שמות ד ,ב : וַיֹאמֶר אֵלָיו יְהוָֹה מַזֶה [מַה־זֶה] בְיָדֶךָ וַיֹאמֶר מַטֶה:
The Baal haTurim observes the phrase "Ma-zeh" is read as two words ('mah zeh') but written as one.can be read מ' זה בידך “forty is this in your hand”, meaning that the weight of the Moshe’s staff was forty seah, hinting at the enormous weight of the staff.
This term is an example of kri (pronunciation) and kesiv (written). The kri form treats it as if it were two words מה זה, whereas the kesiv treats it as one word מזה. The Baal HaTurim interprets by combining the two approaches, using the two words from the kesiv with only three letters from the kri.
The modern equivalent of 40 “seah” is hard to determine. Opinions of the weight of Moshe’s staff range from 760 to 1280 pounds.
Owners of the Staff
שמות ד ,יז : וְאֶת־הַמַטֶה הַזֶה תִקַח בְּיָדֶךָ אֲשֶר תַעֲשֶה־בּוֹ אֶת־הָאֹתֹת:
The Baal HaTurim comments that there are five tagim over the letter ה (others say the 'Tes') in the word "ha'mateh". This is because Moshe was the ninth Tzadik to own the famous staff - Adom, Chanoch, Noach, Sheim, Avrohom, Yitzchak, Yaacov, Yosef and now Moshe.
Many opinions exist as why the Baal HaTurim connects the letter ה and the five tagim to the nine Tzadakim. One opinion is that he left out Paroh since he did not wish to include him with the Tzadakim. Others say that he originally included Yehudah but a later copyist corrected the text. Others say the letter hey usually has one Tagim (standing for the value of 5 for the letter) plus the 4 other tagim. The Radak suggests that the text should read the tagim on the letter ט which has a value of 9.
Also, the Baal HaTurim states that the Gematriyah of "ve'es ha'mateh" is equivalent to that of 'Sapirinun' (sapphire), which is what the staff was made of.
