Exodus 10 Knowing me Knowing You

Chapter ten presents a shift in the messaging of the plagues. In the introduction to the plagues, ה׳ explains to Moshe:וְיָדְעוּ מִצְרַיִם כִּי אֲנִי ה׳ בִּנְטֹתִי אֶת־יָדִי עַל־מִצְרַיִם וְהוֹצֵאתִי אֶת־בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל מִתּוֹכָם (שמות ז:ה)“The Egyptians shall know that I am ה׳ when I stretch out My hand over Egypt and bring out the Israelites from their midst” (7:5).In the very first plague, Moshe tells Pharaoh:כֹּה אָמַר ה׳ בְּזֹאת תֵּדַע כִּי אֲנִי ה׳ הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי מַכֶּה בַּמַּטֶּה אֲשֶׁר בְּיָדִי עַל־הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר בַּיְאֹר וְנֶהֶפְכוּ לְדָם (שמות ז:יז)“Thus says ה׳: By this you shall know that I am ה׳: See, I shall strike the water in the Nile with the rod that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood” (7:17).Next, in chapter 8, before the plague of wild animals, Moshe explains:וְהִפְלֵיתִי בַיּוֹם הַהוּא אֶת־אֶרֶץ גֹּשֶׁן אֲשֶׁר עַמִּי עֹמֵד עָלֶיהָ לְבִלְתִּי הֱיוֹת־שָׁם עָרֹב לְמַעַן תֵּדַע כִּי אֲנִי ה׳ בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ (שמות ח:יח)“On that day I will set apart the region of Goshen, where My people dwell, so that no swarms of insects shall be there, that you may know that I, ה׳, am in the midst of the land” (8:18).For the next plague, pestilence, Moshe tells Pharaoh:כִּי בַּפַּעַם הַזֹּאת אֲנִי שֹׁלֵחַ אֶת־כָּל־מַגֵּפֹתַי אֶל־לִבְּךָ וּבַעֲבָדֶיךָ וּבְעַמְּךָ בַּעֲבוּר תֵּדַע כִּי אֵין כָּמֹנִי בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ (שמות ט:יד)“For this time I will send all My plagues upon your person, and your courtiers, and your people, in order that you may know that there is none like Me in all the land” (9:14).After Pharaoh begs Moshe to stop the plague of hail, Moshe responds:כְּצֵאתִי אֶת־הָעִיר אֶפְרֹשׂ אֶת־כַּפַּי אֶל־ה׳ הַקֹּלוֹת יֶחְדָּלוּ וְהַבָּרָד לֹא יִהְיֶה עוֹד לְמַעַן תֵּדַע כִּי לַה׳ הָאָרֶץ (שמות ט:כט)“As I go out of the city, I shall spread out my hands to ה׳; the thunder will cease and the hail will fall no more, so that you may know that the earth is ה׳’s” (9:29).Notice the progression: a general introduction that both the Egyptians and Pharaoh will know that ה׳ is God; then that ה׳ is in the midst of the land; then that there is none like ה׳ in all the land; and finally, that the very land itself belongs to ה׳.In chapter ten, the messaging shifts:וּלְמַעַן תְּסַפֵּר בְּאָזְנֵי בִנְךָ וּבֶן־בִּנְךָ אֵת אֲשֶׁר הִתְעַלַּלְתִּי בְמִצְרַיִם וְאֶת־אֹתֹתַי אֲשֶׁר־שַׂמְתִּי בָם וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי ה׳ (שמות י:ב)“And that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them—in order that you may know that I am ה׳” (10:2).Now that the Egyptian people realize that ה׳ is master of the land, it is time for the focus to shift to the Israelites themselves. Recall that they did not believe Moshe when he first came to tell them that ה׳ had sent him. Before the final three plagues, the purpose is no longer about convincing Egypt—it is about convincing the very people Moshe is there to save.This progression reflects a profound educational process, one that echoes Rambam’s philosophy in Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (2:2):“When a person contemplates His wondrous and great works and creations and appreciates His infinite wisdom, immediately he loves, praises, and glorifies Him.”For Rambam, the first step toward knowing God is through observing nature and its order. The plagues invert this principle: Pharaoh begins by witnessing disruptions in nature—water becomes blood, hail falls with fire, darkness covers the sun—until he realizes that these forces are not autonomous but under divine control. In this sense, the plagues serve as a Maimonidean curriculum for Pharaoh, teaching him through the grandeur and vulnerability of creation that the Creator alone governs reality.