#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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VERSE: Ex06-13b
RASHIS COVERED: Ex06-13b Ex06-13c Ex06-14a Ex06-26a
Ex06-27a Ex06-27b Ex06-28a Ex06-29a
=================== Ex06-10:30 uses an ABA FORM =================
BACKGROUND
----------
Ex06 describes a dialogue between God and Moses. God asks Moses
to go to Pharoh to free the Jews. But Moses complains that he
is a stutterer and unfit for the Job. So God asks him to go
with Aaron and a staff of helpers.
THE TEXT
--------
The Biblical text looks disjoint. Many themes are repeated, often
apparently unnecessarily. How then can the text be viewed.
THE RASHI
---------
We have suggested that just as in English, paragraph units are
indicated with SURROUNDING BLANK LINES and INDENTATION, so too
in Biblical Hebrew the PARAGRAPH can be indicated with an ABA
form. The repeated A unit creates a paragraph effect. Many
examples can be presented*11
THE LIST
--------
The list below clearly presents this ABA format. Thus Ex06-10:30
simply states that God asked Moses to go to Pharoh, Moses didnt
think he could accomplish the task so God gave him a staff of
people from his tribe to help him. Then God ordered Moses and
Aaron to perform the snake sign to Pharoh.
The ABA form and its repetitions are simply to mark off the
paragraph. It appears peculiar to us because we are use to
SURROUNDING BLANK LINES and INDENTATION. Here is the LIST.
The A-B-A unites are indicated in the first column. The footnotes
clarify further.
=================================================================
# VERSE TEXT SUMMARY OF VERSE (B unit is indented)
== ========== ==================================================
A1 Ex06-10:12 ---- GOD-MOSES GOD: Go to Pharoh MOSES:I cant
A2 Ex06-13 ---- GODS ANSWER Then You &Aaron speak:Use STAFF*1
B1 Ex06-14:25 ---------------- YOUR STAFF:Reuven,Shimon,Levi *2
B2 Ex06-26:27 ---------------- They are[the staff of]Moses/Aaron
A1 Ex06-28:30 ---- GOD-MOSES GOD:Go to Pharoh MOSES:I cant*3*4
A2 Ex07-01:07 ---- GODS ANSWER Then You &Aaron speak
'
C Ex07-08:13 ---- GoOD-MOSES:AARON: Give Pharoh the SNAKE sign;
NOTES
-----
*1 In another posting *10 we have shown that COMMAND with
the prepostion TO, that is COMMAND TO (vs
COMMAND) denotes a COMMAND USING A STAFF OF MESSENGERS.
We also provided lists of verses showing this so.
Thus God commanded Moses/Aaron
-- To use messengers to Pharoh(ie RESPECT for a king)
-- To use messengers to Israel(because of crowd ROWDINESS)
*2 In English we indicate PARAGRAPHS using WHITE SPACE and
indentation. In Biblical Hebrew we indicate PARAGRAPHS
using an ABA form. The ABA structure defines ONE UNIT.*11
Notice the ABA form of the chapter:
-- GOD & MOSES speak; Moses refuses to go by himself to Pharoh
-- So God gives him staff: REUVEN, SHIMON, LEVI
-- GOD & MOSES speak: Moses refuses to go by himself
--
-- God speaks to Moses and Aaron to do snake miracle
Thus the simple meaning of the chapter is that Moses
refused to speak by himself to Pharoh so God gave him
Aaron and the tribal leaders as helpers.*12 *17
*3 Again: The Biblical method of creating a paragraph is to
use the ABA form. The sole purpose of repeating the A
unit is to create a paragraph. There is no significance
in the repetition. Rashi also seems to say this explicitly*18
*4 Rashi points out that Ex06-28:29 is a multi-verse sentence
(Two verses forming one sentence). Most Biblical verses are
complete sentences; about 0.2% of the verses are part of
multi verse sentences. For Rashis on multi-verse sentences
see http://www.RashiYomi.Com/dt02-16a.htm
---------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -------------------------
*10 See the following URLs where lists of verses with the word
COMMAND with the prepositions TO, ON, & OF are presented
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h12n15.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/gn15-16a.htm
This explains Rashis Ex06-13b and Ex06-13c
*11 For a collection of Rashis using this ABA=PARAGRAPH rule see
the essay THE 6 RASHI RULE CLASSES which can be found at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/rules-01.htm. Equivalantly look up
http://www.rashiyomi.com/ex02-11a.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.com/gn12-10a.htm,
http://www.RashiYomi.com/gn28-10a.htm,
http://www.RashiYomi.com/gn48-20b.htm,
http://www.RashiYomi.com/gn17-09a.htm,
http://www.RashiYomi.com /gn17-07a.htm
*12 In other words we explain the JUXTAPOSITION of the
genealogies between the commands by God to Moses as
indicating that the genealogies indicate the STAFF of
messengers that God gave Moses to help him. This idea
is explicitly stated by Rabbi Jacob, in Shmoth Rabbah
Chapter 7:3 (Though Rashi does not mention it explicitly)
Footnote *13 reviews Rashis language on this. Footnote*15
reviews major incidents in the wilderness and shows that
only the tribes mentioned here were invovled. Footnote
*14 shows how Aaron helped Moses. Finally Footnote *16
shows how a typical verse Ex08-26 should be translated.
*13 Unfortunately Rashi is not as clear as we would like him
to be. However the ideas we presented above are not our
own but come directly from the Exodus Rabbah 7:3 which
Rashi was using as a source. In the sequel parenthetical
phrases indicate supplementary material that illumines
Rashi
Rashi on Ex06-13c states
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Since the Bible was talking about Moses and Aaron it
mentioned who their parents and WHAT TRIBE THEY WERE
CONNECTED TO [thus indicating possible staff support
from their own tribe]
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Rashi on Ex06-14a states
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The Bible had to mention Moses genealogy
[thus indicating possible staff support] the Bible
also mentioned the older tribes of Reuben and Shimon
[whom however did not support Moses and instead
led sins and rebellions against him --- see footnote
*16 below]
As indicated these Rashis are very weak in stating
the GENEALOGIES=STAFF SUPPORT IDEA. The major reason
for bringing this idea comes from the statement of
Rabbi Jacob in Shmoth Rabbah which Rashi was quoting.
It is also supported by the ABA=PARAGRAPH idea whose
support can be found in footnote #11.
*14 eg Rashi on Ex08-02a states
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So Moses spoke the basic idea once: Aaron developed it in a
literary style appropriate for negotiations with Pharoh
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*15 We can support our view that the B section is not just
genealogy but a list of staff for Moses and Aaron by
reviewing major incidents in the wilderness and who was
involved
-------------------------------------------------------
Incident Chapters Who was involved with Moses
--------- -------- -------------------------------
Gold calf Ex32 Levites helped him
Moab war Nu25 Shimon headed the sin
Korach Nu16 Reuvenites instigated sin
Spies Nu13,14 Tribal leaders instigated sin
-------------------------------------------------------
Thus we see the tribes of Reuven, Shimon, Levi who are
mentioned in Ex06 in unit B. It is conjectured that these
tribes helped Moses but some of them (Except for the Levites)
rebelled and sinned. Hence we have Rashis statement Ex06-27b
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THEY ARE MOSES & AARON: RASHI: From Beginning to end they
remained faithful and loyal in their task of freeing the Jews
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*16 Thus eg we would translate Ex08-26 as follows with
the Biblical text indicated with non parenthetical phrases
The parenthetical phrases indicate how the Biblical
text should be interpreted
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These are the Reuvenites, Shimonites, Levites....
Ex08-26 THIS (ie. all the above) IS Moses and Aaron
(ie They and their staff)
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*17 Rashi on Ex06-26a also points out that the Bible alternates
in the use of order: Sometimes MOSES & AARON and at
other times AARON & MOSES. Such order reversal is a style
indicating equal importance. See the following URL for
lists of pairs that have order reversal
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/nu27-01b.htm
[Note that in prophetic orders Moses always precedes Aaron
indicating that he had a higher degree of prophecy. However
in their mission to Pharoh they were equally important]
*18 This contradicts the view (eg Held by Rabbi Boncheck) that
the Torah does not waste words and every repetition has some
hidden meaning. Rashi EXPLICITLY contradicts this in
Ex06-29a and Ex06-30a where he states
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This chapter is analogous to a person making a statement
and then having a long interlude. He repeats his original
statement to give cohesiveness and unity
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RASHI RULE USED: OVERALL STRUCTURE
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WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
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Volume 12 Number 19
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 12 Number 19