Bo: Turn Me Loose

Parashat Bo continues the story of the ten plagues visited upon Egypt, culminating in the most horrific of all: the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn.  Finally, Pharaoh recognizes that he can no longer maintain his resistance against God (and Moses as God's agent) and agrees to release the Israelites.

As will be seen further in next week's parish, Pharaoh will soon enough regret his decision.  But much can be made about the way that he arrives at his decision in the first place.  Why did it take such extreme consequences for Pharaoh to relent and release the Israelites?  We saw during the plague of the locusts that Pharaoh's own courtiers are beginning to doubt the wisdom of his intransigence: "How long shall this one be a snare to us?" they ask, referring to Moses.  "Are you not yet aware that Egypt is lost?"  They have their eyes open to the desolation that has overtaken the land; Pharaoh has become so entrenched in his stubbornness that he refuses to recognize this for himself.

Many commenters argue that some of Pharaoh's stubbornness is self-imposed, while other elements of it are a result of God's interactions with him.  In the broader drama of the Exodus narrative, this makes sense.  God wishes to maximize the tension that Pharaoh and his people feel, in order to send a message to both the Israelites and the Egyptians about the nature and magnitude of God's power.

On the other hand, perhaps given human nature, God didn't have to push Pharaoh terribly hard to discover his stubborn streak.  Many of us are built in a way that makes it difficult for us to back down from a position for which we have argued strongly.  Pharaoh, having convinced himself that he is in the right, will not retreat easily from that position.

"I gotta do it my way, or no way at all."  This could easily be voiced by any of the players in this narrative.

Please note, I do not own-- nor do I claim to own-- these songs.  Copyrights are held by the various artists.  I include them here for illustrative purposes.
Turn Me Loose- (Bo, Exodus 10:1-13:16)

Music and lyrics by Paul Dean and Mike Reno, performed by Loverboy. From "Loverboy," Columbia Records, 1980.