Bo (Hebrew: בֹּא, "Come" / "Go") is the third Torah portion of Exodus, covering Exodus 10:1–13:16. It contains the last three plagues (locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn), the first Passover, and the Exodus from Egypt.
The Last Three Plagues
- Locusts (אַרְבֶּה): Moses warns Pharaoh; Pharaoh's servants plead with him to let Israel go. Moses stretches his rod; an east wind brings locusts covering the land, eating all vegetation. Pharaoh says: "I have sinned against the Lord your God" (Exodus 10:16) and asks Moses to pray. The west wind removes the locusts, but Pharaoh hardens his heart.
- Darkness (חֹשֶׁךְ): A thick darkness covers Egypt for three days; "they saw not one another, neither rose any from his place" (Exodus 10:23). The Israelites have light in their dwellings. Pharaoh offers to let them go but without their flocks; Moses refuses. Pharaoh is angry: "Get you from me, take heed to yourself, see my face no more; for in that day you see my face you shall die" (Exodus 10:28). Moses says: "You have spoken well, I will see your face again no more" (Exodus 10:29).
- Death of the Firstborn (מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת): God tells Moses: "Yet will I bring one plague more upon Pharaoh" (Exodus 11:1). At midnight, God smites all the firstborn of Egypt, from Pharaoh's firstborn to the firstborn of the captive and the firstborn of cattle. "And there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead" (Exodus 12:30).
The First Passover
God tells Moses and Aaron: "This month shall be unto you the beginning of months" (Exodus 12:2) — Nisan, the first month. On the tenth of the month, each household takes a lamb (or kid) without blemish, a male of the first year. On the fourteenth day, the whole assembly slaughters it at twilight. They take of the blood and put it on the two side posts and the lintel of the doors. They eat the flesh roasted with fire, with unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs (maror). They eat in haste, with loins girded, shoes on feet, staff in hand: "it is the Lord's Passover" (Exodus 12:11). God says: "When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you" (Exodus 12:13). The seven days of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) are established; no leaven shall be found in their houses. "And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations" (Exodus 12:14).
The Exodus
At midnight, Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron: "Rise up, get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds" (Exodus 12:31–32). The Egyptians urge the Israelites to leave: "We be all dead men" (Exodus 12:33). The Israelites borrow (ask for) jewels of silver and gold and raiment from the Egyptians; God gives them favor, and they spoil the Egyptians. About 600,000 men on foot, besides children, leave Egypt. They take their dough before it is leavened, bound up in clothes upon their shoulders. They journey from Rameses to Succoth. "And the sojourning of the children of Israel, which they sojourned in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years" (Exodus 12:40). The parasha ends with the commandment of the firstborn: "Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn... it is Mine" (Exodus 13:2), and the mitzvah of tefillin (Exodus 13:9, 16).
Consecration of the Firstborn
God commands: "Sanctify unto Me all the firstborn, whatsoever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is Mine" (Exodus 13:2). This commemorates God's striking of Egypt's firstborn while sparing Israel's. The parasha also establishes the mitzvah of tefillin (phylacteries): "And it shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's law may be in your mouth" (Exodus 13:9).
Major themes
- Redemption: God's deliverance of Israel from slavery.
- Passover: The founding festival of Jewish identity, commemorating the Exodus.
- Firstborn: Sanctification of the firstborn as a memorial of the tenth plague.
- Matzah: The unleavened bread symbolizing haste and humility.
- Divine judgment: The final plague breaks Pharaoh's resistance.
Rashi
Rashi explains that "Bo" means "Come to Pharaoh" — God is saying to Moses, "Come with Me to Pharaoh," implying that God is with Moses. On the Passover lamb, Rashi notes that the lamb was an Egyptian deity, and slaughtering it was an act of defiance and faith.
Ramban
Ramban explains that the Passover ritual commemorates the Exodus and is a perpetual covenant. The blood on the doorposts was a sign for the Israelites, not for God (who already knew).
Midrashic interpretations
- Shemot Rabbah 13:3: The Israelites were redeemed because of the blood of the Passover lamb and the blood of circumcision.
- Shemot Rabbah 15:3: Pharaoh's servants urged him to let Israel go before the locusts.
- Shemot Rabbah 18:3: The darkness was so thick that an Egyptian could not see his own hand.
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 48: The Passover lamb was slaughtered in defiance of Egyptian idolatry.
Haftarah
The haftarah (Jeremiah 46:13–28) prophesies the defeat of Egypt by Babylon: "The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish the multitude of No" (Jeremiah 46:25). It connects to the theme of God's judgment on Egypt.
References
- Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 (Masoretic Text)
- Rashi, Commentary on the Torah
- Ramban, Commentary on the Torah
- Ibn Ezra, Commentary on the Torah
- Shemot Rabbah (Midrash)
- Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer
- The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus (Nahum M. Sarna, 1991)
- Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary (JPS, 2001)
- Sefaria.org, "Bo" (parasha)