Bo Summary:
The eighth and ninth plagues of locusts and darkness occurred, and Pharaoh still refused (or God refused to let Pharaoh) let the Israelites go. God decided that the tenth plague would be the death of the first born child of all the Egyptians, and he marked that month as the first month of the year (Nisan) and the day as a day when a lamb should be sacrificed in a special way (the “Passover sacrifice”) with some of the blood put on the doorposts of the Israelites’ houses so that God would pass over their houses while killing the first born children. He said that this day would become a holiday, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Israelites would eat unleavened bread for seven days. After the first born were killed, Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to be free.
Commentary:
One interesting thing about the plagues is that after many of the plagues, when the Torah says that Pharaoh still refused to let the Israelites go, it says that is because God “stiffened” Pharaoh’s heart. At the beginning of this portion, God explains the reasoning behind this decision: “I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these my signs among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your child and of your child’s child how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them—in order that you may know that I am the Lord” (Exodus 10:1-2). So, although God could control Pharaoh and make him let the Israelites go, God decides to make Pharaoh say no so that the Egyptians can suffer from plagues and be embarrassed just so that they realize that God is real. Just like how we saw many biblical leaders make poor, selfish decisions throughout Genesis, God starts to take up that role throughout Exodus (as we’ll see more throughout later portions), and this is a prime example of it- God made a whole country suffer just so they recognized him as “The Lord.”
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