Warning of the Final Plague: Exodus 11.1-9
Text One
The Lord comes to Moses and tells him that the Lord will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt. After this, Pharaoh will actually drive the Israelites out. The Israelites (male and female) are to ask their neighbors for silver and gold in fulfillment of the promise in Exodus 3.21-22: “…when you go, you will not go empty handed; each woman shall ask her neighbor and any woman living in a neighbor’s house for jewelry of silver of gold, and clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and daughters; and so you shall plunder the Egyptians.” (Because we’ve already been told this, God does not need to be explicit the second time. However there is the inconsistency of men and women versus women only.)
The Lord ensures the Israelites’ favor among the Egyptians, and Moses becomes “a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people” (Ex.11.3). Moses is the second man to achieve this explicit prominence in Egypt; the first was Joseph. It is only Pharaoh that does not appreciate Moses. But because God makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt rather than those-who-like-Moses and those-who-don’t, the Egyptians will all suffer the last plague. That is not to say that the impending destruction is Pharaoh’s fault. Indeed, it is God who is demonstrating God’s greatness.
In every other plague-story in which Moses speaks, he explicitly speaks to Pharaoh. Here this is not so, perhaps out of the author’s deference to Moses’ exclamation in Exodus 10.29: “Just as you say! I will never see your face again.” In any case, Moses delivers an address to an unknown audience regarding the next plague: death to every firstborn in Egypt, even Pharaoh’s and the firstborn of livestock (which were apparently resurrected after the fifth and seventh plagues). A great cry will go up through the land, “such as has never been or will ever be again” (Ex. 11.6). But not even a dg will growl at the Israelites and their animals because of the distinction the Lord makes. All the officials of Pharaoh will bow before Moses, begging him to leave. Then Moses promises he will. And then Moses’ audience is revealed in Exodus 11.8: “And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.” He has been speaking to Pharaoh this whole time! This is a bit of a surprise ending, for the narrator until now has always specified Moses’ audience at the beginning of his address.
Then appears an anachronistic fragment:
The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”
[Text Two] Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.
Pharaoh has already not listened to Pharaoh, so why does God tell him this now? Likewise, what are these “wonders” that Moses and Aaron performed before Pharaoh? These are not mentioned. Sure, there are plagues, but a wonder is something more akin to Aaron’s rod becoming a snake (see Ex. 7.8: “Perform a wonder”). I suspect these are fragments from a different tradition that have been placed here to close the narrative. In fact, the narrative unit of plagues closes to make way for a long explanation of Passover. So perhaps the reference to wonders and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart serves as the closing of an “envelope” that opens with Aaron’s wonder with the rod and the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart that precedes the first nine plagues and description of the tenth.
The First Passover Instituted: Exodus 12.1-28
Text Two
The Lord establishes to Moses and Aaron that henceforth this month shall be the first month of the year. The Lord then gives instructions on how to hold a proper Passover. I have rearranged the instructions below (Exodus 12.3-13) so that you too can carry out your own Passover as it is instructed!
- On the tenth of the month each family should get a lamb. (Ex. 12.3)
- If your household is too small for a whole lamb, join your neighbors. (Ex. 12.4)
- The lamb
- May be a sheep or goat. (Ex. 12.5)
- Must be without blemish. (Ex. 12.5)
- Must be a year-old male. (Ex. 12.5)
- The lamb shall be divided in proportion to the number of people attending. (Ex. 12.4)
- On the fourteenth of the month, each family of Israel should slaughter its lamb at twilight. (Ex. 12.6)
- Take some of the blood of the slaughtered lamb and put it on the doorposts and lintel of the houses the lamb is being eaten in. (Ex. 12.7)
- During the night the Lord will pass through Egypt and kill all the firstborns, humans and animals. (Ex. 12.12)
- The blood will be a sign for God. God will pass over the houses with blood (Ex. 12.13).
- Prepare the lamb
- Roast it over a fire (head, legs, and organs intact). (Ex. 12.8-9)
- Do NOT eat it raw or boiled. (Ex. 12.9)
- Eating the lamb
- Eat the lamb the same night it is slaughtered. (Ex. 12.8)
- Serve with unleavened bread and roasted herbs. (Ex. 12.8)
- Gird your loins and wear your sandals. Have your staff in your hand during the meal. (Ex. 12.11) In other words…
- Eat hurriedly. (Ex. 12.11)
- Do not let any of the lamb remain until morning. Burn anything that remains in the morning. (Ex. 12.10)
Text ?
What follows these instructions is what seems to be a separate text, this one concerning the festival of unleavened bread. The first indication? It opens, “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you” (Ex. 12.14). Later God commands, “You shall observe the festival of unleavened bread, for on this very day I brought your companies out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12.17). This very day has not happened yet! It will happen very soon, but the modifier very indicates that God is speaking to Moses on the day that the Israelites escape Egypt.
Here are the instructions for carrying out your own festival of unleavened bread, an annual festival of the Lord to commemorate the Lord bringing Israel out of Egypt:
- Begin the festival on the fourteenth day of the month (Passover) and continue for seven days. (Ex. 12.18)
- Eat only unleavened bread for seven days. Anyone who eats leavened bread during this time will be cut off from Israel. (Ex. 12.15, 19, 20)
- Day One
- Remove all leaven from your house. (Ex. 12.15, 19)
- Hold a solemn assembly. (Ex. 12.16)
- Don’t do any work besides preparing meals. (Ex. 12.16)
- Day seven
- Hold a solemn assembly. (Ex. 12.16)
- Don’t do any work besides preparing meals. (Ex. 12.16)
- Celebrate the festival annually. (Ex. 12.14)
Text ??
Here a new text begins, with Moses giving instructions to the elders of Israel regarding the first Passover:
- Select a lamb for your family. (Ex. 12.21)
- Slaughter said lamb. (Ex. 12.21)
- Using a bunch of hyssop as your brush, touch the lintel and two doorposts of your house with the blood of the slaughtered lamb. (Ex. 12.22) This will be a sign to the Lord to pass over the house.
- Do this yearly, and continue the practice in the land the Lord will give to Israel. (Ex. 12.24)
- When children ask, “What do you mean by this observance?” reply, “It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.” (Ex. 12.26-27)
The Israelites do just as the Lord commands Moses and Aaron.
Note that the second set of instructions for Passover, the instructions that Moses gives, differ slightly from the first set of instructions, the instructions that God gives.
The Tenth Plague: Exodus 12.29-32
The Lord strikes down all the firstborns at midnight: even of the animals and of Pharaoh. Pharaoh awakes during the night, and he and his officials and all of Egypt cry out; “there was not a house without someone dead” (Ex. 12.30).
Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron during the night and commands them to leave with all of Israel and their flocks and herds. He pleads, “And bring a blessing on me too!” (Ex. 12.32).
Plague Wrap-Up
Why do I believe that this story is a composite text? There are a number of reasons. At times Moses and Aaron act together. Other times Moses acts alone. In Exodus 9.8 God speaks to Moses and Aaron, regarding the plan for the sixth plague. For the rest of the plagues God speaks to Moses only. Likewise, God speaks to the brothers in Exodus 12.1 and 12.28.
Furthermore, the plagues are brought about by three different entities.
For the first plague it is not specified who brings about the plague. It is most likely Aaron, as he is with Aaron, who afterwards delivers plagues 2 and 3. The Lord delivers plagues 4, 5, and 10, using Moses as an intermediary to warn Pharaoh of the impending plague. Moses delivers plagues 6, 7, 8, and 9. If there was one consistent text, it might have been more consistent, more formulaic in its plague-giving.
Speaking of which, there are formulas for the plagues. Plagues 1 through 10 open with: “Then the Lord said to Moses…” The only exception to this rule, as noted above, is plague 6, when God speaks to Moses and Aaron.
Seven of the plagues come with warnings to Pharaoh: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10. Of these, only 10 does not contain the command, “let my people go.” There are no warnings to be delivered to Pharaoh for plagues 3, 6, and 9.
All of these indicate to me that there are separate interwoven texts that create the overarching story of the plagues.
Additionally, Moses is summoned before Pharaoh following plagues 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10. [This structure helps to demonstrate the intensification of God’s plagues, and perhaps the sentiment of Pharaoh’s officials to let the Israelites go. As the plagues get worse, Pharaoh responds more frequently by allowing the Israelites to leave.
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