Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Bo/0

Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Bo

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The Plagues and Egyptian Deities

Both Shemot 12:12 andBemidbar 33:4 explicitly state that the Plague of the Firstborn executed a "judgment against the [Egyptian] gods". Both Midrashim and scholars have suggested that the other plagues as well might have targeted what were believed to be Egyptian deities.

• Primary sources – See Shemot Rabbah 9:9, Tanchuma Vaera 13, and Midrash Aggadah (Buber) Shemot 7:15 that the Nile was viewed as a deity and was thus struck first with the plague of blood.
• See “And Upon All the Gods Of Egypt I Will Execute Judgment”: The Egyptian Deity in the Ten Plagues, by Ira Friedman, for analysis of the meaning and symbolism of the ten plagues against the context of Egyptian religious beliefs.
• See Z. Zevit, "Three Ways to Look at the Ten Plagues: Were They Natural Disasters, a Demonstration of the Impotence of the Egyptian Gods, or an Undoing of Creation?" BR 6 (1990): 16-23, 42.

"הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם"

The calendar developed in ancient Egypt was among the earliest in history, and was used for thousands of years.  In contrast to the Torah’s calendar, the Egyptian calendar was solar and its seasons were based on the annual stages of the Nile.  The Torah’s introduction of a new calendrical system represented a break from Egyptian culture and its focus on the Nile.

• See The Origin of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar, by H.E. Winlock, for background on the features and development of the Egyptian calendar.  

Maztah vs. Leavened Bread

• Ancient Egypt developed the art of bread making, and it has been suggested that the significance of matzah is to be understood as a symbolic break from Egyptian culture. See, for example, A New Look at Hametz, Matza, and Everything In Between by Dr. Tova Dickstein. 
• For articles on the development and characteristics of bread making in ancient Egypt, see: A New Look at Old Bread: Ancient Egyptian Baking and Their Staff of Life: Initial Investigations on Ancient Egyptian Bread Baking by Dr. Delwen Samuel.

The Pesach Sacrifice

Commentators have asserted that the paschal sacrifice symbolized a rejection of Egyptian worship of sheep.¹ 

• See Dr. Rivka Ulmer’s The Egyptian Gods in Midrashic Texts for an overview of the Sages' references to and understanding of Egyptian religion.
• Two Egyptian gods were associated with rams: Khnum and Amun.  For information about these gods, see: Khnum and Amun.  For an image of Khnum, see here and for an image of Amun, see here.

¹ See, for example, Shemot Rabbah 16:2, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael Bo Pischa 5, and Moreh Nevukhim 3:46.  For extensive analysis of this reading of the Pesach sacrifice, see Purpose of the Pesach.