ראה נתתיך אלוהים לפרעה, “see I have made you like a God as far as Pharaoh is concerned.” According to Ibn Ezra the word אלוהים here merely denotes that Moses had been elevated to a very high rank, so much so that Pharaoh would relate to him with the same reverence as he would display when facing a disembodied angel of G’d who addresses the prophet whereas the prophet subsequently relays the words of the angel to his people.

ואני אקשה את לב פרעה, “I will toughen the heart of Pharaoh.” Most people question G’d’s right to exact punishment from Pharaoh if He had first robbed him of the freedom of will which is an inalienable right of every human being created in the image of the Creator. The answer to this question is quite simple. Pharaoh was not punished for disobeying G’d’s command but for the relish with which he maltreated G’d’s people. He was punished for the excess cruelty he displayed. This was not due to G’d’s interfering with his free will, but to a flaw in his character as a human being. People who display this degree of inhumanity of man to man, are denied the opportunity to return to G’d in penitence. This is described in Ethics of our fathers as עברה גוררת עברה, the commission of deliberate sins brings in its wake the commission of more sins and yet more sins. There are numerous verses in Scripture confirming this principle. Furthermore, if you will examine the text of the ten plagues you will observe that G’d did not interfere with Pharaoh’s decision making brain or heart until after the fifth plague. The wording of the first five plagues describes that Pharaoh’s obstinacy in resisting G’d and Moses up until then was entirely spontaneous, not reinforced by any attempt of G’d to coerce his behaviour. During the last five plagues, when Pharaoh had initially indicated a preparedness to comply with G’d’ request and to let the people go, at least for a vacation of a religious nature, he reneged on his promises as soon as the plague had been called off by Moses. Some commentators simply see in the words ואני אקשה את לבו, not an interference with Pharaoh’s free will, but a device that enabled him to endure the plagues without collapsing. This, as a corollary, made him feel that he was strong enough to withstand anything G’d would try and do to him.

ונתתי את ידי במצרים, “I will put My hand upon Egypt;” the word ידי when applied to G’d, Who has no physical dimension, is parallel to the hand of a human being who uses it to punish, to inflict pain.

צבאותי, “My hosts.” Just as the angels are perceived as G’d’s army in the celestial spheres, so the Jewish people are His army on earth.

ומשה בן שמונים שנה, “and Moses was eighty years old, etc.” Ibn Ezra, in dealing with the age of Moses at this time, mentions that no other prophet has ever been described as practicing his prophecy at such an age. The only ones able to do so were those that enjoyed an exceptionally high level of prophecy,

בלהטיהם, “with their incantations.” A reference to a variety of activities all connected to witchcraft. Nachmanides explains that the word בלהטיהם is derived from the root להט, flame, i.e. that the activities of the Egyptian necromancers were concentrated on the use of the element of fire, one of the four basic components of the material universe. Apparently, the forces, i.e. “angels” in charge of this are afflicting man with fever (heat) i.e. an invisible flame. The fact that these sorcerers understood some of these processes in nature contributed to Pharaoh discounting the miracle, as in his eyes Moses was nothing but a more accomplished sorcerer. In non-professional parlance, the agents causing such frustrating phenomena are known as שדים, demons. What distinguishes this “demonic” activity is the fact that its approach is invisible, and therefore more frightening than visible phenomena. Just as we get no warning of attacks by viruses or similar disease carrying pollutants in the atmosphere, so these harmful phenomena not only cause disease and death, but they inspire fear in addition.

לך אל פרעה בבוקר, “go to Pharaoh in the early morning, etc.” according toRashi, Moses went to meet Pharaoh at a secret place near the waters of the river Nile, a place where he defecated secretly, maintaining the fiction that as a deity, he did not need to bother with such animalistic necessities. The fact that Moses would be in a position to reveal this well-kept secret, was meant to show Pharaoh that he depended on Moses’ discretion. According to the plain meaning of the text, Pharaoh was in the habit to take his daily exercise walk near the banks of the river Nile. Some commentators, focusing on the words הנה יוצא המימה, ”here he is going out towards the waters,” suggest that Pharaoh was given an opportunity to discuss the Israelites’ concerns with their leader, for there were guards at the entrance to his palace which prevented Moses from securing an interview with the king.

והנה לא שמעת עד כה, “seeing that thus far you have not been willing to listen.” The meaning of these words, which appear at first glance as if they do not tell us something we did not learn from the narrative thus far, is that until I begin to carry out My threats, to bring on the plagues, you will not begin to listen.

כה אמר ה'.....הנה אנכי מכה במטה אשר בידי, “Thus says the Lord….behold I am about to strike with the staff which is in my hand, etc.” According to Ibn Ezra this verse is only a short summary of what is going to happen, the missing ingredient being the name of the One Who had entrusted Moses with this mission. The verse really should have read: “here I, the Lord’s messenger, am about to strike the waters in the river Nile with the staff which is in the hands of Aaron.” Moses described the staff as being in his own hand, although Aaron would use it to turn the water into blood, the reason being that he wanted to make plain to Pharaoh that both he and Aaron were equally involved in what was going to unfold before his eyes. Personally, I do not see why Ibn Ezra had any difficulty with the wording as it is, seeing that, as we already explained, it was always Aaron who addressed Moses’ words to Pharaoh. It is natural therefore that he referred to the staff as his staff.

וירם במטה, “he held the staff aloft, etc.” Nachmanides explains the construction וירם במטה as meaning that Aaron raised the staff with his hand extending it in all the directions of the globe, exactly as commanded, i.e. קח את מטך ונטה את ידך, and after having extended his hand in every direction he proceeded to strike the waters of the river Nile. Ibn Ezra also writes that the Torah mentions the fact that the river was struck, but there was no need to mention the motions made with the hand or arm in all directions of the land of Egypt, as the raising of the staff automatically includes the raising of the hand holding the staff.

ויעשו כן חרטומי מצרים, “the sorcerers of Egypt did likewise.” From where did these sorcerers take the water to duplicate Aaron’s turning the water into blood? They must have either used water that the Egyptians had dug up surrounding the areas that contained water, or they must have taken water in possession of the Israelites. Some commentators claim that the waters that Aaron had turned into blood reverted to being water in short order, so that there was no shortage of water anywhere. This would account for the fact that Pharaoh failed to be impressed with this miracle. This is why Moses and Aaron were not called in to reverse the plague, (as they were on the next occasion).

ולא שת לבו גם לזאת, “his heart did not become perturbed even by this.” Rashi understands the word גם, “also,” as referring to both the miracles of the staff and that of the water turning into blood. Nachmanides explains the words גם לזאת, as meaning that although the water having been turned into a blood was not a mere trick, but a real plague, Pharaoh refused to display any emotion at what he had witnessed. Normal people would have reacted by becoming afraid that the next plague would hurt them, personally.

לא יכלו לשתות מים מן היאור, “they could not drink the waters from the river.” Even when the river again flowed with water, they could not drink those waters as they had become putrid from the dead fish that had died when the water had turned into blood. This explanation does not appear to stand up in light of what the Torah writes, as we have been told specifically (verse 25), that “seven days elapsed after the Lord had struck the river.” In other words, the plague ran its course for a whole week, unless we must understand that line to mean that after the blood reverted to being water the Egyptians still could not drink from the river for a full week.

וימלא שבעת ימים, “seven days had elapsed.” This verse is a continuation of the previous verse that had told us that the Egyptians had been unable to drink the waters of the river without telling us for how long such a condition continued. For seven whole days the Egyptians, in order to secure drinking water for themselves, had to dig in the neighbourhood of the river’s embankment Ibn Ezra writes that many people claim that the waters which, while in the hands of the Egyptians had turned red, immediately resumed normal colour as soon as the Jews held it in their hands. If that were true, why did the Torah not mention this additional miracle? Personally, [Ibn Ezra speaking, Ed.] I believe that the first three plagues, i.e. blood, frogs, and the vermin, struck not only the Egyptians but also the Israelites, seeing that these three plague caused relatively little damage to either property or life. I believe we are duty-bound to pay careful attention to the text, and seeing that the first three plagues were more of a nuisance than a real danger to life and property, and the Torah did not spell out, as it did later- that the Israelites were immune, we must assume that they were not. Only the fourth plague, wild beasts invading urban areas and wreaking havoc, were major disasters, and the fact that these beasts would not invade the province of Goshen, home to most of the Israelites, was predicted at the time when Moses warned Pharaoh of the impending plague. (verse 18) All subsequent plagues struck only the Egyptians, as testified by the Torah. Therefore I conclude, that just as the Egyptians had to dig for water- but they secured it for themselves- so did the Israelites. Ibn Ezra’s determination to follow the plain meaning of the text prompted him to even assume that the locust and the boils (8th and 6th plague), which did not pose serious danger to people, afflicted also the Israelites. [Our author not only accuses him of ignoring the approach of our sages, but considers this as unnecessarily accusing G’d of afflicting His own people as if He were not able to immunize them. Ed.]