שמות, פרק ט׳, פסוק כ״ח

At the peak of the devastating hail, Pharaoh reaches a breaking point. His plea for relief reflects a complex mixture of submission, deep fear, lingering pride, and a theological struggle to recognize the Creator of the world. Until this moment, the Egyptian king denied the creation of heaven and earth. However, a disaster that merges the forces of the heavens and the natural world forces him to admit that God controls creation and holds the power to either destroy or sustain it [צרור המור].

In his desperate request, Pharaoh uses two different descriptions for the divine. He asks Moses and Aaron to pray to God, yet immediately afterward refers to the deafening thunder as the voices of a more generic, general deity. Commentators offer several perspectives on this shift. One approach suggests that Pharaoh still holds onto a measure of pride; he is willing to acknowledge a general divine force behind the phenomenon but refuses to attribute the thunder directly to the God of the Israelites [אבן עזרא, חזקוני, קאסוטו]. Another perspective views this specific choice of words as an expression of strict, harsh judgment. The thunder was supernatural, carrying a sense of curse and destruction, entirely unlike natural thunder that simply clears the air [העמק דבר, נתינה לגר]. Alternatively, the phrasing may simply highlight the sheer, terrifying volume of the thunder, using a standard expression for massive natural events [רלב״ג].

It is notable that Pharaoh mentions the thunder before the hail. This order is not accidental. The fierce, booming sounds terrified him and broke his spirit even before the physical impact of the hail struck him. This overwhelming fear of the noise is what drove his momentary agreement to free the Israelites, and the moment the sounds ceased, he reverted to his stubborn ways [רבנו בחיי]. Interestingly, while Pharaoh begs for an end to the thunder and the hail, he deliberately avoids asking for the rain to stop. Rain, in and of itself, was vital and beneficial for the Egyptian land [ביאור יש״ר, העמק דבר].

In his plea, Pharaoh expresses that the punishment has reached its limit. The primary approach among commentators is that he is stating the plague has achieved its purpose and must be stopped. He recognizes the thunder as God's angry voice, and since he is now ready to surrender and release the people, there is no need for further punishment [רש״י, שד״ל, מזרחי, ביאור יש״ר, מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ, קאסוטו]. Conversely, another group of commentators understands his phrasing not as a measure of the plague, but as a description of God Himself. According to this view, Pharaoh is asking them to pray to God who is great, the Master of all, acknowledging that He alone has the power to save them from this harsh judgment [הכתב והקבלה, העמק דבר, רבנו בחיי, נתינה לגר, רש״ר הירש].

Finally, Pharaoh promises an immediate release, assuring Moses and Aaron that they will no longer need to wait. In previous plagues, he attempted to delay the end of the disaster until the following day. This time, driven by sheer terror, he demands that the plague be removed instantly and guarantees an immediate departure [רלב״ג]. In his assurance that they will no longer have to stand and wait, there is an ironic echo of God's own words at the beginning of the plague, when God told Pharaoh that He had purposely made him stand to witness His power [קאסוטו].