Parashat Bo — Come (go in to Pharaoh)
בֹּא
Bo (בֹּא) means "come (go in to Pharaoh)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
What Happens in Bo
Come in to Pharaoh — bo el Paroh — for I have hardened his heart... that you may tell in the ears of your son, and of your son's son, what I have done in Egypt. The final act is staged as much for Israel's memory as for Egypt's judgment. Locusts come up on the east wind and eat everything the hail left, until no green thing remains; Pharaoh's own servants have already cracked — do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed? Then darkness that may be felt covers Egypt three days; no man sees his brother or rises from his place — but all the children of Yisrael had light in their dwellings. Pharaoh's last bargain (leave your flocks) and last threat (see my face no more, for in the day you see my face you shall die) set the stage for midnight.
Before judgment falls, YHVH gives Israel time itself: this month shall be to you the beginning of months — the nation's first commandment, a calendar that starts at redemption. Then the Pesach: on the tenth, each household takes a lamb without blemish; on the fourteenth, between the evenings, all the assembly kills it; the blood goes on the two doorposts and the lintel; the flesh is eaten that night, roasted with fire, with matzah and bitter herbs, in haste — loins girded, sandals on, staff in hand. And the promise that names the feast: when I see the blood, I will pass over you. At midnight YHVH strikes every firstborn in Egypt, from Pharaoh's throne to the captive in the dungeon and the firstborn of livestock, and there is a great cry in Egypt, for there is not a house where there is not one dead — while not a dog moves its tongue against Israel.
Pharaoh summons Moshe and Aharon by night: rise up, get out from among my people... and bless me also. Egypt urges them out, handing over silver, gold, and clothing — Israel plunders Egypt on the way out the door. About six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children, with a mixed multitude and abundant livestock, march from Rameses to Sukkot, four hundred thirty years to the very day. It is a night of watching to YHVH, kept by all the children of Yisrael in their generations. The portion closes by turning the event into ordinance: the statutes of the Passover, the seven days of unleavened bread with leaven purged from every house, the consecration of every firstborn — for by strength of hand YHVH brought us out — and the command to answer the son who asks what does this mean?, binding the redemption as a sign on the hand and frontlets between the eyes.
Main Themes
The blood of the lamb and the passing-over of judgment Redemption of the firstborn Israel's calendar begins with redemption Telling the story to your children — memory as commandment Light in Goshen while Egypt sits in darkness
Key Events
· The plague of locusts
· Three days of thick darkness
· The Passover instituted; the lamb selected and slain
· The death of the firstborn at midnight
· The exodus by night with the wealth of Egypt
· The laws of Pesach, matzah, and the firstborn
Key People
Moshe Aharon Pharaoh The children of Yisrael
Key Verses
Exodus 12:13 Read →
“The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 12:2 Read →
““This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you.”
Exodus 13:8 Read →
“You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’”
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