By
Rabbi Daniel Roselaar
Pharaoh had remained steadfast in his refusal to release the Israelites, despite the disarray that must have existed in his country in the wake of the first nine plagues. But the Torah describes a picture of utter bedlam following the final plague when the firstborn across Egypt were killed in one instant.
Only a few days previously Pharaoh had expelled Moses and Aaron, telling them that he never wanted to see them again. But now we find him summoning them in the middle of the night and commanding them to take the Israelites and leave Egypt.
Rashi commented on the description of Pharaoh rising in the night and he wrote that he got up "from his bed". Rashi seldom mentions things that are obvious, so why was it important for him to make this observation?
Initially, it does seem obvious that Pharaoh would have been sleeping in his bed - after all, where else would we expect a ruler to spend the night? But on reflection, we should actually be surprised that he was sleeping at all. He had received a warning several days previously that the firstborn throughout the land would perish.
Bearing in mind the accuracy of the warnings about the other plagues, we would expect him to be trying to save his people and to ward off the impending attack. At the very least he should have been pacing his palace nervously, waiting for news from across the country.
The fact that he had gone to bed and was presumably sleeping soundly paints a portrait of a despotic ruler who cared less about the welfare of his people than about his own comforts. Like so many other dictators past and present, he was not only ruthless towards his enemies but also totally uncaring about his own people.
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