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Charles Sprague Pearce's Lamentations over the Death of the First-Born of Egypt. Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Observation

January 21, 2021

Reading Exodus with Leon Kass: Knowledge of the Divine

By Leon R. Kass

This week, Kass looks at what the ten plagues of Egypt reveal about the God who metes them out.

Once a week for the next few months, Mosaic will be publishing brief excerpts of Leon R. Kass’s new book on Exodus, Founding God’s Nation. Curious about one of the foundational texts of the Jewish tradition? Read along with us. To see earlier excerpts, go here.

This week, Jewish communities all over the world begin their study of Exodus 10:1-13:16, a portion of the text known by its first significant Hebrew word, “Bo.” Pharaoh and the Egyptians suffer God’s final three plagues, and after various preparations, the Israelites leave Egypt. Those preparations, their significance, and the Israelites’ departure from Egypt are explored in detail in an essay-length excerpt from Founding God’s Nation that Kass has previously published in Mosaic. In this week’s selection, we focus on what the plagues reveal about God, and His justice.

Knowledge of the Divine

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