parshaמפרשי הפרשה

הכתב והקבלה — וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים

'וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים' — the second clause has no object. Rashi fills it in ('שם אליהם לב'), Ibn Ezra supplies a hidden one (the secret oppression). But why does the verse leave it dangling?

ונראה לי כי הכרת הבורא יתעלה הוא על ידי מעשיו הנכבדים, וכל זמן שלא יראה משפטו בעולם ידומה לבני אדם כעומד מרחוק ואינו משגיח על מעללי איש, וכאשר יראה משפטו בארץ שהוא דן אותם לפי דרכיהם, מזה יקחו בני אדם ראיה על שה' יתעלה משגיח על מעשי בני אדם, וכדברי המשורר 'נודע ה' משפט עשה'.

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הכתב והקבלה

הכתב והקבלה, שמות ב׳:כ״ה

HaKtav VeHaKabalah, Exodus 2:25

Shemot

Q — 'וירא אלהים את בני ישראל וידע אלהים' — the second clause has no object. Rashi fills it in ('שם אליהם לב'), Ibn Ezra supplies a hidden one (the secret oppression). But why does the verse leave it dangling?

A — HaKtav VeHaKabbalah relocates the subject. 'וידע אלהים' does NOT have Hashem as the one who knows — the unstated subject is *Yisrael*. The standard route to knowing the Creator is through seeing His judgment in the world ('נודע ה' משפט עשה,' Tehillim 9:17). As long as a person sees no divine justice in the world, Hashem seems distant; once the משפט appears, the existence and השגחה of God become legible. So the verse marks the turning point: Hashem 'appeared' (the מכות are about to start) — and by means of this visible judgment, Yisrael themselves *came to know* Elokim. The grammar resists the standard read; the theology rewards the resistance.

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