The centerpiece of Parashat Ki Tisa is the episode of the golden calf; the egel zahav that is formed (in some way) by Aaron at the insistence of (some of) the people when Moses was “late” in descending from his encounter with God.
The sense one gets when reading the story is that Moses had to have been quite late in his return; late enough to cause a great deal of anxiety among those who were waiting.
Rashi concludes, however, that Moses was not really delayed at all.
He proposes that the issue was whether the actual day of Moses’ departure should be counted when reckoning the time of his expected return. Moses, according to Rashi, intended the counting to begin on the first day of his absence. The people, in their anxiety, began to count on the day of his departure.
If Rashi is correct, the extent of the apparent delay was 24 hours; from mid-day on the 40th day following his departure to mid-day on the 40th day if counted from the first day of his absence (the next day).
Should we think differently of the anxiety of the people and of their subsequent actions if Rashi is correct?
If the delay were substantially longer than Rashi proposes, we might tend to be more sympathetic toward the people and more understanding of their anxiety. A 24-hour delay, though, does not seem to be much of a trial of patience.
A 24-hour delay might be one that Aaron, in his position as leader in Moses’ absence and as newly-ordained high priest might be expected to manage. But, of course, he did not.
Whether he took an active role in the formation of the idol or he “hurled it (the gold) into the fire and out came this calf!” is an unresolved question. He did not stop it, though.
But then at 32:25 we read this interesting passage:
וַיַּ֤רְא מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם כִּ֥י פָרֻ֖עַ ה֑וּא כִּֽי־פְרָעֹ֣ה אַהֲרֹ֔ן לְשִׁמְצָ֖ה בְּקָמֵיהֶֽם׃
“Moses saw that the people were out of control—since Aaron had let them get out of control—so that they were a menace to any who might oppose them.”
If we extract five central words from the verse and look closely at the punctuation, it is clear that the Masoretes, who added both punctuation and vocalization to the Hebrew script, meant these words to be read in two phrases.
כִּ֥י פָרֻ֖עַ ה֑וּא כִּֽי־פְרָעֹ֣ה
The first three words, ki pharua hu, are halted by the etnachta punctuation below the letter ה and separated from the two words that follow.
That three-word phrase is translated in the source we quote above as, “that they (it) were (was) out of control”. Other commentators translate the condition as “broken loose” or “laid bare” or “unloosed”. The sense of all approaches suggesting an imminent danger.
Of course the text we have in the Torah scroll itself is neither punctuated nor vocalized. And if we strip away both, there is another possible reading.
First consider that the preposition ki, while it often means “that”, as in the translation above, can also mean “as” or “like” and it can be used in a series-statement i.e.
“that/because —— as/like ——“
Now, let’s look closely at the last word in the excerpt:
פרעה
If we look only at the text of the Torah scroll itself, this word is spelled as is the name, Pharaoh.
So, an alternate interpretation of our 5-word excerpt from this verse might be
“Moses saw that the people were out of control, like/as Pharoah.”
If there was something in the nature of the people’s actions that was “like Pharaoh” it would clearly represent a threat; and one that had to be dealt with harshly and immediately.
What was the ultimate plague that caused Pharoah to change his mind and allow the people to leave? The killing of the firstborn.
Is the command to the Levites to:
“go back and forth throughout the camp, and slay brother, neighbor and kin“
an echo of that?
Or were the killing of the 3,000, plus the plague that followed it, together, a replay of the destruction wrought on Egypt and Pharoah?
Pharoah and the Egyptians represented a threat to the people and to God’s plan for them. So did those who participated in the sin of the Golden Calf.
The Masoretes certainly had a reason for punctuating the text of the Torah as they chose to. And the sense of the text as given is powerful enough to take its place among the most memorable stories in the history of the Israelite people.
But I can’t help but look at the reappearance of Pharaoh in the story of the Golden Calf!
Was it at the foot of the mountain that the people; those who were worthy and survived; actually completed their escape from Egypt?
©Charles R. Lightner