Moshe and Aharon plead with Pharaoh that they be allowed to go three days in the wilderness to sacrifice to the God of the Hebrews, ‘lest he strike us with the plague or the sword’. Since, presumably, Pharaoh was not likely to be moved by compassion for the slave population, it needs to be explained why they thought this plea would be effective. Rashi claims that ‘lest he strike us’ is a polite euphemism for ‘lest he strike you’, which Moshe used out of respect since he did not want to …
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