רמב"ן — והפשתה והשעורה נכתה

Q — Pesukim 31-32 — that flax and barley were struck but wheat and kusemet weren't because they were 'afilot' (late developers) — interrupt the narrative of Moshe's tefilla. Ibn Ezra: a parenthetical narrative report ('ספר הכתוב מה שאירע'). Rasag: Moshe is telling Pharaoh that tefilla won't help flax and barley (already destroyed) but will help wheat and kusemet. What does Ramban hear?

A — It is Moshe's warning to Pharaoh, but neither narrative nor commentary on tefilla efficacy. 'I know your יראה is only while plagues are striking; once they pass, you return to folly. Now: the wheat and kusemet, which are your main sustenance, weren't hit by barad — not because tefilla saves them but because they were too young. But they remain ביד האלהים to destroy if you persist.' This sets up arbe ('ואכל את יתר הפלטה הנשארת לכם מן הברד') as the realized threat. The chiddush: Moshe converts a botanical fact (timing of growth) into a moral warning — Hashem has 'הרבה שלוחים' to destroy what one plague spared.