Shabbat Parashat Bo - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Bo - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

Moshe and Aharon came to Pharaoh and said to him. [Shemot 10:3]

This week's portion is a showdown between Pharaoh and God. In each

confrontation, Moshe and Aharon go together to Pharaoh, either because

God specifically sends them or because Pharaoh calls for them. Each time,

the Torah spells out that the brothers go together, yet each session ends

with words as in the end of 10:6, "and he turned and left Pharaoh's presence"

in the singular even though the episode begins in the plural.

In verse 10:11, "And he drove them out from before Pharaoh", although it is

not all that clear who the 'he' was that drove 'them' out, it is clear that the 'them'

is both Moshe and Aharon. In 10:16, Pharaoh sends for both, in 10:17 addresses

them clearly in the plural, and in 10:18 the Torah says, "He left Pharaoh and

entreated God." Assuming (although it is not made clear) that both these examples

refer to Moshe leaving, what happened to Aharon?

Perhaps it reflects who Pharaoh was speaking to each time. From the beginning

of this series of interactions, Pharaoh primarily speaks to Moshe alone, with some

exceptions where he includes Aharon. Ibn Ezra notes that Moshe never came to

Pharaoh without Aharon as his mouthpiece, so Pharaoh understood Aharon to be

merely a servant, and would speak through him to Moshe. From this we can

understand the singular wording of Moshe departing. But why then the instances of

plural verbiage?

At first, we might understand that Pharaoh sent for Aharon as well, since he

assumed that the only way to communicate with Moshe required them both. But it

seems that Pharaoh realized as time went along that in fact, Aharon also merited

a high level of respect on his own, so included him as Moshe's partner. Ramban

seems to allude to this when he notes that in 10:17, Pharaoh said in the singular

that he wanted Moshe to forgive his sin, but added in the plural that he wanted

both brothers to pray to God on his behalf. Aharon had grown in the eyes of

Pharaoh to a level approaching that of Moshe, yet in 10:18, it is Moshe alone who

stands before God in prayer.