About Midnight Moses Spoke and the Firstborn of Egypt Died

"And Moses said, Thus says the LORD, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt" (Exodus 11:4). What is the meaning of "about midnight"? If you say that the Holy One, blessed be He, also said to him "about midnight" -- is there any doubt in heaven? Rather, He said to him: tomorrow at midnight exactly as now; and Moses came and said "about midnight." And David, how did he know? David had a sign: a harp hung above David's bed, and so on. Rabbi Zeira said: in truth Moses surely knew, and David also surely knew; but why did David need a harp? To wake himself from sleep. And as for Moses, the reason he said "about midnight" is that he thought, perhaps Pharaoh's astrologers will err and say Moses is a liar, for the master said: train your tongue to say "I do not know," lest you be caught in a falsehood. Rav Ashi said: Moses our teacher was standing at the half of the night of the thirteenth as it became the fourteenth, at midnight, and thus Moses said to them, Tomorrow, exactly as now, I will go out into the midst of Egypt. This is what Scripture says: "He confirms the word of His servant" (Isaiah 44:26) -- this is Moses, of whom it is written, "Not so My servant Moses" (Numbers 12:7). "And performs the counsel of His messengers" -- [this is Moses], of whom it is written, "and He sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go, say to Israel, Thus says the LORD, About midnight I go out. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I have already written and said, "My servant Moses is faithful in all My house" (Numbers 12:7), and shall Moses appear as a liar? Rather, he said "about midnight," so too I will act about midnight. David said, "At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You because of Your righteous judgments" (Psalms 119:62) -- for the judgments You brought upon Egypt and for the kindness You did with our fathers in Egypt, who had no commandments by which to be redeemed, and You gave them two commandments, the blood of the Passover and the blood of circumcision. Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai taught: Moses, who does not know the times and moments of the night exactly, therefore came and said "about midnight"; but the Holy One, blessed be He, who knows the times and moments of the night, therefore entered at the precise hairsbreadth of midnight. "And every firstborn shall die" (Exodus 11:5): the firstborn of a man, the firstborn of a woman, the firstborn male, the firstborn female. How so? One man came upon ten women and they bore ten sons; all of them are found to be firstborn of women. Ten men came upon one woman and she bore ten sons; all of them are found to be firstborn of men. Consider the case where there is no firstborn at all, neither of a man nor of a woman -- and how do I fulfill "there was not a house where there was not one dead" (Exodus 12:30)? Rabbi Abba bar Acha said: the head of the household died, as it is said, ["the eldest, for he was not] a firstborn, yet his father made him head." It was taught in the name of Rabbi Natan: on the day the firstborn of one of them died, his portrait was painted within the house, and on that day it was crushed and ground and scattered, and it was as grievous to them as if they had buried him that very day. Rabbi Yudan said: because the Egyptians used to bury within their houses, the dogs would enter through the openings and drag out the firstborn and feed on them, and it was as grievous to them as if they had buried them that very day. "From the firstborn of Pharaoh": this tells that Pharaoh was a firstborn. And all the firstborn went to their fathers and said to them: Because Moses said, every firstborn shall die, and everything Moses has said against this people has come upon them. So come, let us bring out these Hebrews from among us; and if not, these people will die. They said: ten sons belong to each one of us; let one of them die, but we will not bring out these Hebrews. They said: rather, the remedy of the matter is, let us go to Pharaoh, who is a firstborn; perhaps he will have pity on himself and bring out these Hebrews from among us. They went to Pharaoh and said to him: Because Moses said, every firstborn shall die, and everything he has said against this people has come upon them, therefore rise and bring out these Hebrews from among us; and if not, these people will die. He said: Go and break their legs! I say, whether my life or the life of these Hebrews, and you say, let the Hebrews go! Immediately the firstborn went out and killed sixty myriads of their fathers. Rabbi Avin in the name of Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazi: Batyah the daughter of Pharaoh was a firstborn; by what merit was she saved? By the prayer of Moses, as it is said, "her lamp does not go out by night" (Proverbs 31:18) -- it is written "by leil (night)," as you say, "a night of watching" (Exodus 12:42). "Until the firstborn of the maidservant": Rav Huna in the name of Rabbi Acha in the name of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yose the Galilean: even the maidservants who were sold to the mill would say, We desire our enslavement, and let Israel remain in their enslavement. Rabbi Yehudah ben Pazi said: it is a tradition of aggadah that when Sarah went down to Egypt they bound her to the mill. "And every firstborn of beast": Rav Huna said, if a person sinned, what did the beast sin? Rather, because the Egyptians worshipped the lambs, so that the Egyptians should not say, Our deity is strong, for it brought punishment upon us; our deity is strong, for it stood up for itself; our deity is strong, for no punishment ruled over it. Rabbi Zechariah the son-in-law of Rabbi Levi said: the Master of mercy does not touch lives first. From whom do you learn this? From Job: "the oxen were plowing," "the Chaldeans formed three bands," and only afterward, "and he took a potsherd to scrape himself with." So too with Machlon and Chilyon: first their horses and camels died, and afterward he himself died, "and Elimelech died," and afterward they died, as it is said, "and they both died as well." And so too the plagues that come upon a person: first it begins with his house; if he repents, it requires removal of stones, "and they shall remove the stones" (Leviticus 14:40); if he does not repent, it requires demolition, "and he shall break down the house" (Leviticus 14:45); and afterward it begins with his garments; if he repents, they require tearing, "and he shall tear it out of the garment" (Leviticus 13:56); and if he does not repent, it requires burning, "and he shall burn the garment" (Leviticus 13:52); and afterward it begins with his body; if he repents, he repents, and if not, "he shall dwell alone; outside the camp shall his dwelling be" (Leviticus 13:46). So too in Egypt: first the attribute of justice struck their property, "and He struck their vines and their fig trees, and gave their cattle over to the hail," and afterward, "and He struck all the firstborn in their land."