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EIN GEDANKE ÜBER PARSHAT BO 5786

Unter Parashat Bo, the story of Egypt reaches its decisive moment. After the tenth plague, in the middle of the night, Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and speaks words that change the course of history:

“Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the Israelites. Go, serve the L-RD as you have said.”
— Exodus 12:31

At first glance, this appears to be a moment of complete surrender. The king who resisted so stubbornly finally lets the people go. Yet upon closer examination, a deeper tension emerges: Pharaoh acknowledges G-d and yet he does not truly believe.

The Plagues: More Than Liberation Alone

The Torah makes clear that the wonders in Egypt were not intended solely to liberate Israel. They also served a universal purpose:

“And Egypt shall know that I am the L-RD.”
— Exodus 7:5

Here, Hashem reveals Himself not only to Israel, but also to Egypt and to Pharaoh himself. The plagues are not arbitrary punishments, but deliberate signs meant to correct fundamental misconceptions about G-d and the world. This idea is articulated explicitly by the Ramban (Nachmanides).

Pharaoh Requests a Blessing: Recognition of Divine Power

After ordering the people to depart, Pharaoh adds something remarkable:

“Take also your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go. And bless me also.”
— Exodus 12:32

Pharaoh’s request for a blessing reveals a genuine recognition of G-d’s power. Ibn Ezra notes that Pharaoh explicitly asks Moses and Aaron to pray on his behalf (Ibn Ezra on Exodus 12:32). Or HaChaim explains that Pharaoh was not merely seeking an end to the plagues, but hoped for the rehabilitation of Egypt through that blessing (Or HaChaim on Exodus 12:32).

Die Ramban further emphasizes that Pharaoh understood prayer to be effective: when Israel would pray to Hashem for their own protection, Pharaoh wished to be included in those prayers (Ramban on Exodus 12:32). Rashi adds a striking detail: Pharaoh himself was a firstborn and feared for his life. His request for a blessing was therefore also a deeply personal plea (Rashi on Exodus 12:32; Mekhilta; Targum Jonathan).

Pharaoh thus believed that Hashem can bless, protect, and save.

Faith With a Limit

Yet this faith proves incomplete. According to the Alshich, Pharaoh’s permission was not an acknowledgment of permanent freedom. His words “as you have said” refer, Alshich explains, to the original request to journey only three days into the wilderness to offer sacrifices — with the expectation that the people would then return (Alshich on Exodus 12:31–32; Wechsler Edition, Alshich on the Torah, vol. 1, p. 273).

Pharaoh acknowledges G-d, but cannot conceive that Hashem is truly capable of severing Israel permanently from Egyptian control. His faith extends only to the moment of crisis, not to full submission.

Thus, Pharaoh becomes the archetype of partial faith: recognition of divine power combined with a deep reluctance to accept G-d’s absolute sovereignty.

The Wonders of Egypt as a Response to Fundamental Unbelief

Here the narrative touches upon a far deeper theme. The Ramban teaches that the wonders in Egypt were not merely historical or national events, but served a profound theological purpose. They were designed to correct the most fundamental errors in human belief — errors that date back to the time of Enosh and that continue to reappear in new forms to this day.

At their core are three misconceptions: that the world has no Creator; that G-d created the world but then withdrew from it; or that He knows what happens but lacks the power to intervene. The Ramban describes these ideas in classical terms; Rabbi Shmuel Reichman articulates them in contemporary language (The Journey to Your Ultimate Self, pp. 144–146). In essence, they address the same underlying problem.

Some deny the existence of G-d entirely. They argue that since G-d cannot be seen, heard, or touched, the world must have always existed without a Creator. It is precisely against this claim that the wonders themselves stand: events that break the laws of nature and demonstrate that the world is not autonomous, but dependent on a Will that transcends it.

A second group acknowledges that there must have been a Creator, the complexity and beauty of creation demand it, but claims that G-d withdrew after creation. This view, often referred to as deism or the “watchmaker theory,” sees G-d as one who set the world in motion and then left it to run on its own. Suffering, injustice, and chaos are taken as evidence that G-d is not actively involved. Here, the plagues of Egypt speak with particular force: they show that Hashem knows what is happening, distinguishes between Egypt and Israel, and intervenes at precisely the right moment.

A third view accepts that G-d exists and knows everything, but questions His power. According to this perspective, G-d is too exalted, too limited, or simply unable to intervene meaningfully in the world. This notion, too, is overturned by the Exodus. The plagues demonstrate not only divine knowledge, but absolute power over nature, time, life, and death, and even over the mightiest king on earth.

The Ramban emphasizes that miracles announced in advance are of critical importance. They prove not only G-d’s existence and providence, but also the truth of prophecy, thereby establishing the divine origin of the Torah itself. The Exodus from Egypt is therefore not a one-time historical event, but a lasting correction to human unbelief.

This also explains why the memory of Egypt recurs throughout the Torah. It stands as the enduring answer to the claim that G-d is absent, indifferent, or powerless, a claim that continues to resurface in both ancient and modern forms.

Significance for Noahides

For Noahides, the story of Egypt and the Exodus of Israel carries enduring significance. It serves as a powerful antidote to worldviews that reduce G-d to a moral abstraction, a distant architect, or a passive observer, precisely because it speaks not only to Jewish history, but to human history as a whole.

Die Rambam (Maimonides) states this explicitly in Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melachim 8:11. He rules that a person who accepts and observes the Seven Noahide Laws is counted among the righteous of the nations only if he does so because G-d commanded them and made them known through Moses. One who observes them solely on the basis of rational or moral reasoning lacks the essential foundation.

Faith in G-d, therefore, is not peripheral it is central.

Schlussfolgerung

Pharaoh believed, but his belief had limits. He acknowledged Hashem, sought His blessing, and feared His judgment, yet could not conceive that G-d was truly omnipotent and capable of permanently redeeming His people. That inability ultimately led to his downfall.

The Exodus from Egypt teaches a timeless lesson: true freedom begins only when G-d is recognized as the Creator, Knower, and Governor of all things..

Von Angelique Sijbolts
With thanks to Rabbi Tani Burton for the feedback

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