Parashat Bo [Exodus 10:1 - 13:16]

Parasha Bo [Exodus 10:1 – 13:16] is probably one of the most important portions to the history of the Jewish people. This is the Parasha that establishes Passover, and the feast of unleavened bread. If I am not mistaken, these may be the first feasts that are established as a permanent ordinance throughout all generations. It is the portion where God, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, saves his people, the Israelites, from the slavery of the Egyptians. The 10th plague inflicted on Egypt what breaks the will of the Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s land is now desolate with the destruction of the vegetation and livestock. The final straw, as it were, was the death of the firstborn male (the 10th “plague”). Exodus 12:29 tells us that “the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle (NASB). I have learned that traditionally, the firstborn is to be the head of the family when the father is away. He is to be the high priest on occasions that the father is away. In this case, he would have crippled the religious heritage of the Egyptians.


One thought that just struck me is that the Pharaoh would not have been the firstborn male in his family. Verse 29 states that “the LORD all the firstborn in the land of Egypt” (emphasis mine). This would have included Pharaoh had he actually been the firstborn in his family. Would this have been something that he had hidden? Would that have been disgraceful for him to be recognized as not the firstborn? Did he somehow manage to get the position in a way that he did not deserve? Would this have undermined his leadership of the Egyptians? I am not sure of the implications. Any thoughts?

I was interested to see hyssop mentioned in this portion. Hyssop specifically is to be used to apply the blood to the doorposts of the house (Exodus 12:22). I was interested because immediately I recalled Psalm 51:7 “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” I have heard of “the principle of first use” in the Bible, which basically notes that subsequent uses of a word or concept in the Bible points to the first use of the word or concept. I wonder if King David would have been thinking of the Passover and the use of hyssop when he penned the Psalm. As a King of Israel, would he be thinking of the great mistakes that the Pharaoh (King) of Egypt had made and be requesting god to blot out his iniquities and pass over him and his home? Interestingly enough, David’s firstborn son by Bathsheba dies as a result of his sins.

Easton’s Bible History online has this information:

http://www.bible-history.com/eastons/H/Hyssop/

Hyssop

(Heb. 'ezob; LXX. hyssopos), first mentioned in Ex. 12:22 in connection with the institution of the Passover. We find it afterwards mentioned in Lev. 14:4, 6, 52; Num. 19:6, 18; Heb. 9:19. It is spoken of as a plant "springing out of the wall" (1 Kings 4:33). Many conjectures have been formed as to what this plant really was. Some contend that it was a species of marjoram (origanum), six species of which are found in Palestine. Others with more probability think that it was the caper plant, the Capparis spinosa of Linnaeus. This plant grew in Egypt, in the desert of Sinai, and in Palestine. It was capable of producing a stem three or four feet in length (Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36. Comp. John 19:29).

Among the other thoughts that I had, was how in Exodus 12:40 it notes that they were in Egypt for 430 years. Verse 41 notes that it was 430 years…to the very day. Genesis 15:16 notes that the Israelites will be in slavery for 400 years. Was it only 30 years before the Israelites were put into slavery by the Egyptians?

There are more thoughts, but this is it for today.