What did the magicians mean when they declared, "Etzba Elokim Hi!"?
Rashi and Ramban #1: They conceded that it was not witchcraft, but a Divine act. 1
Ramban #2 (citing the Ibn Ezra): They meant that it was a natural phenomenon, brought about by Elokim (in whom Pharaoh believed) but not by Hashem (the G-d of Yisrael (in whom he did not).
Rashbam: They meant that it must have been a natural phenomenon that had nothing to do with Moshe and Aharon. 2
Sanhedrin 67b #1: They conceded that it was not witchcraft but a Divine act, because witchcraft cannot produce anything smaller than a barley-grain.
Sanhedrin 67b #2: They conceded that it was not witchcraft but a Divine act, since witchcraft is incapable of creating anything (even as large as a camel), but only gathering things that already exist. It cannot gather objects that are smaller than a barley grain to one place. 3
Targum Yonasan: They attributed the lice to Hashem, and not to Moshe and Aharon - as they had until now.
See Ramban, who cites a number of proofs that 'Etzba Elokim' and similar expressions refer to acts attributed to Divine Providence. Moreover, the fact that Pharaoh no longer called the magicians to appear before Moshe indicates that they submitted to his superiority. Refer to 9:11:1:1.
Rashbam: Because, seeing as they insisted on believing that Moshe and Aharon were magicians, if they were able to produce lice then there was no reason why the Chartumim should not also have been able to do so.
See Torah Temimah, note 4.
Why was it at this point, the Makah of Kinim, that the Chartumim learned (according to Rashi) that the plagues were an act of Hashem?
Gur Aryeh (to 9:14): During the first three Makos (De'tzach), Pharaoh clearly did not yet believe that the Makos were from Hashem; that is why he ordered his Chartumim to replicate them. It was only in Makas Kinim, when they failed to do so, that they realized that it was "Etzba Elokim." 1
Why did they refer to "Etzba Elokim" and not "Yad Hashem"?
Rashi (to Rus 1:13): Because the term "Yad Hashem" is confined to the plague of pestilence.
Ramban #1: Refer to 8:15:1:2.
Ramban #2: They meant that this was a relatively small miracle on Hashem's part, and they mentioned the Name Elokim because among themselves, they never used the Name Havayah, only when they spoke to Moshe, since that was the Name with which Moshe addressed them.
Moshav Zekenim: Hashem caused them to say "Etzba," to teach us that Keri'as Yam Suf, which was through Hashem's "Hand," was five times as severe as all the Makos combined. 1
Gur Aryeh (to 18:1): The idolaters believed in individual forces that act independently upon the world. They referred to the Makos as "Etzba Elokim" - i.e. a specific power 2 that was taking action upon the world. 3
Maharal (Gevuros Hashem Ch. 34, p. 128): Indeed, each Makah came to teach how another specific force of nature is under Hashem's control (refer to 7:14:4:1). Maharal (ibid. Ch. 59, p. 261) - When Hashem struck the Nile with blood and frogs, and the earth with lice, these were specific, rather than all-encompassing Makos. (For example, Makas Kinim was not the destruction of Egypt, but rather asserting control of one aspect of it. Keri'as Yam Suf was a greater level - to overpower water in general; refer to 7:14:4:1 3
, and to the following note below.)
Maharal (ibid. Ch. 34, p. 129): This explains why even after all ten Makos, they still thought the Egyptians could overpower the Bnei Yisrael at the Yam Suf. Hashem's salvation at the Yam Suf is called "Yad ha'Gedolah" (14:31); it showed that Hashem overpowered water (one of the four classic elements) as a whole (as opposed to just the Nile, a specific body of water). But Bnei Yisrael still believed that Hashem's power was limited to the lower realms. Later, during the war against Amalek, Hashem halted the sun (see Rashi to 17:12), and they learned that He rules over the heavens as well. At Matan Torah, they learned that Hashem rules even above the heavens, and that there is none other.
The Hagadah Shel Pesach highlights the distinction between the ten Makos in Mitzrayim, which are called "Etzba Elokim;" and Keri'as Yam Suf, which is called "Yad" (which indicates that the Mitzrim suffered five times as many Makos at the Yam Suf). But we find that the Makos are also called Yad (e.g., in 7:4)?
Maharal #1 (Gevuros Hashem, beg. Ch. 58, p. 257): Keri'as Yam Suf is called "Ha'Yad Ha'Gedolah," with the definite article; a term that implies use of the entire hand. Although verse 7:4 does say "I shall set My hand (Yadi) against Egypt" so to speak, it means just "the finger," in the sense that a component part may assume the name of the whole.
Maharal #2 (ibid.): In the Makos, Hashem did dispatch His entire hand (so to speak) against Egypt (7:5); only that the actual blow came only from the Etzba. But at the Yam Suf, "the great hand that Hashem did upon Egypt" (14:31) means that the blow itself was with the entire hand.
The Hagadah Shel Pesach teaches that the ten Makos in Mitzrayim are called "Etzba Elokim," whereas Keri'as Yam Suf is called "Yad;" this shows that the Mitzrim suffered five times as many Makos at the Yam Suf. But why was this so?
Maharal #1 (Gevuros Hashem, beg. Ch. 58, p. 257): The ten Makos in Egypt were not supposed to destroy them; rather, each Makah was against one specific aspect of Egypt. 1 At the Yam Suf, Hashem was punishing the Egyptians for all they had done to Bnei Yisrael, 2 and so He struck them "with a full hand." 3
Maharal #2 (ibid.): The Land of Egypt is a specific place; there they were stricken with "Etzba'os" - i.e. individual Makos. The sea is a general location; and they were hit there with general blow of the "Yad."
Maharal #3 (Chidushei Agados Vol. 3, p. 198, to Sanhedrin 95b): Hashem struck the Mitzrim with both the Etzba, and the Yad. A hit with the finger is a mere touch; if that is sufficient to do the job, it shows the opponent's weakness. But Hashem also wished to display His own great power, so He also struck them with the "hand," at the Yam Suf. 4
Hashem had promised Avraham, "Also the nation that they will serve, I shall punish!" (Bereishis 15:14). Does this refer primarily to the ten plagues, or to the Egyptians' drowning at the sea? Refer to Bereishis 15:14:3.
Maharal (Be'er Ha'Golah, Be'er #4, p. 65): To refer to a Makah as "Etzba" indicates that the blow could have been even more. Calling it "Yad" means that it could not possibly have been any greater.
Maharal (loc. cit.): "Yad" implies the left hand; while "Etzba" means from the right hand (see Menachos 36b, and Zevachim 24a). [Conceptually, the left symbolizes Din, whereas the right symbolizes Chesed. Maharal (Netzach Yisrael Ch. 7, p. 44) - The term Yad always indicates Din, as it does in Makas Dever (also refer to 9:3:2:4 and its note).]
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes: "'As Hashem had spoken' - [I.e., when He said prior to the Makos,] 'But Pharaoh will not listen to you' (Shemos 7:4)." Rashi to 8:11 has already told us this; why does he repeat the same comment?
Gur Aryeh: Our verse has two parts; a. "Pharaoh hardened his heart;" b. "... he did not listen to them." I might have thought that it is the first phrase, Pharaoh's hardening his heart, that fulfilled Hashem's words ("and I shall harden Pharaoh's heart" (7:3)). But this is not so; in the first five Makos, it was Pharaoh who hardened his own heart! Rashi therefore tells us, that it is the second phrase, "Pharaoh did not listen," which fulfilled Hashem's words (in 7:4).
