Shemos 1:12 · unit 1

Parashas Shemos · Passuk 1:12

The Complete Passuk

וְכַאֲשֶׁר֙ יְעַנּ֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ כֵּ֥ן יִרְבֶּ֖ה וְכֵ֣ן יִפְרֹ֑ץ וַיָּקֻ֕צוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

But the more they were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites.

Chabad.org — 1:12

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Reish Lakish — Sotah 11a (verified).

Sefaria — Sotah 11a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Sotah 11a

כן ירבה וגו׳ — כן רבו ובן פרצו מבעי ליה. אמר ריש לקיש: רוח הקודש מבשרתן כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ.

English: “So he will increase\ldots” — it should have said “so they increased and so they spread.” Reish Lakish said: The Divine Spirit announced to them, “So he will increase and so he will spread.”

On the daf / in context: The future tense is read as a prophetic announcement by the Ruach HaKodesh to the Egyptians themselves: all their schemes against the growth of Israel would fail; the more they oppressed, the more Israel would multiply.

Type of Learning

Custom — diyuk from future versus past tense.

What Is Learned

Chazal teach that the verse itself already proclaimed to the oppressors that their efforts would produce the opposite of their intent.

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