Literary Devices – Shemot 10/0

Literary Devices – Shemot 10

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Key Words

"כבד" (heavy) and "חזק" (strong)

The roots "כבד" and "חזק" appear only three times altogether in the chapter, but might be key words throughout the narrative of the Exodus.

• Concordance – Using the concordance to trace the usage of both the verb and adjective "כבד" in Torah¹ reveals how it appears throughout the Exodus narrative, marking key points in the story, from the initial "heavy" famine that causes the nation to descend to Egypt to the "great" wealth with which the nation leaves Egypt.²  Similarly, both the adjective and verbal root "חזק" repeat in the narrative, referring on one hand to Paroh's obstinance in preventing the Exodus and on the other to God's mighty hand which brings it about.
• Articles – See Prof. Yonatan Grossman's Leitwort, who notes how "כבד" serves as a guiding word throughout the narrative, and R. Nathaniel Helfgot's שתי מילים מנחות בסיפור 'יציאת מצרים, who explores the usages of the two roots כבד and חזק.  Both authors note how the repetition of the roots demonstrates Hashem's measure for measure actions during the Exodus.

Wordplay In a few places in this chapter, the Torah includes plays on words that highlight the contrast between the devastation of Egypt and the salvation of Israel, as power shifts from Paroh to Hashem’s agent Moshe: 

• Dr. Robert Alter, in his commentary on the Torah, points out a play between “so that you shall recount to your son and your son’s son” (verse 2) and “the likes of which your fathers and your fathers’ fathers have not seen” (verse 6).  
• Daat Mikra and Dr. Robert Alter’s commentary on the Torah point out a punning  connection between “Until when will you refuse to humble yourself before me?” (verse 3) and “Until when shall this be a trap for us?” (verse 7).   

¹ One can check both the adjective and verbal forms of the root.

² The first four instances of the adjective relate to the oppressive famine that initially sent the Israelites to Egypt. The word is then used to describe the shared Israelite and Egyptian mourning for Yaakov, representing the point at which the Israelites were welcomed into Egyptian society. In the narrative of the Exodus in Shemot, the word is used in several contexts: to describe Moshe’s lack of eloquence, the oppressive, unparalleled nature of the plagues, the obduracy of Paroh, the wealth with which the Israelites left Egypt, and the honor which is given to God through His miracles.