We're talking about the night of the slaying of the firstborn, the tenth plague that finally broke his iron grip on the Israelites.
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Pharaoh didn't wait for the usual royal waking hour, the third hour of the morning. He didn't even wait to be woken up! Can you imagine the scene? He was up, rousing his slaves, rousing the entire Egyptian populace, all to find Moses and Aaron.
Why the urgency? Well, Pharaoh knew something crucial: Moses never lied. And Moses had declared, "I will see thy face again no more." So, Pharaoh couldn’t expect Moses to come to him. He had to go find the Israelite leader himself.
But here's where the story takes a darkly humorous turn. Pharaoh, the most powerful man in Egypt, didn't know where Moses lived! He was wandering the streets, desperately seeking the man he’d just banished.
And the Hebrew lads? Ah, they saw an opportunity. Instead of helping, they played tricks on him, misdirecting him, leading him astray. Imagine the king, draped in his royal garments, lost and confused, being sent on a wild goose chase by mischievous children!
All the while, Pharaoh was weeping, crying out, "O my friend Moses, pray for me to God!" It's a powerful image, isn't it? This once-proud ruler, humbled by divine power, reduced to begging for mercy from the very man he had oppressed.
What does this tell us? Perhaps it's a reminder that even the mightiest can be brought low. Or maybe it's a testament to the unwavering truthfulness of Moses. It could even be a glimpse of the unexpected ways fate can turn. Whatever the lesson, Pharaoh's desperate search that night is a vivid moment in a story filled with them. A story reminding us of the enduring power of faith, freedom, and just a little bit of well-deserved payback.