4,138 related texts · 13 related myths · Page 2 of 87
The ancient Rabbis certainly thought about that feeling, and they found it in a surprising place: the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh's magicians. The verse in (Exodus 7:12) tel...
The Torah tells us, "The magicians of Egypt did so with their spells; and Pharaoh's heart hardened, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had spoken” (Exodus 7:22). But what does "...
Because true magic, the kind wielded by prophets and emanating from the Divine, is something else entirely. Consider the story of the Egyptian magicians and their fateful encounter...
(Exodus 12:1) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying": I might think that both Aaron and Moses were being addressed; it is, therefore, written (Exod...
The Song at the Sea praises God not only for His power but for His patience. The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael highlights a detail that the Israelites themselves recognized as they san...
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrashot (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased asse...
The Torah gives Levi's lifespan as a hundred and thirty-seven years (Exodus 6:16), but Targum Pseudo-Jonathan adds a single clause that changes the entire feel of the verse. Levi, ...
The second plague is announced with an almost comic precision. Frogs will not merely swarm; they will specify. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 7:28) lists the destinations: into ...
Moses accepts the deal, warily. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 8:25) preserves the careful language: I will go forth from thee, and pray before the Lord to remove the swarm of w...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 9:14) preserves a warning that cuts through every illusion Pharaoh ever held. "At this time I will send upon thee a plague from the heavens," ...
The day Moses and Aaron made their grand entrance was actually Pharaoh's birthday. Can you imagine the pomp and circumstance? He was surrounded by kings from all corners of the ear...
Mid-storm, with hail hammering the roof of the palace and fire leaping through the ice, Pharaoh finally says the words. "He said to them, This time I have sinned. I know that the L...
The familiar story is this: Moses and Aaron plead with Pharaoh, Pharaoh refuses, plagues ensue. But what about the details? The little human moments tucked away in the grand narrat...
That's kind of what went down between Moses and the Egyptian magicians, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that explores biblical narratives. re...
The Torah tells us, "The Lord said to Moses: When you go back to Egypt, see all the wonders that I have placed in your hand and perform them before Pharaoh; but I will harden his h...
His reaction to Moses and Aaron's miracles in Egypt, as described in Shemot Rabbah, is a masterclass in insecure overcompensation. The familiar story is this: Moses and Aaron come ...
A reader can see them as just divine punishment, but the rabbis found layers of meaning, justice, and even hidden miracles within each one. the story turns to the plague of boils a...
The Book of Exodus tells us, "Moses extended his staff toward the heavens and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the lan...
When Moses and Aaron walked into Pharaoh's palace to demand the release of the Israelite slaves, they were not entering a building. They were entering a fortress designed to intimi...
The first plague is about to reach past the river itself. God tells Aharon to stretch the rod over rivers, trenches, canals, and every place for collecting their waters (Exodus 8:1...
The prayer works. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 8:27) delivers the outcome with plain satisfaction: the Lord did according to the word of the prayer of Mosheh, and removed the ...
It all started with a walk by the river. Pharaoh, had a little… problem. He fancied himself a god. Not just any god, but the god of Egypt. The problem? Gods aren't supposed to, wel...
Moses, the man who stood toe-to-toe with Pharaoh, the man who witnessed unimaginable plagues unleashed upon Egypt, still maintained a certain level of deference. It's almost counte...
Rabbi Yossi HaGlili presents one of the most famous calculations in rabbinic literature. He asks: how do we know that the Egyptians were struck with ten plagues in Egypt and fifty ...
That feeling…that’s almost the heart of the story of Hallelujah. What is Hallelujah, really? It's more than just a word; it's an expression, a moment in time. Midrash Tehillim, in ...
The story begins with Moses, standing before God, asking for a sign, a mofet, to prove his divine mission. "Sovereign of all worlds!" he pleads, "Give me a wonder or a sign!" And G...
The Torah tells us that Moses was born, hidden, found by Pharaoh's daughter, and eventually fled to Midian. Targum Jonathan fills in the gaps with miracles, secret identities, and ...
The Targum Jonathan on Exodus 8 contains one of the most remarkable theological additions in all of ancient Aramaic literature: the reason Moses personally refused to bring the pla...
The third sign at the burning bush is the one that rehearses the first plague. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves it with bare clarity: thou shalt take of the water of the river and ...
Moses reached for Pharaoh's crown because he was three years old and did not yet know fear. Landa's 1919 retelling takes a famous midrashic moment and makes the danger immediate. P...
It might seem trivial, but sometimes, the order of things speaks volumes. Think about when Moses and Aaron first approach Pharaoh. The verse in (Exodus 7:10) tells us, "Moses and A...
It sounds almost…silly. But when you dig into the Midrash, these plagues become far more than just annoying inconveniences. They become targeted, almost surgical strikes against th...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Birth of Pharaoh of Moses. Let’s zero in on one of those moments, found in Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exo...
The scene: Moses is tasked with confronting Pharaoh yet again. God tells Moses, "Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him: So said the Lord, God of the H...
The Torah tells us, "Behold, I will rain down tomorrow at this time very severe hail, that there has not been like it in Egypt since the day it was founded until now" (Exodus 9:18)...
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Exod. 4:20). The singular form ass is employed here, as when a man says: “Lead out the animal” (though he may have m...
In the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, Rabbi Yehudah gives us a fascinating mnemonic device for remembering the ten...
The sky cleared. And Pharaoh immediately went back on his word. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 9:34), the Aramaic paraphrase preserved in the tradition of Yonatan ben Uzziel...
"And God spoke to Moses" (Exodus 6:2). The Hebrew word for "spoke" (vayedaber) implies harshness, while "said" (vayomer) implies gentleness. Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk uses this g...
The answer to the foremen's despair comes from the Holy One, not from Moses. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the divine reassurance: Now have I seen what Pharoh hath done: for by ...
The third plague is lice, venomous insects that emerge from the dust. Again Aharon must wield the rod, not Moses. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 8:12) gives the breathtaking rea...
Aharon strikes the dust and every grain of it becomes a biting insect. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 8:13) is emphatic: all the dust of the earth was changed to become insects,...
Before the fourth plague, God sends Moses back to the water. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 8:16) restages the old dawn scene: Arise in the morning, and stand before Pharoh: beh...
Plague five begins with the same message that opened the demands at the Nile. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 9:1): Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Jehudaee, Emancipate My pe...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 9:24) reaches for superlatives: "There was hail, and fire darting among the hail with exceeding force: unto it had never been the like in all ...
The Torah portion of Shmot – Exodus – introduces us to Moses, arguably the greatest prophet in Judaism. But even before the burning bush, before the plagues, before the parting of ...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Rod and Serpent of Egyptian. Rabban Gamaliel, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 42, paints a vivid picture of this moment of ultimate desperation. The Egypt...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Moses in Battle of Pharaoh. Take the plague of locusts, for instance. In (Exodus 10:12), God tells Moses to stretch out his hand so that locusts would swarm ...
