Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah

Or HaChaim on Exodus 8:24/אור החיים על שמות ח׳:כ״ד

אלֹא תַרְחִיקוּ לָלֶכֶת. פֵּרוּשׁ, כְּשִׁיעוּר שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים, כִּי כְּלוּם טַעַם שֶׁאָמַר מֹשֶׁה הוּא ״הֵן נִזְבַּח וְגוֹ׳ וְלֹא יִסְקְלוּנוּ״, אִם כֵּן לָמָּה יִצְטָרְכוּ לְהַרְחִיק דֶּרֶךְ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים, בְּהַרְחָקַת פַּרְסָה אוֹ יוֹתֵר קְצָת דַּי. וְטַעַם שֶׁנִּתְרַצָּה לוֹ מֹשֶׁה, כֵּיוָן שֶׁכָּל עַצְמֵינוּ אֵין אָנוּ מִשְׁתַּדְּלִים אֶלָּא לָצֵאת מֵהָעִיר, מַה לִי בִּתְנָאוֹ יוֹם אוֹ יוֹמַיִם, וְכִי יִרְדּוֹף תִּרְדְּפֵהוּ רָעָה וּגְזֵרָתוֹ עוֹמֶדֶת לְעוּמָּתוֹ. לָזֶה לֹא רָצָה מֹשֶׁה לְדַקְדֵּק בִּתְנַאי הַזְּמַן וְאָמַר ״רַק אַל יוֹסֵף פַּרְעֹה הָתֵל לְבִלְתִּי שַׁלַּח״ בְּאֵיזֶה אוֹפֶן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה, וְדִקְדֵּק לוֹמַר ״רַק״ לְשׁוֹן מִיעוּט, לוֹמַר הֲגַם שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הַשְּׁלִיחוּת בִּתְנַאי פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים.
1 לא תרחיקו לכת. "Do not go very far." Pharaoh meant: "not as far as the three days you have requested." His argument was that if Moses was afraid the Egyptians would stone the Israelites if they slaughtered animals the Egyptians regarded as sacred, there was no reason to travel a distance of three days to escape that particular danger. Apparently, Moses did not make an issue of this at this time; he reasoned that the Israelites' major purpose was to get out of the urban areas, no matter how far. If Pharaoh would pursue them, Moses was certain that G'd would deal with him. At that point Moses wanted only to ensure that Pharaoh would not have a reason to renege on his promise; this is why he warned Pharaoh not to deal deceitfully with him and the Jewish people. He emphasized this by use of the word רק. Moses meant that though they would travel for a distance of less than three days the important thing for them was to get out of town for a while.