Bo (parsha)

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Bo (בא — Hebrew for “go,” the first word that God speaks in the parshah, in Exodus 10:1) is the fifteenth weekly parshah or portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the third in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 10:1–13:16. Jews in the Diaspora read it the fifteenth Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in January or early February.

The Plague of the Firstborn (painting by J. M. W. Turner)

1 Summary
2 In classical Rabbinic interpretation
- 2.1 Exodus chapter 12
- 2.2 Exodus chapter 13
3 Commandments
4 Haftarah
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Summary

[edit] The last plagues of Egypt

After seven plagues, God continued visiting plagues on Egypt. Moses and Aaron warned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, or suffer locusts covering the land. (Ex. 10:3–5.) Pharaoh’s courtiers pressed Pharaoh to let the men go, so Pharaoh brought Moses and Aaron back and asked them, “Who are the ones to go?” (Ex. 10:7–8.) Moses insisted that young and old, sons and daughters, flocks and herds would go, but Pharaoh rejected Moses’ request and expelled Moses and Aaron from his presence. (Ex. 10:9–11.)

desert locust

Moses held his rod over the land, and God drove an east wind to bring locusts to invade all the land. (Ex. 10:12–15.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron, asked forgiveness, and asked them to plead with God to remove the locusts. (Ex. 10:16–17.) Moses did so, and God brought a west wind to lift the locusts into the Sea of Reeds. (Ex. 10:18–19.) But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go. (Ex. 10:20.)

Then God instructed Moses to hold his arm toward the sky to bring darkness upon the land, and Moses did so, but the Israelites enjoyed light. (Ex. 10:21–23.) Pharaoh summoned Moses and told him to go, leaving only the Israelites’ flocks and herds behind, but Moses insisted that none of the Israelites’ livestock be left behind, for “[W]e shall not know with what we are to worship the LORD until we arrive there.” (Ex. 10:24–26.) But God stiffened Pharaoh’s heart, and he expelled Moses saying: “[T]he moment you look upon my face, you shall die.” (Ex. 10:27–28.) Moses warned Pharaoh that God would kill every firstborn in Egypt, but not a dog of the Israelites. (Ex. 11:4–7.) And Moses left Pharaoh in hot anger. (Ex. 11:8.)

[edit] The first Passover

God told Moses and Aaron to mark that month as the first of the months of the year. (Ex. 12:1–2.) And God told them to instruct the Israelites in the laws of Passover, and the Israelites obeyed. (Ex. 12:3–28, 43–50; 13:6–10.) (See Commandments below.)

[edit] The plague of the firstborn

In the middle of the night, God struck down all the firstborn in Egypt. (Ex. 12:29.) Pharaoh arose in the night to a loud cry in Egypt, summoned Moses and Aaron, and told them to take the Israelites and go. (Ex. 12:30–32.) So the Israelites took their dough before it was leavened, borrowed silver, gold, and clothing from the Egyptians, and left the Land of Goshen for Sukkot. (Ex. 12:34–37.) God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to consecrate to God every firstborn man and beast, and Moses did so. (Ex. 13:1–2, 11–15.)

[edit] In classical Rabbinic interpretation

[edit] Exodus chapter 12

The Mishnah reported that on the fourth Sabbath of the month of Adar, congregations read Exodus 12:1–20. (Mishnah Megillah 3:4.)

Tractate Pesachim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in Exodus 12:3–27, 43–49, and 13:6–10. (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.) And elsewhere, the Mishnah in tractate Zevahim taught that intent to eat the Passover offering raw (violating the commandment of Exodus 12:9) or to break the bones of the offering (violating the commandment of Exodus 12:46) did not invalidate the offering itself. (Mishnah Zevahim 3:6.) The Mishnah in tractate Challah taught that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of unleavened bread on Passover has fulfilled the obligation of Exodus 12:18, and interpreted Exodus 12:15 to teach that anyone who eats an olive’s bulk of leavened bread on Passover is liable to being cut off from the Jewish people. (Mishnah Challah 1:2.) Similarly, the Mishnah in tractate Beitzah reported that the House of Shammai held that an olive’s bulk of leavening or a date’s bulk (which is more than an olive’s bulk) of leavened bread in one’s house made one liable, but the House of Hillel held that an olive’s bulk of either made one liable. (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1.)

A Baraita taught that in the time of Alexander the Great, the Egyptians summoned the Israelites before Alexander, demanding from them the gold and silver that Exodus 12:36 reported that the Israelites had borrowed from the Egyptians. The sages granted Gebiah ben Pesisa permission to be Israel’s advocate. Gebiah asked the Egyptians what the evidence was for their claim, and the Egyptians answered that the Torah provided their evidence. Then Gebiah said that he would also bring evidence from the Torah in Israel’s defense. He quoted Exodus 12:40 and demanded back wages from the Egyptians for the labor of 600,000 Israelite men whom the Egyptians had compelled to work for them for 430 years. Alexander turned to the Egyptians for a proper answer. The Egyptians requested three days’ time, but could not find a satisfactory answer, and they fled. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 91a.)

[edit] Exodus chapter 13

The Mishnah taught that invalidity in any of the four portions of the Bible in tefillin — one of which is Exodus 13:1–10 and another of which is Exodus 13:11–16 — impair the validity of all four, and even one misshaped letter impairs their validity. (Mishnah Menachot 3:7.)

Tractate Bekhorot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the firstborn in Exodus 13:1–2, 12–13. (Mishnah Bekhorot 1:1–6:12; Tosefta Bekhorot 1:1–7:15; Babylonian Talmud Bekhorot 2a–61a.) Elsewhere, the Mishnah drew from Exodus 13:13 that money in exchange for a firstborn donkey could be given to any Kohen (Mishnah Challah 4:9); that if a person weaves the hair of a firstborn donkey into a sack, the sack must be burned (Mishnah Orlah 3:3); that they did not redeem with the firstborn of a donkey an animal that falls within both wild and domestic categories (a koy) (Mishnah Bikkurim 2:9); and that one was prohibited to derive benefit in any quantity at all from an unredeemed firstborn donkey. (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 5:9.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 9 positive and 11 negative commandments in the parshah:

Courts must calculate to determine when a new month begins. (Ex. 12:2.)

Passover Seder Plate

To slaughter the Passover lamb at the specified time (Ex. 12:6.)
To eat the Passover lamb with matzah and maror on the night of the fourteenth of Nisan (Ex. 12:8.)
Not to eat the Passover meat raw or boiled (Ex. 12:9.)
Not to leave any meat from the Passover lamb over until morning (Ex. 12:10.)
To destroy all chametz on the fourteenth of Nisan (Ex. 12:15.)
To eat matzah on the first night of Passover (Ex. 12:18.)
Not to find chametz in your domain seven days (Ex. 12:19.)
Not to eat mixtures containing chametz all seven days of Passover (Ex. 12:20.)
An apostate must not eat from the Passover lamb. (Ex. 12:43.)
A permanent or temporary hired worker must not eat from it. (Ex. 12:45.)
Not to take the paschal meat from the confines of the group (Ex. 12:46.)
Not to break any bones of the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:46.)
An uncircumcised male must not eat from it. (Ex. 12:48.)
To set aside the firstborn animals (Ex. 13:12.)
Not to eat chametz all seven days of Passover (Ex. 13:3.)
Not to see chametz in your domain seven days (Ex. 13:7.)
To relate the Exodus from Egypt on the first night of Passover (Ex. 13:8.)
To redeem the firstborn donkey by giving a lamb to a Kohen (Ex. 13:13.)
To break the neck of the donkey if the owner does not intend to redeem it (Ex. 13:13.)

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (painting by Rembrandt)

(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, vol. 1, 93–137. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is Jeremiah 46:13–28. Both the parshah and the haftarah describe God’s judgment against Egypt. The parshah reports that God told Moses to go (bo’) to Pharaoh (Ex. 10:1); the haftarah reports God’s word that Nebuchadrezzar would come (la-vo’) to Pharaoh. (Jer. 46:13.) Both the parshah and the haftarah report a plague of locusts — literal in the parshah, figurative in the haftarah. (Ex. 10:3–20; Jer. 46:23.) Both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s punishment of Egypt’s gods. (Ex. 12:12; Jer. 46:25.) And both the parshah and the haftarah report God’s ultimate deliverance of the Israelites from their captivity. (Ex. 12:51; 13:3; Jer. 46:27.)

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Genesis 15:14 (leaving Egypt with wealth).
Exodus 1:22 (command to kill sons); 4:21 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); 7:3 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); 9:12 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); 14:4 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); 14:8 (hardening Pharaoh’s heart); 22:28–29 (firstborn).
Numbers 3:11–13 (firstborn); 18:15–18 (firstborn).
Deuteronomy 2:30 (hardening of heart); 15:7 (hardening of heart); 15:13–14 (parting gifts for freed slaves); 15:19–23 (firstborn).
Joshua 11:20 (hardening of heart).
Jeremiah 31:8 (firstborn).
Joel 2:2 (darkness).
Romans 9:14–18. 1st Century. (hardening Pharaoh’s heart).
Hebrews 11:28. Late 1st Century. (first Passover).
Revelation 17:17. Late 1st Century. (changing hearts to God’s purpose).
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 2:14:4–2:15:1. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston, 73–74. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Mishnah: Challah 1:2, 4:9; Orlah 3:3; Bikkurim 2:9; Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Beitzah 1:1; Megillah 3:4; Avodah Zarah 5:9; Zevahim 3:6; Menachot 3:7; Bekhorot 1:1–6:12, 8:1; Keritot 1:1. 3rd Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 148, 157, 165, 171, 229–51, 291, 321, 672, 705, 739, 787–800, 803, 836. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
Tosefta: Terumot 10:7; Challah 2:9; Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Sukkah 2:1; Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:4–5; Rosh Hashanah 1:1, 3; Megillah 3:4; Sotah 4:5; Makkot 4:1; Zevachim 1:1; Menachot 8:28; Bekhorot 1:1–7:15. 3rd–4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 198, 339, 471–522, 572, 585–86, 605, 645, 846, 1208–09, 1308, 1445, 1469–94. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9a, 21b, 37a, 61a. Land of Israel, 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi: Tractate Berachos. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1, 2. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael: Pisha 1:1–18:2. Land of Israel, late 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Jacob Neusner, vol. 1, 1–119. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-237-2.
Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 3b–4a, 9a–b, 10b, 37a, 38b, 56a–b; Shabbat 24b–25a, 28b, 60b, 87a, 108a, 114b, 133a, 147b; Eruvin 23a, 27a, 96a; Pesachim 2a–121b; Yoma 36a, 49b, 51a, 79b; Sukkah 11b, 13a, 27a, 29a, 33a, 42b; Beitzah 2a–b, 7b, 12b, 20b–21a, 22a, 28b, 32b; Rosh Hashanah 4b, 7a, 8b, 11b, 20a, 22a, 25b; Taanit 7a; Megillah 5a, 6b, 7b, 21a, 29a, 30a, 31a; Chagigah 7b, 10b, 16b–17a; Yevamot 5b, 40a, 46a, 48a, 62a, 70a–71a, 72a, 74a; Ketubot 7a, 102a; Nedarim 25a, 36a; Nazir 7a, 23a; Gittin 10a, 25a, 38a; Kiddushin 6b, 29a, 34a, 35a, 37a–b, 41b–42a, 57b, 72b, 76a; Bava Kamma 13a, 37b, 41a, 50b, 54a–b, 60a, 63a, 64a, 76b, 78a, 110b; Bava Metzia 6b, 42a, 115b; Bava Batra 97b, 118b; Sanhedrin 4b, 12b, 18a, 36a, 42a, 48b, 63a, 91a; Makkot 4b, 8b, 11a, 13a–b, 15a, 16a, 17a–b, 21b–22a; Shevuot 3b; Avodah Zarah 24a, 27a, 74a; Zevachim 7a–b, 9a, 10b–12a, 23a, 25b, 36a, 37b, 57b, 91a, 102a, 106b, 116a; Menachot 28a, 29a–b, 34a–b, 36b–37a, 42b, 47b, 49b, 53a, 66a, 67a, 82b, 83b, 98a; Chullin 11a, 17b, 68a, 69b–70a, 74b, 78b, 82b, 91a, 115a, 120a, 129a, 133b–34a, 136b, 141b; Bekhorot 2a–61a; Arakhin 8b, 13b, 18a–b, 19b, 24b; Temurah 4b, 5b, 18b, 30b; Keritot 2a, 4a, 28a; Meilah 13a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Exodus Rabbah 13:1–19:8.
Rashi on Exodus 10–13. Troyes, France, late 11th Century.
Zohar 2:32b–44a. Spain, late 13th Century.
Thomas Mann. Joseph and His Brothers. Translated by John E. Woods, 79, 384–86. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.