In his instructions to Moses about the fourth Exodus plague (the plague of "swarms," probably swarms of flies), God says to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water" (Ex 8:20, KJV).
Readers have long wondered why God punctuates his statement with an extra "lo" or "behold" (hinei in Hebrew). The extra word might imply that God wants Moses to pay special attention to the fact that Pharaoh is going to the Nile.
One tradition on this point (expounded by the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi) proposes that Pharaoh goes to the water to relieve himself in private. The idea is that Pharaoh is supposed to be a god and doesn't want it known that he needs to take care of human bodily functions.
God, then, may be having Moses confront Pharaoh at a place where Pharaoh feels most vulnerable.
Rob Wilson shared this tradition in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on December 14, 2024. He also tied it in with the Incarnation, with the fact that Jesus came to the earth as a human baby, putting himself in a vulnerable position because of his love for us, as expressed in Philippians 2.
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