Literary Devices – Shemot 8

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

• Concordance – Tracing the usage of both the verb and adjective "כבד" in Torah¹ reveals how they appear throughout the Exodus narrative,  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.

See Prof. Yonatan Grossman's Leitwort who discusses the phenomenon of keywords as a whole, bringing "כבד" as one example, and R. Nathaniel Helfgot 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.³

• באש – See the concordance that this root is somewhat rare. It is used  in the plague narrative to describe the foul smell let off by the dying fish and frogs (Shemot 7:18, 7:21, and 8:10) and recalls Shemot 5:21, when the Israelites worried that Moshe’s advocacy would sour their reputation with Paroh: "הִבְאַשְׁתֶּם אֶת רֵיחֵנוּ בְּעֵינֵי פַרְעֹה". 

• The allusion might hint to a measure for measure punishment. Paroh’s viewing of the nation as befouled is punished by the land reeking during the plagues.See the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tanchuma, Eliyahu Rabbah and others who all view the plagues as measure for measure punishments.⁴ 

• See Purpose of the Plagues for discussion of various approaches regarding the choice of plagues including both the idea that they were an undoing of creation with an educative goal, and that they were measure for measure punishments.

• Shemot 8:17 contains a wordplay with the root “שלח”. Hashem says: "כִּי אִם אֵינְךָ מְשַׁלֵּחַ אֶת עַמִּי הִנְנִי מַשְׁלִיחַ בְּךָ... אֶת הֶעָרֹב". Like many of the other literary devices in the story of the Exodus, the purpose of the wordplay is to emphasize that the plagues are just recompense for the Egyptians’ obduracy and persecution of the Israelites.

• As above, see Purpose of the Plagues for discussion that the plagues might have been brought as measure for measure punishment of Egyptian crimes.