“Who Passed Over the Houses of the Children of Israel”

Did God smite the Egyptian firstborns on His own, or through an angel? What does it mean that God passed over the houses of Israel? A simple reading of the text suggests that God’s “passing over” means that He refrained from taking action. When God smote the firstborn of Egypt, He refrained from harming the firstborn of Israel. However, we may actually suggest that God passed over them in the sense that His Shekhina hovered over them. The act of destruction He handed over to an agent, But God was not prepared to hand over to an agent the task of protecting His firstborn son, Israel.