Propaganda Then and Now

And the Egyptians did us (otanu) evil, and afflicted us, and imposed on us hard labor.       Deuteronomy 26:6

                                 

            While this translation seems cumbersome, it is more faithful to the Hebrew than the standard translation: “And the Egyptians treated us cruelly and afflicted us, and they imposed hard labor upon us.”

            Indeed, Netziv comments that, if the standard translation were correct, we would expect the verse to use the word “lanu” as does the verse in Parashat Ḥukkat: “And the Egyptians mistreated us (lanu) and our forefathers.” [Numbers 20:15] Based upon the unusual wording, Netziv understands the verse to mean “The Egyptians made us evil and ungrateful;” that is, the Egyptian propaganda presented the Israelites as an evil nation which plotted against the country which welcomed them in at their time of need.

            Netziv wrote these words more than one-hundred-twenty-five years ago and the verse itself was first stated more than three-thousand years ago. The overlap between Netziv’s understanding of the verse and Nazi propaganda of eighty years ago is astounding!