Portion 15 Bo Exodus 10:1-13:16
10:1 Rather, “I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants by placing these signs among them.”
10:2 The purpose of this story is to teach us to leave vengeance to God.
10:3 Why do Moses and Aaron continue to imply that the Israelites will return to Egypt after the pilgrimage festival. What might have happened had Moses and Aaron been honest with Pharaoh?
10:7 Pharaoh’s servants suggest that only the male Israelites go. At the time only males would be permitted to participate in the worship service. Is this a genuine move towards compromise or have they deduced Moses’s true intentions and are just trying to see how he will wiggle out of this one?
10:9 The pilgrimage is the festival.
10:10-10:11 Pharaoh knows that Moses is lying about coming back and accuses him of such. How much does Moses’ dishonestly contribute to Pharaoh’s stubbornness?
10:14 The locust plague does not distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites.
10:23 The darkness plague expands the definition of the Children of Israel to include all who choose to shine a light in the darkness.
10:24 Pharaoh offers to let the people go in exchange for their livestock. God had destroyed all of the Egyptian’s livestock. At the end of the hail plague, the Israelites could have offered to share their livestock with the Egyptian’s in exchange for their freedom. This could have been a fitting non-violent reconciliation, since Joseph had enslaved the Egyptians and taken their livestock for Pharaoh. Why did the Israelites not do this? (See 11:5 below for a conjecture that the Torah holds Israel responsible for harm to Egyptians caused by plagues that could have been prevented had the Israelites been willing to negotiate.) Or did the Israelites share their livestock with the Egyptians and that is the real meaning of the festival sacrifice?
10:28 Moses dies when he sees the promised land. Is Pharaoh’s prophesy correct? Do the Israelites spend 40 years in the wilderness to end up in a new Egypt of their own devising?
10:29 Perhaps God does not permit Moses to enter and live in the promised land to protect Moses from witnessing how the Israelites will slowly come to adopt the domination system.
11:2 Who are “the people” whose neighbors have silver and gold? In 3:22 they are wealthy enough to have lodgers who have silver and gold. Has “the people” been expanded to include all who will follow Moses and worship YHWH? Even Pharaoh’s servants? Does the stripping of Egypt refer to privileged Egyptians who had joined with Moses and stripped themselves of their Egyptian nationality to identify themselves with the Israelites slaves? Or is this from a tradition where the Israelites did not have it so bad in Egypt? Presumably the only reason for bringing precious metals along is for the tabernacle.
In 3:22 God tells Moses that the women will perform this task. In 11:2 God tells Moses to ask each man and woman to do it. Does this mean that all were asked but only the women obeyed? I wonder what the Rabbis had to say about that?
The NJPS uses the word “borrow” while Fox uses “ask for.” If the people are still putting on the pretence of coming back, it is presumably done with the knowledge of those they are “borrowing” from, just as Pharaoh’s daughter knew that Mosses’ nursemaid was his mother, but allowed the pretense to continue. This is alluded to in 11:3.
11:5 Much of the social justice requirements of Israelites to care for the stranger are motivated on the basis that “you were a slave in Egypt and YHWH your God redeemed you from there, therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.” Is this Torah’s way of saying that Israel is held responsible for the injustices done to the Egyptians and must devote itself to making amends?
12:3 It is only during this final plague that the Israelites act collectively as a community in defiance against Pharaoh. The action is non-violent and highly ritualized. It is similar to a union sticker day where workers openly display their solidarity with one another. Pharaoh has refused the Israelites’ request to participate in their pilgrimage festival, so they strike and conduct the festival at their homes instead. The “mighty hand of God” is the people acting collectively and nonviolently for justice.
12:4 The meal could be shared with neighbors. The same neighbors who allowed the Israelites to “borrow” gold and silver from them?
12:13 Rabbi Aaron Samuel Tameret says that the blood on the houses is a sign for the Israelites to stay home and not be tempted to participate in the violence against the Egyptians.
12:16 The Israelites have gone on strike.
12:29 Is this from a different tradition in which the Israelites suffer this plague with the Egyptians?
12:38 Implying that more than just the biological descendents of Jacob are now part of the Children of Israel.
12:48 Israelites and Egyptians (as well as Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and probably many other groups) could partake of the Passover meal together for they were all circumcised. Jeremiah 9:24-25.
12:49 An explicit denunciation of preferential treatment based on ethnicity.
13:16 Israel is to annually remind itself, when it is in Canaan, to leave vengeance to God.
10:1 Rather, “I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants by placing these signs among them.”
10:2 The purpose of this story is to teach us to leave vengeance to God.
10:3 Why do Moses and Aaron continue to imply that the Israelites will return to Egypt after the pilgrimage festival. What might have happened had Moses and Aaron been honest with Pharaoh?
10:7 Pharaoh’s servants suggest that only the male Israelites go. At the time only males would be permitted to participate in the worship service. Is this a genuine move towards compromise or have they deduced Moses’s true intentions and are just trying to see how he will wiggle out of this one?
10:9 The pilgrimage is the festival.
10:10-10:11 Pharaoh knows that Moses is lying about coming back and accuses him of such. How much does Moses’ dishonestly contribute to Pharaoh’s stubbornness?
10:14 The locust plague does not distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites.
10:23 The darkness plague expands the definition of the Children of Israel to include all who choose to shine a light in the darkness.
10:24 Pharaoh offers to let the people go in exchange for their livestock. God had destroyed all of the Egyptian’s livestock. At the end of the hail plague, the Israelites could have offered to share their livestock with the Egyptian’s in exchange for their freedom. This could have been a fitting non-violent reconciliation, since Joseph had enslaved the Egyptians and taken their livestock for Pharaoh. Why did the Israelites not do this? (See 11:5 below for a conjecture that the Torah holds Israel responsible for harm to Egyptians caused by plagues that could have been prevented had the Israelites been willing to negotiate.) Or did the Israelites share their livestock with the Egyptians and that is the real meaning of the festival sacrifice?
10:28 Moses dies when he sees the promised land. Is Pharaoh’s prophesy correct? Do the Israelites spend 40 years in the wilderness to end up in a new Egypt of their own devising?
10:29 Perhaps God does not permit Moses to enter and live in the promised land to protect Moses from witnessing how the Israelites will slowly come to adopt the domination system.
11:2 Who are “the people” whose neighbors have silver and gold? In 3:22 they are wealthy enough to have lodgers who have silver and gold. Has “the people” been expanded to include all who will follow Moses and worship YHWH? Even Pharaoh’s servants? Does the stripping of Egypt refer to privileged Egyptians who had joined with Moses and stripped themselves of their Egyptian nationality to identify themselves with the Israelites slaves? Or is this from a tradition where the Israelites did not have it so bad in Egypt? Presumably the only reason for bringing precious metals along is for the tabernacle.
In 3:22 God tells Moses that the women will perform this task. In 11:2 God tells Moses to ask each man and woman to do it. Does this mean that all were asked but only the women obeyed? I wonder what the Rabbis had to say about that?
The NJPS uses the word “borrow” while Fox uses “ask for.” If the people are still putting on the pretence of coming back, it is presumably done with the knowledge of those they are “borrowing” from, just as Pharaoh’s daughter knew that Mosses’ nursemaid was his mother, but allowed the pretense to continue. This is alluded to in 11:3.
11:5 Much of the social justice requirements of Israelites to care for the stranger are motivated on the basis that “you were a slave in Egypt and YHWH your God redeemed you from there, therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.” Is this Torah’s way of saying that Israel is held responsible for the injustices done to the Egyptians and must devote itself to making amends?
12:3 It is only during this final plague that the Israelites act collectively as a community in defiance against Pharaoh. The action is non-violent and highly ritualized. It is similar to a union sticker day where workers openly display their solidarity with one another. Pharaoh has refused the Israelites’ request to participate in their pilgrimage festival, so they strike and conduct the festival at their homes instead. The “mighty hand of God” is the people acting collectively and nonviolently for justice.
12:4 The meal could be shared with neighbors. The same neighbors who allowed the Israelites to “borrow” gold and silver from them?
12:13 Rabbi Aaron Samuel Tameret says that the blood on the houses is a sign for the Israelites to stay home and not be tempted to participate in the violence against the Egyptians.
12:16 The Israelites have gone on strike.
12:29 Is this from a different tradition in which the Israelites suffer this plague with the Egyptians?
12:38 Implying that more than just the biological descendents of Jacob are now part of the Children of Israel.
12:48 Israelites and Egyptians (as well as Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, and probably many other groups) could partake of the Passover meal together for they were all circumcised. Jeremiah 9:24-25.
12:49 An explicit denunciation of preferential treatment based on ethnicity.
13:16 Israel is to annually remind itself, when it is in Canaan, to leave vengeance to God.
posted by ross at 12:39 AM
1 Comments:
Re your suggestion on 15:3 (that YHWH is the only warrior and that when humans use violence we "transcend the boundaries between heaven and earth:" What do you make of God's myriad commands to the Israelites to make war upon the inhabitants of Canaan upon entering the land?
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