05-10-2009, 03:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-18-2015, 03:48 PM by Director Michael.)
Mattityahu ben Noach Wrote:Director Michael Wrote:See for example Isaiah 66:24. Also there is punishment "midah k'neged midah" - measure for measure.
Is the expression "midah k'neged midah" used in Tanakh?
Not verbatim. But the concept was stated by Yisro/Jethro in Exodus 18:11, about the Egyptians which G-d drowned in the Sea of Reeds (the Red Sea): "Now I know that G-d is greater than all the gods, for with that which they [the Egyptians] schemed against them [the Israelites]...!"
Rashi explains: "[The Egyptians] imagined that they would destroy [the Israelites] through water [by throwing the Israelite baby boys into the Nile River], and they themselves were destroyed by water [in the Red Sea]."
The expression does appear in the Talmud and Midrash, as cited a few times by Rashi in his explanations of Divine punishments that are written about in the Five Books of Moses. One example is in the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:7).