A Way Forward for Pharaoh

Parashat Va’era, Exodus 6:2–9:35

Rabbi Russ Resnik

Fear makes for bad politics. Just ask the folks who lived through Pharaoh’s reign in the days of the Exodus. 

As our story opened in last week’s parasha, Pharaoh was stoking fears about a peaceful minority group thriving among the Egyptians: “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land” (Exod 1:9–10). The way he handled this clear threat from the Israelite population was to conscript them into an oppressive system of forced labor—which didn’t work. The Israelites continued to thrive and the Egyptians became even more unsettled (Exod 1:12), until Pharaoh instituted a policy that may have been unthinkable until then, even in tyrannical Egypt: murder every male child born to the Hebrews. 

At this point, our narrative introduces another kind of fear. The Hebrew midwives were ordered to carry out this policy, “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live” (Exod 1:17). Midwives occupied a humble place in ancient society and would normally be left unnamed. But in Shemot, the Book of Names as Exodus is called in Hebrew, the names of these brave midwives are recorded forever: Shifrah and Puah. They feared God more than they feared Pharaoh, and that points the way out of the system of oppression that gripped not only the people of Israel, but the whole land of Egypt. Other Hebrews, especially the mother and sister of Moses, will join them in choosing the fear of God over fear of Pharaoh.

Pharaoh, of course, cannot abide the notion that there’s anyone or any power to be feared more than he. He ramps up the pressure on the Israelites and their cries rise up to the One even greater than Pharaoh: “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Exod 2:24–25).

The stage is set for a mighty confrontation between God and Pharaoh, which intensifies throughout this week’s parasha. Hashem sends Moses to deliver the Israelites and (in last week’s parasha) gives him a preview of the struggle: “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Exod 4:21). The notion of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that he can resist God’s power is a tough one. Why not just soften Pharaoh’s heart so that he relents and releases Israel? In addition to a multitude of insights from sages and commentators, I’ll add this: perhaps Hashem wants to point us beyond the regime of domination that Pharaoh embodies. Hashem can overpower and out-oppress Pharaoh; he can terrorize Pharaoh as Pharaoh has terrorized Israel and his own people as well. But he’s seeking a non-coerced response. He’s strengthening Pharaoh’s heart, which is already set against God, so that Pharaoh isn’t crushed but remains free to turn away from evil of his volition. 

This brings us back to the second kind of fear, the fear displayed by Shifrah and Puah: fear of God. Pharaoh utilizes fear to weaken, crush, and dominate others. The fear of God points the way toward freedom from the fear of man. Yes, Hashem will put the pressure on Pharaoh big-time, but he will strengthen Pharaoh’s heart so that he can still freely embrace the fear of God. In Exodus 4:21, the Hebrew says literally, “I will strengthen his heart, ahazek et-libo.” You might recognize in that phrase the word we repeated a couple of weeks ago at the conclusion of our reading of Genesis: Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek, “Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened.” 

And so, throughout the succession of plagues in this week’s parasha, Hashem is seeking a genuine change of heart in Pharaoh and in his people. Pharaoh uses fear to dominate and manipulate his people; Hashem uses fear to correct and restore. “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe” (Prov 29:25). Today we are living in a moment of intense fear of man, with powerful people ready to mobilize that fear to their own ends. Trusting in the Lord leads us to safety. 

The succession of plagues in this week’s reading leaves off at Plague Number 7, an appropriate moment to pause and assess the situation. This plague consists of hail, “hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation” (Exod 9:24). Pharaoh finally appears to repent: “This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” But Moses knows that this is only a coerced submission. He’ll call off the plague. “But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God” (Exod 9:30). And sure enough, “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants” (Exod 9:34). Here the word isn’t strengthened, but hardened or made heavy—vayakh’bed libo—and Pharaoh did it himself. 

The fear of man or the fear of God. Being manipulated by fear-mongering people in power or liberated by fear of God. The choice is ours, and the choice is even Pharaoh’s to make. Fear of God is the way forward for Pharaoh, but will he take it? Stay tuned for next week’s parasha. 

Scripture references are from ESV (English Standard Version).