Death Of The Pharaoh's Firstborn Son Series

The Death of Pharaoh's Firstborn. After commissioning Moses at the burning bush, God commissions Moses again in Midian and then again on his way to Egypt. In this third commission, God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh, "Let My son go, that he may worship Me, yet you refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your firstborn son" (Exod 4:22-23).

Death of the Pharaoh's Firstborn Son

God speaks to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-4:17) and sends him to Egypt to speak with Pharaoh and free the Israelites: Come, I am sending you to Pharaoh, and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt. Following this commission, Moses returns to his father-in-law and lets him know that he plans on returning to Egypt (4:18).

(Exodus 4:18) Moses returned to his father-in-law Jether and said, "Let me go back to my kinsmen in Egypt and see how they are faring." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." Moses mentions nothing about the commission. Instead, God again speaks to Moses and commands him to go to Egypt (4:19).

(Exodus 4:19) YHWH said to Moses in Midian, "Go back to Egypt, for all the men who sought to kill you are dead."

It is strange for God to tell Moses to return to Egypt after being instructed to do so at the burning bush and even tell his father-in-law of his return! Abraham ibn Ezra is so bothered by this that he invokes the ultimate rabbinic escape clause (long commentary, ad loc.): The narrative order of the Torah differs from the chronological order of events (lit. "there is no earlier and later in the Torah"). This is the meaning [of the phrase "and he said to Moses" here]: "He had already said…."

According to ibn Ezra, this was the first revelation, and the second was at the burning bush, but, as already noted by the Ramban (ad loc.), this is not a logical reading of the text.

The Midian Commission: An Independent Tradition

In its original context, it is hard to escape the sense that verse 19 represented the first time God told Moses to return to Egypt. Thus, it reflects a parallel or alternative tradition to God commissioning Moses at the burning bush on the Mountain of God. At the burning bush, Moses made multiple arguments to God about why he could not go to Egypt and fulfill God's mission. However, he never mentions the most obvious reason he should not return to Egypt – the issue raised here – that he was wanted for murder! This further suggests that Exod 4:19 is independent of the burning bush tradition.

The independent character of this tradition is also indicated by the unexpected formulation, "for all the men that seek your life have died." In the previous narrative, it was explicitly Pharaoh who sought to kill Moses (2:15). Moreover, Pharaoh's death is recorded earlier (2:23), before the account of the burning bush. In order to connect the revelation in v. 19 with the death of Pharaoh recorded in 2:23, the LXX repeats the information here again (Exod 4:19, LXX):

After those many days, the King of Egypt died. And the Lord said to Moses in Midian…God Speaks to Moses on His Way Back to Egypt

The text continues with Moses taking his wife and sons and setting out for Egypt (4:20).

(Exodus 4:20) So Moses took his wife and sons, mounted them on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt…At this point, God once again addresses Moses with the following (Exodus 4:21-23):

(Exodus 4:21) YHWH said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the marvels that I have put into your hand. I, however, will harden his heart, so he will not let the people go.

(4:22) Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says YHWH: Israel is My firstborn son. (4:23) I have said to you, "Let My son go, that he may worship Me," yet you refuse to let him go. Now I will slay your firstborn son.'"

These three verses disrupt the theme of the journey spoken of in verse 20 and what follows in verses 24-26, which relates to the famous story of the "bloody bridegroom," which picks up on the theme of Moses traveling to Egypt with his wife that began in verse 20: (Exodus 4:24) It was that at a night encampment on the way, YHWH encountered him and sought to kill him…

This verse uses an indefinite pronoun as the object of the verbs "encountered him and sought to kill him" – but who is him? If we read the verse immediately after v. 20, as opposed to after vv. 21-23, the referent is clear since Moses is the subject of v. 20.