ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים (שם שם ח), אמר ר' אבא בר כהנא וכי מלך חדש היה, אלא שחידש עליהן גזירות של פורעניות.
(Exod. 1:8:) NOW A NEW KING AROSE OVER EGYPT. R. Abba bar Kahana said: Was he <really> a new king? Only in the sense that he issued new decrees against them which <led> to tribulations.31‘Eruv., Sot. 11a, and Exod. R. 1:8 explain further that the king could not have been a new one since Scripture never reported that the former king had died and that this one reigned in his stead.
2
ד"א ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים. הוא היה פרעה הראשון, אלא שאמרו לו בא ונזדווג לאומה זו, אמר להן עד עכשיו היינו משלהן, ואנו מזדווגין להן, אילולי יוסף לא היו לאותן האנשים ידים, ואתם מזדווגין להן, לא שמע להם, מיד הורידוהו מכסאו שלשה חדשים, כיון שראה שהורידוהו אמר להם כל מה שאתם אומרים אני שומע לכם, לפיכך ויקם מלך חדש.
Another interpretation (of Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE OVER EGYPT. He was < actually > the former Pharaoh. It is simply that they said to him: Come and let us team up32Nizdawweg. Cf. the Gk.: zeugnumi. Cf. also the Greek words, zugon and zeugos. against this people. He said to them: Up to now we have existed on what belongs to them. So are we to unite against them? Were it not for Joseph, these people (i.e., we ourselves) would have had no means (to exist) !33Cf. Tanh., Exod. 1:5: “If it were not for Joseph, we should not have had life.” So would you team up against them? Since he did not hearken to them, they immediately dethroned him for three months. When he saw that they had brought him down, he said to them: I will hearken to you in whatever you say. Ergo (in Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE (after having been deposed for three months).
3
אמר הנביא בה' בגדו כי בנים זרים ילדו (הושע ה ז). שהיו מולידים ולא מלים, עתה יאכלם חודש (שם), חדש כתיב, הוי ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף, ולא היה מכיר את יוסף, שאמר אשר לא ידע את יוסף, אמר ר' אבין הלוי ב"ר למה הדבר דומה לאחד שרגם איקונין של מלך, אורכסיניא (פירוש דמותו), אמר המלך טלו אותו וחתכו את ראשו, עכשיו עשה לזה כך, למחר עושה לי, כך פרעה עכשיו אמר אשר לא ידע את יוסף, למחר אמר לא ידעתי את ה' (שמות ה ב).
The prophet said (in Hos. 5:7): THEY HAVE BETRAYED THE LORD BECAUSE THEY HAVE BORNE ALIEN CHILDREN, in that they begot <them> without circumcising <them>. (Ibid., cont.:) NOW THE NEW MOON (HDSh, voweled as hodesh) SHALL DEVOUR THEM. NEW (HDSh voweled as hadash) is <how the> written text <should be read>.34Thus voweled Hos. 5:7 would read: “A new man (i.e., a new pharaoh) shall devour them.” Ergo (in Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE <OVER EGYPT >, WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH. Nor was he acquainted with Joseph, since it says: WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH. R. Abbin b. R., the Levite said: To what is the matter comparable? To someone who threw stones at a likeness35Gk.: eikones (“images”). of a king, <namely at> a governor'36WRKSYNY’. According to the 1892 supplement to the Aruch, p. 5, the word comes from the Gk., archon (“ruler”). {i.e., his likeness}. The king said: take him and cut off his head. Now he is doing such <a thing> to this <governor>; tomorrow he will do it me. So <it was with> Pharaoh. Now, < Scripture says of him > (in Exod. 1:8): WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH; tomorrow, he would say (in Exod. 5:2): I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD.
ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים (שם שם ח), אמר ר' אבא בר כהנא וכי מלך חדש היה, אלא שחידש עליהן גזירות של פורעניות.
(Exod. 1:8:) NOW A NEW KING AROSE OVER EGYPT. R. Abba bar Kahana said: Was he <really> a new king? Only in the sense that he issued new decrees against them which <led> to tribulations.31‘Eruv., Sot. 11a, and Exod. R. 1:8 explain further that the king could not have been a new one since Scripture never reported that the former king had died and that this one reigned in his stead.
ד"א ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים. הוא היה פרעה הראשון, אלא שאמרו לו בא ונזדווג לאומה זו, אמר להן עד עכשיו היינו משלהן, ואנו מזדווגין להן, אילולי יוסף לא היו לאותן האנשים ידים, ואתם מזדווגין להן, לא שמע להם, מיד הורידוהו מכסאו שלשה חדשים, כיון שראה שהורידוהו אמר להם כל מה שאתם אומרים אני שומע לכם, לפיכך ויקם מלך חדש.
Another interpretation (of Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE OVER EGYPT. He was < actually > the former Pharaoh. It is simply that they said to him: Come and let us team up32Nizdawweg. Cf. the Gk.: zeugnumi. Cf. also the Greek words, zugon and zeugos. against this people. He said to them: Up to now we have existed on what belongs to them. So are we to unite against them? Were it not for Joseph, these people (i.e., we ourselves) would have had no means (to exist) !33Cf. Tanh., Exod. 1:5: “If it were not for Joseph, we should not have had life.” So would you team up against them? Since he did not hearken to them, they immediately dethroned him for three months. When he saw that they had brought him down, he said to them: I will hearken to you in whatever you say. Ergo (in Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE (after having been deposed for three months).
אמר הנביא בה' בגדו כי בנים זרים ילדו (הושע ה ז). שהיו מולידים ולא מלים, עתה יאכלם חודש (שם), חדש כתיב, הוי ויקם מלך חדש אשר לא ידע את יוסף, ולא היה מכיר את יוסף, שאמר אשר לא ידע את יוסף, אמר ר' אבין הלוי ב"ר למה הדבר דומה לאחד שרגם איקונין של מלך, אורכסיניא (פירוש דמותו), אמר המלך טלו אותו וחתכו את ראשו, עכשיו עשה לזה כך, למחר עושה לי, כך פרעה עכשיו אמר אשר לא ידע את יוסף, למחר אמר לא ידעתי את ה' (שמות ה ב).
The prophet said (in Hos. 5:7): THEY HAVE BETRAYED THE LORD BECAUSE THEY HAVE BORNE ALIEN CHILDREN, in that they begot <them> without circumcising <them>. (Ibid., cont.:) NOW THE NEW MOON (HDSh, voweled as hodesh) SHALL DEVOUR THEM. NEW (HDSh voweled as hadash) is <how the> written text <should be read>.34Thus voweled Hos. 5:7 would read: “A new man (i.e., a new pharaoh) shall devour them.” Ergo (in Exod. 1:8): NOW A NEW KING AROSE <OVER EGYPT >, WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH. Nor was he acquainted with Joseph, since it says: WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH. R. Abbin b. R., the Levite said: To what is the matter comparable? To someone who threw stones at a likeness35Gk.: eikones (“images”). of a king, <namely at> a governor'36WRKSYNY’. According to the 1892 supplement to the Aruch, p. 5, the word comes from the Gk., archon (“ruler”). {i.e., his likeness}. The king said: take him and cut off his head. Now he is doing such <a thing> to this <governor>; tomorrow he will do it me. So <it was with> Pharaoh. Now, < Scripture says of him > (in Exod. 1:8): WHO DID NOT KNOW JOSEPH; tomorrow, he would say (in Exod. 5:2): I DO NOT KNOW THE LORD.