Jan 29
Bo- Hardening Pharaoh's Heart
For recording of the discusion:
https://youtu.be/Ggx755c-mJI?t=7076
This weeks Torah portion is one for the
cardiologists, because it focuses on the question of arteriosclerosis.
Harden heart lhakhbid lev להכביד לב seems to be used primarily in
Exodus, only with regard to Pharaoh. Not elsewhere, with one
exception which itself is a reference to the Exodus. Ezekiel uses a term”
heart of stone” frequently, but that is the closest we find.
One of
the signs of the Torah reflecting actual events is the heavy use of terms and concepts
unique to Egypt.
The exodus and
wilderness narratives (i.e., Exodus–Numbers) contain 27 different Egyptian
loanwords, primarily comprising terminology for realia and material culture
(see table 1). 10 Altogether there are 381 total occurrences of Egyptian
loanwords in the exodus and wilderness traditions…. Significantly, the book of
Exodus alone contains 26 Egyptian loanwords that occur a total of 333 times (Egyptian
Loanwords as Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus and Wilderness
Traditions ,Benjamin J. Noonan ,Columbia International University)
Other related Semitic languages of the same
time period show very little use of Egyptian loan words, even though they at
many times were under Egyptian control.! The author concludes that these terms
themselves reflect the language of the period of the Exodus, and had they been
a later invention, the authors would have been unable to recreate them from
sources they no longer had!
The entire story of the Exodus is then to be
seen as the revolution, not just against enslavement, but against all that is
Egyptian, from the top, Pharaoh, on down. And that is what is at the core of
Egypt- the Pharaoh, as the physical embodiment of the gods, and all the way down.
That is why Egypt is called “beit Avadim”-the House of slavery”. Not because
the Egyptians were oppressed, but because they had given themselves over to a
civilization based upon the centrality of the Pharaoh-King-Emperor-Tsar.
Early Christian and Jewish texts referred to
the forces of evil, the powers of Satan, under the term “Cosmocrator”-Ruler of
the Cosmos, the universe.
A human being acting as god.
Thus:
AFTERWARDS,
MOSES AND AARON CAME <AND SAID UNTO PHARAOH >…. R. Hiyya b. R. Abba said:
It was ambassador day for Pharaoh, and all the kings were coming to crown him
because he was the cosmocrator of the world {i.e., powerful one}
Tanhuma (Buber)
Vaera 2
Thus, a word intended as a divine adversary of
God is applied to Pharaoh.
It has long been
known that the Egyptian pharaoh was regarded as divine in Egyptian culture. He
was the son of Re and the mediator between the gods and humankind. During the
royal coronation, he was transformed into a manifestation of the god Horus. He
could be referred to as a ntr (‘divine
being’, ‘god’), and was regularly described in inscriptions as ‘the good god’
or ‘perfect god’ (ntr nfr). By
the New Kingdom period, the king's divinity was believed to be imbued by his
possession of a divine manifestation of the god Amun-Re called the ‘living
royal ka’, which
came upon him at his coronation, and which was also renewed during the
yearly opet festival
held in the Luxor temple in Thebes THE
DIVINITY OF THE PHARAOH IN GREEK SOURCES
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/divinity-of-the-pharaoh-in-greek-sources/10B843BD8305A47AFB789F70AF0E7D11Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2014
Interestingly, shortly after this period, and
after the period of Akhnaton, who placed himself as the sole mediator with the
only god, Aten, the Egyptians no longer saw Pharaoh as the embodiment of the
gods!
It was, however, reborn, under the Hellenistic and
Roman rulers, who now created a cult around the ruler. That is one of the
factors behind the rebellions under the Macabees and under year 70 and Bar
Cochba uprisings.
Getting back to Pharaoh, what is it about his
heart that only an Egyptian or a people having lived in Egypt would know.
The weighing of the heart in the from the Book of the Dead of
Ani (ca. 1300 B.C.E.). The
heart is on the left scale; the feather of maʾat on the right. The god Anubis
sets up the scales, while Ani’s soul (ba) looks on in the form of a bird. On the right, the god
Thoth records his judgment while the monster Amenti watches for the heart to
drop below the feather so he can consume it. British Library, 2001
Saying that
Pharaoh’s heart was heavy was akin to saying that he was not “worthy” of an
afterlife, a terrible curse for an Egyptian.[9] .( From The Torah.com)
So who is making
Pharaoh’s heart turn into a brick?
First, there is
the use” strengthening”.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֒ בְּלֶכְתְּךָ֙
לָשׁ֣וּב מִצְרַ֔יְמָה רְאֵ֗ה כָּל־הַמֹּֽפְתִים֙ אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֣מְתִּי בְיָדֶ֔ךָ
וַעֲשִׂיתָ֖ם לִפְנֵ֣י פַרְעֹ֑ה
וַאֲנִי֙ אֲחַזֵּ֣ק אֶת־לִבּ֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א יְשַׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָעָֽם׃ 4:21
And
יהוה said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt,
see that you perform before Pharaoh all the marvels that I have put within your
power. I, however, will
stiffen his heart so that he will not let the people go.
Achazek- I will “strengthen”, fortify. Not “Stiffen”.
Explanation:
ואני אחזק את לבו, for if he could not endure the plagues he would let the
Israelites go, not because he was finally humbling himself before the Lord and
do His will, but only in order to get relief from the plagues. This was not a
good enough reason to grant him relief; therefore G’d reinforced his natural
obstinacy.
. כי בהיותו בלתי יכול לסבול המכות היה משלח את
העם בלי ספק, לא מפני שיכנע לאל יתברך לעשות רצונו, ולזה חזק את לבו שיתאמץ לסבול המכות ולבלתי שלחם: Sforno
So to say, to Pharaoh” Chazak v’Ematz” -be strong
to take it all with a stiff upper lip!
Again:
Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 4:21:3
ואני אחזק. ואם תאמר היאך הקב״ה מחזק לב האדם להכשל בו,
תשובה הואיל והרשע
מחויב בדין אין
הקב״ה גובה ממנו אלא במלאת ספקו.
If you would
say,” How can the Holy One strengthen an man’s heart in order to make him fall,
the answer is that since the evil doer has already made himself legally liable,
the holy One doesn’t exact justice until במלאת ספקו-till his appetite ( to do wrong) is filled
to the top.
In other words, I am giving him enough rope to
hang himself on ( or hoist himself on his own petard!)
Now, how
“kaved”-heavy- used. It is not the word, as often translated in English, hard.
וַיַּ֣רְא
פַּרְעֹ֗ה כִּ֤י הָֽיְתָה֙ הָֽרְוָחָ֔ה וְהַכְבֵּד֙ אֶת־לִבּ֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א
שָׁמַ֖ע אֲלֵהֶ֑ם כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהוָֽה׃ (ס)
But
when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he became stubborn and would not heed
them, as יהוה had spoken. 8:11.
והכבד
את לבו HE
ALLOWED HIS HEART TO BE HARDENED —expresses doing something ,the Hebrew
infinitive but having a past meaning -P-A-O-L construct( haloch the going, from
holech, go).
והכבד את לבו, He reinforced his natural courage not to be frightened of a
re-emergence of the crocodiles that had remained alive. He was also willing to
put up with the stench of the decaying beasts. All of this rather than to admit
his impotence vis-à-vis the G’d of the Israelites.Sforno( Italian )
In
other word, God has done nothing to him. He is doing it to himself.
Again, a few verses later:
וַיַּכְבֵּ֤ד פַּרְעֹה֙ אֶת־לִבּ֔וֹ גַּ֖ם
בַּפַּ֣עַם הַזֹּ֑את וְלֹ֥א שִׁלַּ֖ח אֶת־הָעָֽם׃ {פ}
But Pharaoh became stubborn this time also, and
would not let the people go.
Better-Pharaoh made his heart even heavier(
piel-the intensive form of the verb).8:28. Again 9:7, 9:24.
It is not till the opening of our Torah
portion, where God finally announces his final plans to the Egyptians and their
Pharaoh, with the phrase:
אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה
כִּֽי־אֲנִ֞י הִכְבַּ֤דְתִּי אֶת־לִבּוֹ֙ וְאֶת־לֵ֣ב עֲבָדָ֔יו לְמַ֗עַן שִׁתִ֛י
אֹתֹתַ֥י אֵ֖לֶּה בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ׃
Then
ה" said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh. For I have
hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display
these My signs among them,( admittedly, we have the term “ I will make his
heart hard”-aksheh -also)
For what purpose is it to harden or make the
Pharaoh’s heart all the heavier?
כי אני הכבדתי את לבו הודיע הקב''ה למשה שהוא הכביד את לבם עתה אחרי
שפחדו ממנו בברד והתודו על עונם. ואמר לו הטעם כי עשיתי כן, למען שאשית בקרבם אלה
האותות אשר אני חפץ לעשות בהם שידעו מצרים את גבורתי, לא שאעניש אותם יותר מפני
הכובד הזה. ועוד כדי שתספר אתה וכל ישראל לדורות הבאים כח מעשי, ותדעו כי אני ה',
וכל אשר אחפוץ אעשה בשמים ובארץ:Ramban
I
will thereby place upon them my signs so that Egypt will understand my might,
not in order to punish them more for this heaviness.
Another explanation:
For
I have hardened his heart - Rabbi Yochanan said: Does this not provide heretics
with an opportunity to open their mouths to say that he had no means of
repenting, as it say "For I have hardened his heart". Rabbi Shimon
ben Lakish said to him: Let the mouths of the heretics be stopped up. Rather, (Mishlei
3:34) If it concerns the scorners, he scorns them. When the Holy One Blessed be
He warns a man once, twice, thrice and he doesn't repent, and G-d will close
his heart against repentance so that He should not exact vengeance from him for
his sins. So to with the wicked Pharaoh, since Hashem sent five times to him
and he took no notice, G-d then said: "You have stiffened your neck and
hardened your heart; well, I will add impurity to your impurity". Hence,
"For I have hardened his heart". What does "I have
hardened" imply? That G-d made his heart like a liver (כבד) into which even if boiled a second time no juice enters; so
also was the heart of Pharaoh made like a liver, and he did not receive the
words of G-d. Hence, "For I have hardened his heart". Shemot Rabbah
13:3
In this sense, God is the ultimate enabler to
Pharaoh’s addiction to power, just feeding the addict more of what he wanted in
the first place.
So, we go back to the Egyptian Book of the
Dead- Pharaoh’s heart has become so heavy, that he will not be allowed into the
afterlife-even in the Egyptian version of an afterlife!
It takes us to one more
point-why such a fuss about letting Pharaoh and his regime collapse. It is
clear that the Exodus itself is not the end game, rather it is the entire
concept of Pharaoh and the Gods of Egypt-the entirety of Egyptian civilization:
Here, in the announcement of the final plague,
the plague of the first born- up to the first born of Pharaoh
וְעָבַרְתִּ֣י בְאֶֽרֶץ־מִצְרַ֘יִם֮ בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַזֶּה֒
וְהִכֵּיתִ֤י כׇל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם מֵאָדָ֖ם וְעַד־בְּהֵמָ֑ה
וּבְכׇל־אֱלֹהֵ֥י מִצְרַ֛יִם אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה שְׁפָטִ֖ים אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
For
that night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every [male]
first-born in the land of Egypt, both human and beast; and I will mete out
punishments to all the gods of Egypt, I
‘ה. 12:12
And again:
מֵֽרַעְמְסֵס֙ בַּחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָֽרִאשׁ֔וֹן
בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֥ה עָשָׂ֛ר י֖וֹם לַחֹ֣דֶשׁ הָרִאשׁ֑וֹן מִֽמׇּחֳרַ֣ת הַפֶּ֗סַח יָצְא֤וּ
בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בְּיָ֣ד רָמָ֔ה לְעֵינֵ֖י כׇּל־מִצְרָֽיִם׃
They
set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first
month. It was on the morrow of the passover offering that the Israelites
started out defiantly, in plain view of all the Egyptians. Numbers 33:4
וּמִצְרַ֣יִם
מְקַבְּרִ֗ים אֵת֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר הִכָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה בָּהֶ֖ם כׇּל־בְּכ֑וֹר
וּבֵאלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם עָשָׂ֥ה יְהֹוָ֖ה שְׁפָטִֽים׃
The
Egyptians meanwhile were burying those among them whom יהוה
had struck down, every [male] first-born—whereby יהוה
executed judgment on their gods.
On this, Ramban comments:
In
my opinion, Scripture alludes here to the lords on high, the gods of Egypt,
something like the verse, The Eternal will punish the host of the high
heavens on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.(Isaiah 24) Thus
He subdued the power of the Egyptians and that of the lords over them. But
Scripture hints and deals briefly with hidden matters.
( Ramban)
The plagues begin with the destruction of the
Crocodile by Moses staff-the Tanin( crocodile, not snake)
Sobek was among the oldest deities named in the Pyramid Texts, the texts inscribed on the walls of tombs. He was the lord of the crocodiles and was depicted with a crocodile head.
It continues with making the Nile bleed-
Hapi (Ancient Egyptian: ḥʿpy) was the god of the
annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian
religion. Also, the father of the gods.
The frogs
Heqet
In ancient
Egyptian religion and mythology, Heqet (also spelled Heqtit or
Hekt) was a frog-headed goddess who personified generation, birth, and
fertility
Ninth-Blotting
out the Sun
The
ninth-the Sun- RA, as in the name of the greatest Pharaoh of the time, Ramses(
namesake of the city) or Aten, the sun-disk, as in Akhnaten.
What is
placed on the doorposts of the Israelites-the blood of the lamb.
Rams, seen as a symbol of
fertility, were identified with various gods, notably Khnum, a creator god, and
Amun, the great god of the city of Thebes. Ram-headed sphinxes flank the
entrance to the temple of Amun at Thebes.
Pharaoh is spared only to see his
army of chariots, the pride of Egypt’s military might, wiped out at the shores
of the Yam Suf.
 |
| Ramses II in his chariot |
Pharaoh’s heart is destined to be devoured by
the demons, Pharaoh as the incarnation of God on earth is dethroned, as, in the
future,the Caesars, the Emperors, the dictators, all “mamshelet zadon”, all the
kingdom of wickedness will disappear.
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