Derasha 192 on Bo 12:36

TT# 192 · Parashas Bo · Passuk 12:36

The Complete Passuk

וַֽיהֹוָ֞ה נָתַ֨ן אֶת־חֵ֥ן הָעָ֛ם בְּעֵינֵ֥י מִצְרַ֖יִם וַיַּשְׁאִל֑וּם וַֽיְנַצְּל֖וּ אֶת־מִצְרָֽיִם׃

Source Citation

Torah Temimah cites Pesachim 119a for this TT# unit. On the cited daf, the preceding passage identifies the wealth Yosef gathered; the derasha on this passuk itself is the immediately following statement that Israel took that treasure out of Egypt, explicitly deriving it from וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם.

Sefaria — Exodus 12:36
Sefaria — Pesachim 119a
E-Daf — Pesachim 119a

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text — Pesachim 119a
וּכְשֶׁעָלוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרַיִם הֶעֱלוּהוּ עִמָּהֶן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם״. רַב אַסִּי אָמַר: עֲשָׂאוּהָ כִּמְצוּדָה זוֹ שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ דָּגָן; רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אָמַר: כִּמְצוּלָה שֶׁאֵין בָּהּ דָּגִים.

English: When Israel left Egypt, they took this treasure with them, as Scripture says, “and they despoiled Egypt.” Rav Asi compares Egypt to a bird-trap emptied of grain; Rabbi Shimon compares it to the depths of the sea emptied of fish.

Type of Learning

Derash linking the Torah’s description of the Egyptian wealth leaving Egypt with the earlier gathering of that wealth by Yosef.

What Is Learned

The phrase וַיְנַצְּלוּ אֶת מִצְרָיִם is the scriptural proof that Israel took the treasure out of Egypt; the immediately preceding statement supplies the background for what that treasure was.