Wednesday, 29 December 2010

P. Vo'eira - Koveid Leiv Par'oh

Pick your Parshanut Preference:

1 Koveid or Hazak BOTH refer to Paroh being stubborn. The terms are interchangeable. This seems to be the method of classic commentators.

2 Koveid means something else entirely - viz. HEAVY.

Background:
In Egyptian Mythology a Par'oh's heart was weighed at death. When light as a feather he earned "Heaven" otherwise..

Thus a HEAVY heart does not mean Stubborn but rather Evil

This p'shat might have some advantages
1. It is more literal
2 It matches what we know about Egyptian Culture
3 It places Israel in Egypt at the Exodus despite the "critics"
4 It distinguishes the 2 terms

Disadvantage:
1 It's NOT traditional

Pick your peference

Shalom
RRW

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