The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, records Rabbi Nathan's interpretation of one of the most loaded words in the Exodus narrative. The Torah says the Egyptians "vayashilum" — a verb traditionally translated as "they lent them" — when giving their possessions to the departing Israelites (Exodus 12:36). But Rabbi Nathan says the conventional reading does not capture what actually happened.
According to Rabbi Nathan, the word "vayashilum" implies something far more generous than lending. It means the Egyptians gave the Israelites even what they did not ask for. If an Israelite said, "Give me this particular thing," the Egyptian would respond: "Take it — and take anything like it too."
The picture Rabbi Nathan paints is of Egyptians practically pushing their possessions onto the Israelites. Not reluctant lending. Not grudging compliance. An almost desperate generosity — as if the Egyptians could not give things away fast enough. The death of the firstborn had shattered any remaining resistance. The Egyptians wanted the Israelites out, and they were willing to pay any price to make it happen.
This reading transforms the entire scene. The Israelites were not clever negotiators extracting wealth from unwilling victims. The Egyptians were voluntary, even eager participants in their own despoiling. God had promised Abraham centuries earlier that his descendants would leave their bondage "with great possessions" (Genesis 15:14). Rabbi Nathan shows how that promise was fulfilled — not through theft, but through Egyptian hands that could not stop giving.