The LORD Passing Through Egypt to Judge Its Gods

"And I will pass through the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12): like a king who passes from place to place. Another interpretation: "passing" is stated here and "passing" is stated below, "and the LORD will pass over to strike the Egyptians" (Exodus 12:23). Just as the "passing" stated below is a plague, so the "passing" stated here is a plague. So it says, "and in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through your midst, says the LORD" (Amos 5:17). "On this night" (Exodus 12:12): this is what Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: "on this night" is stated here and "on this night" is stated above. Just as "on this night" stated here means until midnight, so "on this night" stated above means until midnight. "And I will strike every firstborn" (Exodus 12:12): I would know only the firstborn of Egypt who were in Egypt. From where the other firstborn who were in Egypt? The verse says "every firstborn." From where the firstborn of Egypt who were in other places? The verse says "every firstborn." From where the firstborn of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan? The verse says "every firstborn." So it says, "and He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first of their strength in the tents of Ham" (Psalms 78:51). "From man to beast" (Exodus 12:12): I would know only the firstborn of beasts that were struck. From where the beasts that were themselves firstborn? The verse says "from man to beast." You have no man punished whose attendants are not punished with him. "And against all the gods of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12): I would know only the gods of Egypt that were in Egypt. From where the other gods in Egypt? The verse says "against all the gods of Egypt." From where the gods of Egypt in other places? The verse says "all the gods." From where the gods of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan? The verse says "all the gods." So it says, "I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place" (Isaiah 43:3). "I will execute judgments" (Exodus 12:12): judgments differing one from another. Those of wood rotted, those of stone shattered, those of metal corroded. "I am the LORD" (Exodus 12:12): I am the One who exacted punishment from the generation of the Flood, and from the generation of the Dispersion, and from the men of Sodom. I am destined to exact punishment from Gog and his hordes. And if you do not believe regarding the future, believe regarding the past. Another interpretation: "I am the LORD," the Kingdom. Wherever Scripture mentions the arrogance of idolatry, there it mentions the praise of the Omnipresent. So it says, "silver beaten into plates is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, the work of the craftsman and the hands of the smith; their clothing is blue and purple, all the work of skilled men" (Jeremiah 10:9). What does it then say? "Thus shall you say to them: the gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens" (Jeremiah 10:11). And it says, "but the LORD is the true God, He is the living God and the everlasting King; at His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation" (Jeremiah 10:10). And it says, "He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens" (Jeremiah 10:12). And it says, "they have a mouth but cannot speak" (Psalms 115:5). And it says, "but our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (Psalms 115:3). "And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments, I am the LORD" (Exodus 12:12): there is no nation that is struck whose god is not struck with it. So it says, "Bel is shamed, Merodach is dismayed; her images are shamed, her idols are broken" (Jeremiah 50:2). And it says, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon, and all the carved images of her gods are shattered to the ground" (Isaiah 21:9). And it says concerning our fathers, "I will lay your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols" (Leviticus 26:30). And so too in the future, when the nations of the world perish, their gods are broken with them, as it is said, "and the idols shall utterly pass away" (Isaiah 2:18).