Ra before you

Cassuto suggests that there may be a reference to Ra the Egyptian sun god in Exodus 10:10.  Pharaoh dismisses Moses and Aaron with “look, for evil is before you,” but the word for evil is ra’a .  Cassuto suggests that Pharaoh means, “know that the power of my god will oppose you.”

Several observations.  First, there is possibly a double pun here, since the verb “look” is ra’ah , very close in sound to the word for “evil.”  If Pharaoh means to refer to Ra, then an exhortation to “see” (perhaps “see the sun”) would fit.  Second, if Cassuto is right, this is one of many passages where the name of a false god is deliberately twisted into something offensive.  Pharaoh refers to his chief god, but Moses writing Exodus changes that to “evil.”

Third, Cassuto later observes that this allusion to Ra is part of the context for the final plague.  Pharaoh points to the sun saying “Look!  Ra is before you!”  Not long after, Yahweh darkens the land with locusts (10:15) and then blots out Ra for three days (10:21-22).  So much for Ra.

Finally, this might also shed light on Exodus 32:22, where Aaron, after Israel has begun to worship Egyptians gods, reminds Moses that the people are set on ra’a .