BO (Exodus) 10:1...

1st Aliya

Hashem said to Moshe, "Come to Par'oh, for I have made his heart and the heart of his servants stubborn so that I can put these signs of Mine in his midst;..."

The Midrash notes that הכבדתי I have made stubborn, is derived from יכבד liver. Bile, which is produced by the liver, is associated with anger. Concerning Par'oh, the heart had taken on the character of the liver.

BO (Exodus) 10:12...

2nd Aliya

Hashem said to Moshe, "Stretch out your hand over the land of Mitzrayim for the locust-swarm, and it will ascend upon the land of Mitzrayim and eat all the grass of the land, everything that the hail had left."

The Forces responsible for hail were not given authority to destroy everything that was growing, so that there would be something left for the locust to eat. Elohim therefore did not say. "All that had been spared by the hail," but "all the hail had spared."

BO (Exodus) 10:24...

3th Aliya

Par'oh summoned Moshe and said, Go--serve Hashem, only your flock and cattle shall remain behind; even your children may go with you."

Par'oh recall when he had given the Israelites permission to leave without their families, and even so, he had then been punished by the darkness. He realized that he now had no other choice but to let their families go. The only thing left that he could hold hostage was their livestock.

BO (Exodus) 11:4...

4th Aliya

Moshe said, "So said Hashem, 'At about midnight I shall go out in the midst of Mitzrayim..."

Moshe really had no other choice than to say "around midnight." At first the Egyptian occultists mocked Moshes' signs and duplicated his efforts. They therefore thought he was merely performing magic tricks with slight of hand or hypnotism. From the third plague on, they began to believe Moshes' powers, and little by little they began to respect him as the plagues came one after the other. They saw Moshe warn Par'oh, bring catastrophes when ignored, and dispel the plagues with his prayers.

BO (Exodus) 12:21...

5th Aliya

Moshe called to all the elders of Israel and said to them, "Draw forth or buy for yourselves one of the flock for your families, and slaughter the pesach-offering."

BO (Exodus) 12:29...

6th Aliya

It was at midnight that Hashem smote every firstborn in the land of Mitzrayim, from the firstborn of Par'oh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn animal.

When Moshe announced the plague, many Egyptians begged the Israelites to take in their children. The Israelites compiled, and placed the Egyptian children in the same bed as their own. But when the plague struck, the Egyptian children died, while the Israelite children sleeping in the same bed were spared. All the firstborn animals were destroyed to show that before Elohim the Egyptians were not better than animals.

BO (Exodus) 13:1...

7th Aliya

Hashem spoke to Moshe saying, "Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among the Children of Israel, of man and beast, is Mine."

Sefer HaChinuch explains that by offering G-d the firstborn of both man and beast, we demonstrate that everything belongs to Him and that man possesses only that which G-d grants us.

Return to Top