Etzba Elohim Hi

When I was a kid, I liked to think that when the chartumim say after the plague of lice that they couldn't recreate, that it was (Exodus 8:15) "etzba elohim hi", that this should be translated as "God is giving us the finger".

In point of fact, it is a great debate if they meant God or "the gods", among Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ramban, and see Shadal who interprets Onkelos to mean "the gods" even though he explicitly says "min kadam hashem", and see Shadal on Genesis 1:2 as well.

The debate is centered over if they admitted that God was in control and not them. Did they really recognize God? Weren't they polytheistic idolaters? If they were saying that it wasn't God but their gods, why does it say that they declared this after they couldn't recreate it? It would make sense for them to admit defeat, not blame something else. And if it means they were not admitting defeat, what does it mean that Pharaoh didn't listen to them?

I think the answer is that they were actually referring to Moses. It is the finger of Moses, who must be a god! How else could he work this magic? We should obey him!

I haven't seen anyone else offer this answer. In fact, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan explicitly says the opposite: אמרו איסטגניני פרעה לא מן כח גבורת משה ואהרן היא אלהן מחא משתלחא מן קדם י"י היא. But I think it flows thematically throughout the parsha.

Early in the parsha, God responds to Moses to recharge him with his mission, and right before Moses is to perform the plagues, the Torah interrupts to give lineage. Why? The meforshim debate this "interruption" in the narrative. Rav Hirsch thinks it was because the Torah wants to emphasize how Moses is human, not a god, not supernatural. He is mortal and like everyone else in that essential way. This is the important message to receive before hearing the amazing miracles that are wrought through him. He is the human instrument of God, not God Himself.

This is a Jewish concept. We do not believe in any one person as a god who is infallible and all-powerful.

It's a Jewish concept that Pharaoh cannot accept. In fact, God promises Moses (Exodus 7:1) that He will make Moses a god ("elohim") to Pharaoh soon after in the parsha. Again, the meforshim debate what this could mean. But I think (and I haven't seen anyone suggests this as well) that Pharaoh will come to view Moses as an actual god - his mistaken belief in the possibilities of a person being a god would allow this to happen. This is the closest to pshat in my belief.