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Bo and the plague of the Firstborn

By Bill Beyer | Comments (2) | Posted on January 10, 2008

"Bo" is the Hebrew word that begins the parasha for this week. It means "come" and is found in the first sentence of the section of scripture beginning with Exodus 10:1 and concluding with 13:16. This section of the Torah has become a topic of discussion this week on the Torah Club Online Forum.

The Torah Club Online Forum is a great place for discussion and conversation. Some of you who have not yet had the opportunity to join the online forum may be wondering what kinds of conversations we have. Well, currently we are having a discussion about this week's Torah portion, Parasha Bo. The question revolves around the Plague of the Firstborn.

The daughter of one of our forum members asked the question, "Did the oldest girls die too? Or just the oldest boys?"

We have been going back and forth and sharing insights from scriptural and rabbinic sources,but we were kind of wondering what you all thought. So, if you have not yet had the chance to join the online forum or sign on to the forum, please use the response space below to share your thoughts and insights on the question, 'Was the tenth plague impartial to gender?'

If you would like more information on Torah Club and the benefit of being a member of the Torah Club Online Forum here is the link for more information.

http://ffoz.org/torahclub/index.html

We await your thoughts.

Shalom,
Bill

About the Author: Bill Beyer is a friend of FFOZ and a volunteer moderator for the Online Torah Club Forums. He is also the pastor of a Lutheran church

Visitor Comments

I think the plague of the firstborn was only applied to the male firstborn. Although in most instances in the portion it uses the phrase "first issue of the womb" to refer to the firstborn (with no mention of gender), in verse 12 of chapter 13 it states that the "males are Hashem's." Also in verse 15 of the same chapter it reads "I shall redeem all the firstborn of my sons." This is directly applied to the redeeming of the firstborn of man and beast when the Children of Israel enter the Land, but we can infer that this act is a reminder of the tenth plague visited upon Egypt when the firstborn were destroyed. Another clue to consider is how the text says "And when it shall be that your SON will ask you at some future time 'What is this?' you shall say to HIM. . ." It will be the firstborn males who will notice the connection between their redemption and the redemption of all Israel from Egypt.

Posted by: Sarah | January 11, 2008 7:45 AM

I was told about this midrash from The Torah Anthology:

"First-born girls and women also died during this plague. The only exception was the royal princess Bitya, who was spared because of her kindness to Moses. Moses also prayed that she be spared. Regarding her it is written, "She senses that her merchandise is good; her lamp is not extinguished by night." (Proverbs 31:18) Bitya sensed that Moses was good "merchandise," and therefore her lamp was not extinguished on the night of the death of the firstborn."

Shalom.

Posted by: Crispin | January 14, 2008 9:02 AM

We Thank You offers a simple and innovative liturgy for disciples of Yeshua by weaving the ancient meal blessings of Judaism together with recently discovered prayers of the early believers.

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