Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Exodus 8:19/אור החיים על שמות ח׳:י״ט
אוְשַׂמְתִּי פְדֻת. פֵּרוּשׁ, מִלְּבַד שֶׁלֹּא יִכָּנְסוּ לְאֶרֶץ גּוֹשֶׁן, עוֹד יַעֲשֶׂה פְדוּת אֲפִלּוּ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁהֵם חוּץ מֵאֶרֶץ גּוֹשֶׁן, לְבַל קְרוֹב לָהֶם הֶעָרוֹב. וְדִקְדֵּק לוֹמַר בֵּין עַמִּי וּבֵין עַמֶּךָ, פֵּרוּשׁ, כְּשֶׁיִּהְיוּ עַמִּי וְעַמְּךָ עוֹמְדִים בְּשָׁוֶה, יַעֲשֶׂה ה׳ פְּדוּת לָזֶה מִבֵּין זֶה, וְלַנָּכְרִי יַשִּׁיךְ וּלְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל לֹא יַשִּׁיךְ.
1 ושמתי פדות, "I shall set apart, etc." G'd meant that not only would the wild beasts respect the boundary of the province of Goshen and not invade that province, they would not even approach those Israelites that happened to be outside the province of Goshen at the time. The Torah made this clear by the nuance "between My people and between your people." This means that whenever members of both people were found next to one another, only the Egyptians would be bothered by the wild beasts. The beasts would not bite a Jew.