Literary Devices – Shemot 32/0

Literary Devices – Shemot 32

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Key Words

"עם"

The Tanakh Lab demonstrates that this word appears a full 19 times in the chapter.  Nechama Leibowitz notes that Tanakh uses it artfully to subtly reveal Hashem and Moshe's feelings as Hashem accuses the nation and Moshe defends them.

• Your/Moshe's People – In describing the sin of the people, Hashem refers to them as "עַמְּךָ” (your/Moshe’s people) in verse 7, and “הָעָם הַזֶּה” (this nation) in verse 9, as if to express the distance between them and Him. 
• Your/Hashem’s People – When Moshe prays for the people, he echoes Hashem's language, twice referring to them as “עַמְּךָ” (Your/Hashem’s people) in verses 11 and 12, reminding God of the historical bond between Him and Israel, and stressing that the nation is in fact His people (not Moshe's). 
• HIs/Hashem's People – When Hashem accedes to Moshe’s prayer in verse 14 and forgives the nation, the people are referred to as “עַמּוֹ” (His/Hashem’s people). Hashem has heard Moshe, and once again views the people as His.
• This  People – Interestingly, when Moshe descends and sees the people actively worshiping the calf, he reverts to Hashem's language, pejoratively referring to the nation as "הָעָם הַזֶּה" (verse 21)
• Articles and Sources – See N. Leibowitz, Iyyunim Chadashim BeSefer Shemot (Jerusalem, 1970): 401-408.

"Who Brought You Up From Egypt"

• See the Tanakh Lab that variations of the phrase "אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם" appear five times in the chapter (verses 1,4,7,6 and 23).  The term appears again in 33:1 and the similar "אֲשֶׁר הוֹצֵאתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם" appears in verse 11, marking a seven-fold repetition of the theme (Cassuto). This perhaps highlights the outrageousness of the sin in context of the recent Exodus. It also highlights the Israelites’ confusion about who was responsible for the Exodus -- Moshe, Hashem, or the calf and whatever it represents. 

Parallels and Contrasts

The scene of the making of the calf and its worship is mentioned three times in the unit, by the narrator, as Hashem reveals to Moshe what is going on, and when Aharon tells Moshe what happened.

Character Titles

Moshe

• Moshe – Throughout most of the chapter, Moshe is referred to by his proper name.
• "This person Moshe"  – In verses 1 and 23, Moshe is uniquely referred to by the nation as "this person Moshe".¹ RambanShemot 32:1About R. Moshe b. Nachman suggests that this epithet proves that the people did not consider Moshe a god, and did not intend for the calf to be a god either. AbarbanelShemot 32:1About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, by contrast, understands the epithet to reflect the people’s recognition  that Moshe was vulnerable due to being a human being, and their desire to replace him with a being that was divine and immortal. Cf. Da'at Mikra that this epithet (particularly the word “this”) conveys a tone of disrespect and disdain.

The Nation

The chapter refers to the Israelites in three ways, by the proper name Israel (2 times), the similar "Children of Israel" (once), and by the noun "people" (19 times).

• Israel – When calling on each other to recognize the calf as the god who took them from Egypt (verses  4,8), the people somewhat unexpectedly refer to their audience as "Israel", as if "Israel" is distinct from the speaker.²
• Children of Israel – The nation is referred to in this manner only once in the chapter, when given the ashes of the calf to drink in verse 20.
• People ("עם") – This term is the prevalent one in the chapter, appearing 19 times. See the discussion above regarding how its various forms highlight the way both Hashem and Moshe view the people as they sin, and either distance themselves from the people or choose to bond with them.

Wordplay

Examples

• "רעה" – Professor Cassuto notes that there is a seven-fold play on the sounds "ב/פרע" throughout the chapter, all  related to or recalling the root "רע".‎³ See: בְּרָעָה (verse 12), הָרָעָה (verse 12, 14), בְּרֵעֹה (verse 17), בְרָע (verse 22), פָרֻעַ (verse 25), and פְרָעֹה (verse 25).  
• Rabbanit Dena Rock⁴ notes that the word “פְרָעֹ֣ה” might allude to the name Paroh. She suggests that the worship of the calf betrays the people's unwillingness to commit to a relationship with Hashem and His laws. They prefer to live a life without rules, in which chaos reigns, and they can "let go". They desire a return to the life represented by Paroh, which had no Divine demands.

Articles

• For further discussion of the play on words "פְרָעֹ֣ה" and "פרעה" see Rabbanit Dena Rock's article,  article  וביום פקדי - Chet Ha-Egel Revisited.
• See also Repetition of Sounds, by Professor Yonatan Grossman, for a more general discussion of aural triggers and how repetition of sounds might contribute to the meaning of a text.

¹ Note that Moshe is also called “משה האיש” in Shemot 11:3. He is later referred to as “איש האלוקים”. [See Devarim 33:1, Yehoshua 14:6, Tehillim 90:1, Ezra 3:2, Divrei HaYamim I 23:14, and Divrei HaYamim II 30:16.] The association of Moshe with the word “man” perhaps indicates his role as the human being who is the most direct messenger of God.

² This might in part motivate Rashi to claim that it was the mixed multitudes from Egypt who initiated the idolatrous endeavor, calling on "Israel" to join them.

³ The words are not all etymologically connected and stem from three different roots, רע (evil), רֵעַ (shouting), and פרע (to let loose).

⁴ See her article וביום פקדי - Chet Ha-Egel Revisited.