Only the Holy One Knows the Exact Midnight of the Exodus

"And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt" (Exodus 12:29). Rabbi Tanhum of Jaffa, in the name of Rabbi Mana of Caesarea, opened with: "When I thought to know this, it was wearisome in my eyes" (Psalms 73:16). David said: no creature can fix the precise midpoint of the night except the Holy One, blessed be He; but for me it is wearisome. And because no creature can stand upon the exact half of the night except the Holy One, therefore "it came to pass at midnight." Rabbi Aha expounded: "I am the LORD, that is My name; and My glory will I not give to another, nor My praise to graven images" (Isaiah 42:8). Rabbi Aha said: the Holy One said, that is the name by which the first man called Me, the name I set between Myself and Myself, the name I set between Myself and the ministering angels; and My glory I will not give to another. Rabbi Nahman in the name of Rabbi Avun said: these are the demons. Rabbi Mana said: no creature in the world can distinguish a drop that produces a firstborn from a drop that does not, except the Holy One; but for me it is wearisome, therefore "it came to pass at midnight." It is written, "He confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, It shall be inhabited, and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up its ruins" (Isaiah 44:26). Rabbi Berekhiah in the name of Rabbi Levi: just as an angel appeared to our father Jacob and said, "Your name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel" (Genesis 32:29), and the Holy One revealed Himself to confirm that angel's decree, saying "Your name is Israel" (Genesis 35:10) - how much more so will Jerusalem, of which all the prophets prophesy, surely be rebuilt. Some say: "He confirms the word of His servant" - this is Moses, "My servant Moses is not so" (Numbers 12:7); "and performs the counsel of His messengers" - this too is Moses, "He sent a messenger and brought us out of Egypt" (Numbers 20:16). The Holy One told Moses, "I will pass through the land of Egypt this night" (Exodus 12:12), yet Moses went and told Israel, "About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt" (Exodus 11:4). The Holy One said: I already promised Moses, "He is faithful in all My house" (Numbers 12:7); shall Moses My servant be made a liar? Rather, because Moses said "about midnight," I too will act at the exact midnight. "At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You for Your righteous judgments" (Psalms 119:62). Rabbi Pinhas in the name of Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Menahem: what did David do? He took a harp and lyre and set them at his head, and rose at midnight and played them, and the companions of Israel heard his voice and said, if King David occupies himself with Torah, how much more should we - and all Israel were found occupied with Torah. Rabbi Levi said: a window over David's bed opened to the north, and the harp hung facing it, and the north wind would blow upon it at midnight and the harp played of itself, as it is written, "And it came to pass, when the minstrel played" (2 Kings 3:15); it does not say "the minstrel was playing" but "when there was playing," for the harp played by itself. David said, "Awake, my glory; awake, lyre and harp; I will rouse the dawn" (Psalms 57:9) - I rouse the dawn; the dawn does not rouse me. His evil inclination would provoke him, saying: the way of kings is that the dawn wakes them, yet you say "I will rouse the dawn"; kings sleep until the third hour, yet you say midnight. And "for Your righteous judgments" - for the judgments You brought upon Pharaoh and the righteousness You did with Sarah my ancestress, "the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife" (Genesis 12:17). Another interpretation of "Your righteous judgments": the judgments You brought upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and the righteousness You did with our ancestors in Egypt, who had only two commandments in hand - the blood of the Passover and the blood of circumcision, as it is written, "And I passed by you and saw you weltering in your blood, and I said to you, In your blood, live" (Ezekiel 16:6) - this is the blood of the Passover and the blood of circumcision. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai taught: Moses did not know the precise moments and instants of the night, so he said "about midnight"; but the Holy One knows the night's exact moments, so He entered it as fine as a hair's breadth. Who divided the night? Rabbi Binyamin son of Yefet in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: the night divided of itself; and the Rabbis say its Maker divided it. Rabbi Tanhuma said: the Holy One said, their father Abraham went out at midnight, as it is written, "and he divided himself against them, by night" (Genesis 14:15), and I will go out with his children at midnight. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai found that day and night together are called "day," for it is written, "and it was evening and it was morning, one day" (Genesis 1:5). On that day the firstborn of Egypt died: how were they smitten? With the plague of death from the evening, and they convulsed all night and died by day, for it does not say "we are all dead" but "we are all dying" (Exodus 12:33), dying and going. "And the LORD smote all the firstborn" - the firstborn of a man and the firstborn of a woman, the firstborn male and the firstborn female. How so? If one man came to ten women and they bore ten sons, and ten men came to one woman and she bore ten sons, all of them are firstborn. And where there was no firstborn at all, what does "there was no house where there was not one dead" mean (Exodus 12:30)? Rabbi Abba bar Aha said: the steward of the house would die. Rabbi Natan taught: on the day a man's firstborn died, he would carve his likeness in his house, and that day it was crushed and pulverized and scattered, and it grieved him as if he had buried him that day. Rabbi Yudan said: the Egyptians buried their dead in their houses, and dogs entered through the niches and dragged out the firstborn and mocked them, and it grieved them as if they had buried him that very day. "From the firstborn of Pharaoh" - hence Pharaoh was a firstborn. All the firstborn gathered to their fathers and said: since Moses has said, "every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die" (Exodus 11:5), and everything he said against this people has come upon them - rise and send out these Hebrews from among us, or else these people will die. They said: let ten sons of one of us die as one of them, but do not hold to keeping these Hebrews. They said: let us go to Pharaoh, who is a firstborn; perhaps he will have mercy on his own life and send the Hebrews out from among us. They went to Pharaoh and said: rise and send out these Hebrews. He said: go and break their legs! Shall I give up my life or my soul for the Hebrews? At once the firstborn went out and killed six hundred thousand of their fathers, as it is written, "To Him who smote Egypt through their firstborn" (Psalms 136:10); it does not say "who smote the firstborn in Egypt" but "who smote Egypt through their firstborn" - the firstborn killed six hundred thousand. Rabbi Avun in the name of Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazzi said: Bithiah daughter of Pharaoh was a firstborn, and by what merit was she saved? By the prayer of Moses, as it is written, "She perceives that her merchandise is good; her lamp does not go out by night" (Proverbs 31:18). "To the firstborn of the maidservant" (Exodus 11:5). Rav Huna and Rabbi Aha in the name of Rabbi Elazar son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean: even the maidservants set to the millstones, who would say, we desire our servitude while Israel are in their servitude. "And all the firstborn of beasts" - if man sinned, what did the beast do? Rather, the Egyptians worshiped the lambs, saying, our deity has brought this hard punishment upon us; our deity stands on its own without punishment befalling it. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yehoshua bar Avin in the name of Rabbi Levi: the Master of Mercy does not strike souls first. From whom do you learn this? From Job. "And a messenger came to Job and said, The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them" (Job 1:14): Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said a sample of the world to come was made for him, as in "the plowman shall overtake the reaper" (Amos 9:13). "The Sabeans fell upon them and took them, and slew the servants with the edge of the sword" (Job 1:15). "I alone have escaped to tell you" (Job 1:15): Rabbi Aha said, "only" indicates he was broken and stricken. Rabbi Yudan said: "I alone escaped to tell you" - as soon as each told his tidings, he died, as it is written, "While he was yet speaking, another came" (Job 1:17). So too with Mahlon and Chilion: first their horses, camels, and donkeys died, and afterward "Elimelech, Naomi's husband, died" (Ruth 1:3), and afterward "both of them died" (Ruth 1:5). So too with the plagues that come upon a person: first it begins with his house; if he repents, the stones require removal; if not, the house requires demolition (Leviticus 14:40-45); then it begins with his garments; if he repents, they require tearing; if not, burning (Leviticus 13:56); then it begins with his body (Leviticus 13:46). And in Egypt so it was: at first the measure of judgment touched their property, "He struck their vines and fig trees" (Psalms 105:33), "He gave their cattle over to hail" (Psalms 78:48), and afterward "He struck every firstborn in Egypt" (Psalms 78:51). Rabbi Levi bar Zechariah in the name of Rabbi Berekhiah: He came against them with the tactics of kings. First He dammed their water channels into blood, then He brought croaking frogs, then He shot arrows of lice, then He brought legions of wild beasts, then a heavy plague of pestilence, then He cast naphtha of boils, then ballista stones of hail, then locust besiegers, then He chained them in the dungeon of darkness, and then He brought out the greatest of them and killed the firstborn at midnight. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Hama: He who exacted punishment from the former will exact it from the latter. As Egypt had blood, so Edom: "I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire" (Joel 3:3). As Egypt had frogs, so Edom: "A sound of an uproar from the city" (Isaiah 66:6). As Egypt had boils, so Edom: "their flesh shall rot" (Zechariah 14:12). And as Egypt had darkness, so Edom: "He shall stretch over it the line of confusion" (Isaiah 34:11). Rabbi Aha bar Kahana said: darkness and gloom served in Egypt for three days, but chaos and void have not yet served in this world; where will they serve in the future? In the great city of Rome, "He shall stretch over it the line of confusion and the stones of void" (Isaiah 34:11). The Rabbis say: of the nations who did not accept the Torah given out of the darkness, it is said, "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth" (Isaiah 60:2); but of Israel who accepted the Torah given out of the darkness it is said, "Upon you the LORD will shine, and His glory will be seen upon you" (Isaiah 60:2).