One of
Moshe's roles, at the time recorded by our Parasha, was to link the Children of
Yisrael with their forefathers, history, and destination, but not before
establishing (for them and even more so for himself) the identity of their
Elohim. This was no easy task! YHVH had already revealed Himself to Moshe in
the desert, both in sight and word. And
while Moshe was trying to negotiate with Par'oh on behalf of the Master of the Universe,
as well as to 'introduce' Him to his own people, he himself had a hard time
grasping the awesome revelation which was unfolding before his eyes. Our Parasha opens up with yet another
monologue of Moshe's heavenly Father, displaying great patience with His child,
who at this point had not fully adjusted to the dimensions of his newly found
destiny and relationship. The opening
"I am YHVH," together with the subsequent words, serve as another
reminder to Moshe, designed to anchor, steady, and prepare him for what is
ahead and to build up his trust and faith.
Last week, upon his inquiry as to Elohim's name, YHVH gave him a
somewhat elusive answer (3: 14): “Ehe'ye asher ehe'ye,” adding, “thus you shall
say to the Children of Israel, Ehe'ye has sent me.” These words are (typically)
translated: ”I am that I am.” Yet if we glance back at 3:12, we find that “ehe'ye”
means “I will” (as it says there: “I will be with you”). It appears that YHVH was not about to divulge
His real (or 'full') name at that point.
His response and the tone by which it was conveyed sounds almost like a
(temporary) discharge or dismissal. Thus, paraphrased, it may be read: 'never
you mind Moshe… I Am and Will be Who I Am - what is it to you?' (Compare
Yeshua's response to Shimon Keifa - Peter - in John 21:22).
The verb “ehe'ye” – I will
be – is contained in “YHVH,” the name which Elohim is now, by His own initiative,
revealing to Moshe (6:2). Thus the letters h.v.h (hey, vav, hey), which are
tantamount to h.y.h (hey, yod, hey) meaning “to be”1 form the root of the venerated
tetragrammaton. "Being" and
"present" both originate from this one root. The tetragrammaton,
therefore, speaks of "being" and of the "present
presence."
Now that Moshe learns
Elohim’s name, he hears Him say something quite surprising and unexpected,
namely: “I appeared (literally – I was seen – va’ey’ra)
to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as El Shaddai, but My name YHVH, I did not make
known to them” (6:3). However, the name
YHVH is mentioned in connection with the Patriarchs. In fact, there is evidence that they used
this name when addressing Elohim (e.g. Gen. 15:8). The Sages discuss this point at length, but we
will not delve deeply into the subject other than to say that since He revealed
Himself to them as “El Shaddai,” the “Mighty Breasted One,” or by implication
the ”Mighty One Who is Sufficient,” it was this aspect of His being with which
they must have been most familiar (e.g. Gen. 35:11). In the course of His on-going and progressive
revelation of Himself, the Elohim of Yisrael is about to demonstrate that He is
in control of the present, the One Who Is Present, and truly the One who
IS the Present: Yah-hoveh. (Yah, as His name and also connected
to the verb “to be,” is used a number of times, e.g. Ex. 17:16, although lost
in the translation, and in many other instances in the Psalms.) In chapter 9:3,
“the hand of YHVH," that was “to be on [Pharaoh’s] cattle…” is rendered as
“yad YHVH hoya.” “To be on” in this case is “hoyah” (which contains the same
letters as YHVH), thus informing the listener that He is fully present, and
brings to bear this Presence as He chooses.
The passage, which starts
in verse 3 of Chapter 6 and continues all the way to verse 8, constitutes a
unique and significant unit, in both content and form. The beginning statement is also found at the
end (v. 8), that is, "I am YHVH." In verse 3 reference is made to the Patriarchs,
while a similar reference shows up just before the end, in verse 8, in the form of a very
emphatic statement (cf. last Parasha, Ex. 3:15,16). The third point in this
monologue deals with the Covenanted
Land
The central part of this
passage stands firmly on its own, as a precious stone set in fine filigree,
surrounded and framed by the four repetitions mentioned above (i.e. YHVH’s name,
Patriarchs, Land, and Sufferings). It reads as follows, “Therefore say to the
children of Israel
When this series of actions
is completed “…you shall know that I am YHVH your Elohim” (6:7). Immediately
following this, YHVH continues to promise to “bring you into the land
which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and I will give it
to you as a heritage: I am YHVH” (v. 8, emphases added). The declaration “I am
YHVH" pronounced both at the beginning and end of the passage, powerfully
denotes His all-encompassing view and position, contrasted with the restricted human
perspective and vantage point of the Sons of Yisrael. The progressive process we
have been following evidences that there is only One who can act on every
level, with nothing ever being required of the recipients. This IS the grace,
“which is not of yourselves [but] it is the gift of Elohim!” (Ephs. 2:8). However, for this grace to be appropriated,
faith is required and thus we move on to the anticlimactic end (v. 9 ): “So
Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel
Following this
'introduction' or preamble, the rest of the Parasha is mostly devoted to the
implementation of the action plan described above. In 6:11, YHVH calls out to Moshe to (literally),
“come - BO - speak to Pharaoh…” Notice that above He promised to “bring” –
ve’heveti – His people to the land. “Come” – bo – stems from the same root as
“bring” – la’ha’vee (that is, “cause one to come”). Thus the “coming”
that Moshe is commanded to do before the next phase, which will include verbal
‘combat’ with Egypt’s ruler, may be a “coming” first to Elohim. However,
prior to the second plague (of frogs), Moshe is charged once again by YHVH to
“bo” – come - to Par’oh (8:1, and likewise in 9:1 and in next week’s Parasha’s
opening verse).
Moshe responds to YHVH’s
commission twice with “…I am of uncircumcised lips” (6:12, 30), obviously trying
(once again) to dodge his responsibility by claiming that he is not a fit
speaker. But whereas last week we read that he used the expression: “I am not
eloquent… but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue” (4:10), this time he
feels the need to press the point even further, since "uncircumcised
lips" could also denote uncleanness.
YHVH is not 'impressed' and does not take up this matter with His
messenger.
It is the condition of
Par'oh's heart that YHVH is about to deal with, as He says to Moshe, “And I
will harden Pharaoh's heart…” (7:3a). Shaul (Paul) elaborating on this says,
“Therefore He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He
hardens” (Rom. 9:18). Romans 1:18-21 may help us to further understand this
idea: “For the wrath of Elohim is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because what may be known
of Elohim is manifest in them, for Elohim has shown it
to them. For since the creation of
the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being
understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that
they are without excuse, because, although they knew Elohim, they did
not glorify Him as Elohim, nor were thankful, but
became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (italics added).
Back to where we left off
in Exodus 7:3. The second part of the verse reads, “… and multiply My signs and
My wonders in the land of Egypt ,” with the result being, “And the Egyptians
shall know that I am YHVH when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt
In His plan to bring out
His people out of Egypt ,
YHVH exerts His authority by judging Egypt Egypt Egypt
Just prior to inflicting
the first plague, Moshe speaks for YHVH saying to Par’oh: ”…Let My people go,
that they may serve Me in the wilderness” (7:16). “Serve” here is from
the root “work." We remember vividly from last week's Parasha the
many negative references to work and labor. Here "work" becomes ”worship” of YHVH, as are most other references to
worship. The hard working slaves
(“avadim,” of the root word, a.v.d) of the Egyptians are about to be liberated
and become free to carry out “avodat Elohim” – that is, rendering service unto YHVH.
If at first YHVH made His name known to
Yisrael by attaching it to their ancestors’ names (the Elohim of…), thereby demonstrating
His faithfulness, now He wants to convey to His people that He is in charge of their
present circumstances, in control of all of nature - both animate and inanimate;
of mankind, beasts and the elements. The
first to be affected is Egypt 's
source of water and life, the Nile (Ye’or in
the Biblical terminology), which He turns to blood. Blood, in its turn, is also a symbol of life
and atonement but it now becomes a deadly substance in the very body of water,
which in the second plague will be swarming with frogs (8:6). The Nile became the grave of many of Yisrael’s infants (ref. Ex.
1:22), and now that blood is crying out, not from the ground, but from the
water… In addition, all of Egypt
The fourth and fifth
plagues (8:21; 9:3) are the first ones not to occur in the vicinity of the
Israelites' dwellings which means, that the land of Goshen Goshen
2 Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,
Vol. 2, ed. R. Laird
Harris, Moody Press, Chicago
Hebrew Tools
for Everyday Use
In Hebrew Tools
of Parashat Va’ye’ra (And He Appeared, lit. “was seen”), in B’resheet 18, we
already encountered the verb for “seeing” in the preset tense. In our Parasha
we tackle this verb again, but this time in past tense. Remember the all-famous
question that YHVH posed before Yirmiyahu: “What do you see Yirmiyahu”? (11:1),
or in Hebrew, ma’ ata’ ro’eh Yirmiyahu?” In our Parasha, Elohim promises (in 6:6) to
bring out the Sons of Yisrael from Mitzrayim. Let’s see how this verb may be
used in Modern Hebrew. Additionally, we will make us of a couple of other verbs
that are utilized in the Parasha.
And now it’s
your turn to practice:
What did Moshe
see?
Ma ra’ah Moshe?
(lit. what saw Moshe?)
Elohim brought
out the Children of Yisrael
Elohim hotzee
et Bney Yisrael
(notice that
the verb “hotzee” is to “take out”, “bring out”, “pull out” – unlike in English,
it is designated by one word only)
He took them to
the wilderness
Hu lakach otam
lamidbar
He gives and He
takes
Hu noten ve’hu
lo’ke’a’ch
Elohim is
strong
Elohim hu chazak
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