Reparations and Despoiling Egypt

Introduction

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An Unjust Command?

When Hashem first appears to Moshe, He informs him (Shemot 3:22) that when the Israelites are driven out of Egypt, they will not leave empty-handed. Rather, the Children of Israel will request articles of gold and silver and clothing from their Egyptian neighbors and thus despoil Egypt:

EN/HEע/E

וְשָׁאֲלָה אִשָּׁה מִשְּׁכֶנְתָּהּ וּמִגָּרַת בֵּיתָהּ כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב וּשְׂמָלֹת וְשַׂמְתֶּם עַל בְּנֵיכֶם וְעַל בְּנֹתֵיכֶם וְנִצַּלְתֶּם אֶת מִצְרָיִם.

And every woman shall ask of her neighbor and of her that lives in her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall place them on your sons and on your daughters, and you shall despoil Egypt.

This is not the only mention of this deed. Hashem repeats these instructions immediately prior to the Exodus, when He tells Moshe to relay them to the Children of Israel (Shemot 11:2):

EN/HEע/E

דַּבֶּר נָא בְּאָזְנֵי הָעָם וְיִשְׁאֲלוּ אִישׁ מֵאֵת רֵעֵהוּ וְאִשָּׁה מֵאֵת רְעוּתָהּ כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב.

Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, articles of silver and articles of gold.

And finally, the Torah records that the command was implemented (Shemot 12:35–36) in the middle of the story of the Exodus itself:¹

EN/HEע/E

(לה) וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עָשׂוּ כִּדְבַר מֹשֶׁה וַיִּשְׁאֲלוּ מִמִּצְרַיִם כְּלֵי כֶסֶף וּכְלֵי זָהָב וּשְׂמָלֹת.
(לו) וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם וַיַּשְׁאִלוּם וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם.

(35) And the Children of Israel did according to the word of Moshe, and they asked of the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing.
(36) And Hashem gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they gave them, and they despoiled Egypt.

This repetition is striking and warrants examination.²

Additionally, when we reflect upon this command from the various perspectives of the three parties involved – the Egyptians, Israelites, and Hashem – there are several puzzling aspects to consider:

• What was the nature of this request? Did the Egyptians intend these objects to be a gift or a loan?
• If they were a gift, why would the Egyptians give valuable presents to their despised slaves?
• If they were a loan, how could Hashem command the Israelites to deliberately mislead the Egyptians into thinking the objects would be returned?³ And was it not theft for the Israelites to ultimately keep these items?⁴
• Why would Hashem issue such a command? If He merely wanted to enrich the Children of Israel, could He not have done so without resorting to deceiving or despoiling the Egyptians?

A Talmudic Tale

The problematic nature of the episode is captured in the following story relayed in the Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 91a:

EN/HEע/E

שוב פעם אחת באו בני מצרים לדון עם ישראל לפני אלכסנדרוס מוקדון, אמרו לו: הרי הוא אומר "וה' נתן את חן העם בעיני מצרים וישאלום" – תנו לנו כסף וזהב שנטלתם ממנו.

On another occasion the Egyptians came in a lawsuit against the Jews before Alexander of Macedonia. They said to him: "Behold it is written: 'And Hashem gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians and they lent them'. Return to us the gold and silver which you took from them!"

According to the Gemara, hundreds of years after the event, the Egyptians were still upset about the property that was taken from them and demanded repayment. Were they justified in their claims?

¹ It is unclear when exactly the command was implemented. According to some commentators (e.g. Ramban Shemot 11:3), the fulfillment took place only in 12:36, right before the nation's departure in 12:37. Others, though, suggest that the past perfect form of "וַה' נָתַן אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרַיִם" in 12:36 is an indication of a flashback, and that the words "וַיִּתֵּן ה' אֶת חֵן הָעָם בְּעֵינֵי מִצְרָיִם" in Shemot 11:3 attest to the fact that the command was already carried out before the plague of first-borns. See also Despoiling Egypt in Art for pictorial depictions which differ regarding the timing of the implementation. For more on the possible general use of past perfect forms to indicate achronology, see Chronology.

² A simple explanation for the repetition is that Shemot 3 gives Moshe a bird's eye view of the entire process to follow, Shemot 11 is when the people actually requested the articles, and Shemot 12 mentions it again as part of its listing of everything the Israelites took out of Egypt. Nevertheless, the repeated emphasis indicates that Hashem attached great significance to the act. The Israelites leaving with riches is noted also in Tehillim 105:37-38. Finally, many commentators also view this event as the realization of Hashem's promise to Avraham in Bereshit 15:13-14 "וְאַחֲרֵי כֵן יֵצְאוּ בִּרְכֻשׁ גָּדוֹל".

³ This question is interconnected with why Hashem commanded Moshe to request only a three day holiday – see A Three Day Journey. Interestingly, the RanDerashot HaRan 11About R. Nissim Gerondi claims that the Children of Israel themselves initially wondered why Moshe was not upfront with the Egyptians on both of these matters, and that this caused them to have doubts as to whether Moshe was really Hashem's messenger.

⁴ In contrast to many other Biblical stories where it is theoretically possible to cast doubt on the particular character or nation's morality, in our case this is not an option as the Torah specifies that it was a Divine mandate and not a human initiative. Thus, all commentators here attempt to provide an understanding of the moral justification of the episode. For a similar and related case, see A Three Day Journey.