February 4, 2004

Questions from Parshas Bo

A few questions from last week's parsha (Bo):

  • The eighth and ninth plagues both contain an element of Chosech (darkness). This is obvious for the ninth plague; the eighth plague is described as:
    10:5 - and they shall cover the face of the earth, that one shall not be able to see the earth; and they shall eat the residue of that which is escaped, which remaineth unto you from the hail, and shall eat every tree which groweth for you out of the field.
    10:15 - For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened(va'techschach); and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
    There really are two separate affects of the plague; the consumption of the remaining vegetation by the locusts, and the covering of the land, in terms of vision (the Targum translates this as "blocking out the sunlight"). I'm wondering if there is any connection between the Choshech in number 8 and the Choshech in number 9. It does seem clear that there was a palpable difference in quality between the two darknesses, with the latter being the darker.
  • Related to the above: Why does Paroah get so bent out of shape over the locusts, to the point where he exclaims: "Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and entreat the LORD your God, that He may take away from me this death only." (Ex 10:17). What was so particularly terrifying about the locusts? Was it the lack of vegetation, or the darkness, or something else (connected with "his'alalti b'mitzraim", perhaps)?

The only piece of evidence I have heard that I think might be tied in some how is the that Plague 8 was chosen by Moshe, not Hashem (Cf. beginning of Ex. 10). Perhaps this in someway made this particular plague a threat to Paroah's status in someway.

In terms of keywords, I think Choshech (darkness) is important. The end of the parsha clearly focuses on the concept of "b'ni bechori Yisrael" (Israel is my first-born son), from the death of the first born as quasi-retribution for the affliction of the first born, to the commandments related to first born children and animals.

Posted by Greg at February 4, 2004 11:33 AM
Comments

I always thought that the difference between the two darknesses is the difference between covering an object or cutting off the light source. The darkness caused by the locusts was like spilling ink all over the ground or dropping a blanket over everything. The earth was covered with a swarm and you couldn't see what was underneath (not the same as the Targum).

In contrast, the ninth plague was an absence of light - nothing blocked vision, but there was no light source to effectuate sight.

Posted by: Dopey at February 4, 2004 4:55 PM

The first time I read it, I thought the same. The emphasis on the "covering of the sight of the land" led me to an interpretation that the locusts completely covered the ground, perhaps in connection with eating all the vegetation. I originally interpreted "ain" as "sight", but the Targum seems to understand it as "that which gives sight" to the land, i.e. the sun. It might be interesting/productive to compare this usage of "ain" with other usages in Tanach.

Posted by: Greg at February 5, 2004 12:05 PM