Exodus 11:1-2, "Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will dismiss you from here. When he lets you go, driving he will drive you away kalah. Speak now in the hearing of the people, that they ask, every man of his neighbor and every woman of her neighbor, for silver and gold jewelry."Let's talk about the italicized parts, especially that one word, kalah. It has two possible meanings:
(1) "thoroughly" or "completely"
(2) "as a betrothed wife"
Most translators pick the first meaning, but Jim Jordan argues the second makes more sense in context.
Support for the Second Meaning: earlier in the Bible, the words dismiss and driving-out are both reminiscent of situations concerning wives or betrothed wives. In Gen 21:10, Sarah commands Abraham to drive-out Hagar, and later in 21:14 Abraham dismisses Hagar with food and water. In Gen 24:59 Rebekah's family dismisses her and sends her with Abraham's servant. Here again, Pharaoh is going to dismiss and drive-out Israel. It only fits that he would be dismissing them as a betrothed wife.
When you send away a betrothed wife, you always send her away with fine things: gold, silver, clothes, etc. And in this passage, notice what the Egyptians will give Israel (cf. Ex 3:22).
Who is Israel about to marry? Why, YHWH, of course.
Or--this just occurred to me--perhaps kalah does mean "completely," but the "as a betrothed wife" meaning is partly hinted at. In other words, maybe it's a pun!
ReplyDeleteYes, I like that better. It makes more sense of the vowels and the Daghesh Forte in the Lamed, anyway.