Tuesday, 2 January 2018

Shemot (Part 4) - Exodus 1:1-6:1




This particular sentence is so full of so many things, that's it's impossible for me to let it slide without commenting on it.

Remember, previously, Moses met YHVH in a pub (actually an establishment for resting and getting refreshments, but the colloquial term "pub" works just fine), and YHVH was going to kill him until Moses' wife snipped off the tip of her son's foreskin, making it bleed, which seemed to satisfy YHVH.

And prior to that, Moses came upon the "mountain of Elohim", where he saw an angel of YHVH, and YHVH himself appeared (although Moses turned his face away so as not to gaze at YHVH.

And here, the author is having Moses (Aaron is doing the speaking for him, hence the use of "we" and "us") tell Pharaoh that the Elohim of the Hebrews just happened to encounter Moses! And that's true. Had Moses not gone to that mountain, YHVH might not have ever had that private meeting with him.

And the image of YHVH yielding a sword and attacking Moses and Aaron for not bringing the Hebrews to offer sacrifices to Him is a wonderful image. It is reminiscent of Apollo shooting arrows of disease at the soldiers of Agamemnon for not doing what His priest begged him to do.

YHVH is being present to the Pharaoh, who had never heard of him before, as a short-tempered bully who would come into Egypt and having a fit if the Pharaoh didn't obey.

And the Pharaoh basically told them to "piss off", calling the bluff that was all part of YHVH's plan.

One could call it His "Divine Plan" - to destroy and kill rather than simply do what a God should have been capable of doing: "Poof! The Hebrews are in Israel!"

But then, where's the fun in that?!

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