Exodus 18:11

Hebrew Bible

10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control! 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

Onkelos Exodus 18:11

Targum

10 And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord, who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Mizraee, and out of the hand of Pharoh, and hath delivered the people from under the domination of the Mizraee. 11 Now know I that the Lord is great, and that there is no God but He for by the thing by which the Mizraee had thought to punish (judge) Israel, they themselves are punished. 12 And Jethro the father-in-law of Mosheh offered a burnt offering and sacrificed holy things before the Lord. And Aharon came, with all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law of Mosheh before the Lord.

 Notes and References

"... This entire verse is reworked by the targumist. The ambiguous biblical text reads: 'Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods because pf that with which they [the Egyptians) acted presumptuously against them.' First, he eliminates reference to 'all the gods,' which the reader might believe affirms the existence of other gods. Second, he emphasizes God's uniqueness. Finally, he clarifies the unclear text by interpreting it to mean that the Egyptians were punished (measure for measure) in accordance with the evil they conspired to do to the Israelites. Rashi accepts his translation and explains, using a Babylonian talmudic reference (Sotah Ila): 'they (the Egyptians) sought to destroy them [the Israelites] through water (therefore) they were destroyed with water ... the pot they used for cooking, [in it] they were cooked." Saadiah, Nachmanides, Rashbam, Sforno, Chazkunee and others also accept this understanding of the verse. However, ibn Ezra interprets it to say that the Egyptians were punished badavar, 'because of the thing' they did to the Israelites ..."

Drazin, Israel, and Stanley M. Wagner Onkelos on the Torah, Exodus: Understanding the Bible Text (pp. 111-112) Gefen, 2006

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