse after that which states, And the Eternal hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land.⁹⁶, which was mentioned in Verse 9, refers only to those wonders which took place before the exodus, as Verse 10 clearly indicates that on account of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart he did not let the people go. It thus cannot refer to the division of the Red Sea and the overthrowing of the Egyptians in it, as these wonders happened after the exodus (Mizrachi).

footnotes: ⁹⁴ Further, 12:12. ⁹⁶ Verse 10. This indicates that the expression, that My wonders may be multiplied

AND MOSES AND AARON DID ALL THESE WONDERS. These are the wonders mentioned above. Scripture states this now because it completes [the narrative of] all the deeds they did [before Pharaoh], including the decree of the plague of the firstborn of which they already informed Pharaoh, for in the actual slaying of the firstborn, Moses and Aaron had no part.