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The following commentary on "Parashah Va'era" (Exodus 6:2-9:35) deals with several overlooked points in relation to the first seven of the familiar Ten Plagues. For details on the last three plagues, see also commentary on "Parashah Bo".

Because these plagues foreshadow those of the book of Revelation, I prefer to translate "Va'era" as "I was revealed" rather than the traditional "I appeared". But how can it be that the character of the Holy and Righteous One should be revealed through disaster and plague? I hope to provide an answer by comparison with parallels in Ezekiel and Revelation.

Parashah Va'era begins with the last occasion of Moshe's humiliation, his rejection before the elders of Isra'el; it then transitions by narrating his genealogy, as if punctuating the record; and it continues with the first seven occasions of his exaltation before the elders of Egypt, where he is vindicated even against the worst that the current world power could do.

But before discussing the plagues, I want to draw out an indirect illustration arising from Moshe's ancestry. For further study, it is very instructive to chart out Moshe's family tree, Exodus 6:16-27, and to determine the meanings of his relatives' names.

How many years was Isra'el enslaved and oppressed by Egypt? Did you say 400? Would you like to guess lower? The round number of four centuries comes from Genesis 15:13, which we often read hastily and do not correlate with other Biblical records. Exodus 12:40 refers to the same period as exactly 430 years to the very day, ending with the Exodus; and Galatians 3:17 testifies separately to the length of 430 years, giving the starting point as God's oath to Avram (the oath of Genesis 15).

So not only did God appear to Avram on the same anniversary as the Exodus (Passover, the first full moon of spring); but it also chronologically predated the sojourn of Isra'el into Egypt by 215 years. That is, 25 to Yitzchak's birth, 60 to Isra'el's birth, and 130 to his personal appearance before Pharaoh (Levi was about 44 and his son K'hat was already born). Isra'el's entry into Egypt was the midpoint, not the beginning point, of the period from the oath to its fulfillment; Avram's seed spent the first half in Kena'an and only the second half in Egypt.

I bring this up because it is reemphasized by Moshe's own testimony that his grandfather, K'hat, lived to 133, and his father 'Amram lived to 137. A 400-year sojourn is plainly unsupportable, but a 215-year sojourn is entirely natural.

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