Plagues of Egypt

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The Plagues of Egypt the Biblical Plagues or the Ten Plagues are the ten calamities foisted upon Egypt by God in the Bible (as recounted in the book of Exodus, chapters 7 - 12), in order to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelite slaves go to the desert for 3 days.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

(Exodus 7:14-25) rivers and other water sources turned to blood killing all fish and other water life. (Dam)
(Exodus 7:26-8:11) amphibians (commonly believed to be frogs) (Tsfardeia)
(Exodus 8:12-15) lice or gnats (Kinim)
(Exodus 8:16-28) flies or beasts (Arov)
(Exodus 9:1-7) disease on livestock (Dever)
(Exodus 9:8-12) unhealable boils (Shkhin)
(Exodus 9:-35) hail mixed with fire (Barad)
(Exodus 10:1-20) locusts (Arbeh)
(Exodus 10:21-29) darkness (Choshech)
(Exodus 11:1-12:36) death of the first-born of all Egyptian families. (Makat Bechorot)

The first five plagues seemed to affect "all the land of Egypt" Ex. 7:21, 8:2, 8:16, while the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th did not affect the children of Israel (Ex.8:22, 9:4,11,26, 10:23). 8th is unclear. For the last plague the Torah indicates that they were only spared from the final plague by sacrificing the Paschal lamb, marking their doorpost with the lamb's blood, and eating the roasted sacrifice together with Matzot ("Poor Man's Bread" לחם עוני) in a celebratory feast. The Torah describes the Angel of Death as actually passing through Egypt to kill all firstborn, but passing over (hence "Passover") houses which have the sign of lambs' blood on the doorpost. It was this plague which resulted in Pharaoh finally relenting, and sending the Israelites away at whatever terms they wished.

The Torah also relates God's instructions to Moses that the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt must be celebrated yearly on the holiday of Passover ("Pesah" פסח); the rituals observed on Passover recall the events surrounding the exodus from Egypt. The Torah additionally cites God's sparing of the Israelite firstborn as a rationale for the commandment of the redemption of the firstborn (Exodus 13:11-16). This event is also commemorated by the fast of the firstborn on the day preceding Passover but which is traditionally not observed because a siyum celebration is held which obviates the need for a fast.

The Plagues of Egypt are recognized by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The plagues

The following is a summary of the Biblical account of the plagues which is found in chapters 7-12 of Exodus.

The start of the curses (5:1 - 5:9, 7:8 - 7:13)

Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh, and delivered God's demand that the Israelite slaves be allowed to leave Egypt for the purpose of observing a holiday of worship and prayer for their God. After an initial refusal by Pharaoh, God sent Moses and Aaron back to show him a miraculous sign of warning - Aaron's staff turned into a serpent. Pharaoh's sorcerers, using trickery, also turned their staffs into snakes, but Aaron's serpent turns back into a staff after swallowing the staffs of the magicians.

Blood (7:14 - 7:25) דָם

The first plague was blood. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to extend his staff over the river Nile; all of its water turned into blood. As a result of the blood, the fish of the Nile died, filling Egypt with an awful stench. Other water resources used by the Egyptians were turned to blood as well (7:19). Pharaoh's sorcerers demonstrated that they too could turn water to blood, and Pharaoh therefore made no concession to Moses' demands.

Frogs (8:1-16) צְּפַרְדֵּעַ

The second plague of Egypt was frogs; alternatively they were alligators (see Talmud Kesuboth). God commanded Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his staff over the water, and hordes of frogs came and overran Egypt. Pharaoh's sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with their magic. However, since they were unable to remove it, Pharaoh was forced to grant permission for the Israelites to leave so that Moses would agree to remove the frogs. To prove that the plague was actually a divine punishment, Moses let Pharaoh choose the time that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day, and all the frogs died the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his permission, and the Israelites stayed in Egypt.

Lice (8:12 - 8:15) כִנִּים

The third plague of Egypt was Kinim, variously translated as Gnats, Lice or Fleas. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and strike at the dust, which turned into a mass of gnats that the Egyptians could not get rid of. The Egyptian sorcerers declared that this act was "the Finger of God", since they were unable to reproduce its effects with their magic.

Flies/Beasts (8:16 - 8:28) עָרוֹב

The fourth plague of Egypt was flies/wild animals, capable of harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that the arov (swarm or mixture) only came against the Egyptians, and that it did not affect the Land of Goshen (where the Israelites lived). Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow the Israelites to worship God in the wilderness. However, after the plague was gone, Pharaoh "hardened his heart" and again refused to keep his promise.

Pestilence (9:1 - 9:7) דֶּבֶר

The fifth plague of Egypt was an epidemic disease which exterminated the Egyptian livestock; that is, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The Israelites' cattle were unharmed. Once again, Pharaoh made no concessions.

Boils (9:8 - 9:12) שְׁחִין

The sixth plague of Egypt was shkhin. The Shkhin was a kind of skin disease, usually translated as "boils". God commanded Moses and Aaron to each take two handfuls of soot from a furnace, which Moses scattered skyward in Pharaoh's presence. The soot induced festering Shkhin eruptions on Egyptian men and livestock. The Egyptian sorcerers were afflicted along with everyone else, and were unable to heal themselves, much less the rest of Egypt.

Storm (fiery hail) (9:13 - 9:35) בָּרָד

The seventh plague of Egypt was a destructive storm. God commanded Moses to stretch his staff skyward, at which point the storm commenced. It was even more evidently supernatural than the previous plagues, a powerful shower of hail intermixed with fire. The storm heavily damaged Egyptian orchards and crops, as well as men and livestock. The storm struck all of Egypt except for the Land of Goshen. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow the Israelites to worship God in the desert, saying "This time I have sinned; God is righteous, I and my people are wicked." As a show of God's mastery over the world, the hail stopped as soon as Moses began praying to God - hail which was then in the air never reached the ground; it simply disappeared. However, after the storm ceased, Pharaoh again "hardened his heart" and refused to keep his promise.

Locusts (10:1 - 10:20) אַרְבֶּה

The eighth plague of Egypt was locusts. Before the plague, God informed Moses that from that point on He would "harden Pharaoh's heart," (as promised earlier in 4:21) so that Pharaoh would not give in, and the remaining miracles (the final plagues and the splitting of the sea) would play out.

As with previous plagues, Moses came to Pharaoh and warned him of the impending plague of locusts. Pharaoh's officials begged him to let the Israelites go rather than suffer the devastating effects of a locust-swarm, but he was still unwilling to give in. He proposed a compromise: the Israelite men would be allowed to go, while women, children and livestock would remain in Egypt. Moses repeated God's demand that every last person and animal should go, but Pharaoh refused.

God then had Moses stretch his staff over Egypt, and a wind picked up from the east. The wind continued until the following day, when it brought a locust swarm. The swarm covered the sky, casting a shadow over Egypt. It consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops, leaving no tree or plant standing. Pharaoh again asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow all the Israelites to worship God in the desert. As promised, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not allow the Israelites to leave.

Darkness (10:21 - 10:29) חוֹשֶׁךְ

God instructed Moses to stretch his hand over Egypt, and this brought a plague of complete and utter darkness, which lasted for three days. This was an unnatural darkness, and was tangible. However, there was light where the Israelites lived. After the plague subsided, Pharaoh summoned Moses, and again tried to bargain with him: he offered to let all the Israelites go out to the wilderness, but required them to leave their livestock in Egypt. Moses refused this condition, and implied that before long, Pharaoh himself would offer to provide the sacrifices, as long as the Israelites would leave. This outraged Pharaoh, and he threatened Moses with death.

Death of Firstborn (11:1 - 12:36) מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

The tenth and final plague of Egypt was the death of all Egyptian first born males — no one escaped, from the lowest servant to Pharaoh's own first-born son, including first-born of livestock. This was the hardest and cruellest blow upon Egypt and the plague that finally convinced Pharaoh to submit, and let the Israelites go.

God told Moses that this plague would cause Pharaoh to send the Israelites away, and ordered him to prepare the people to leave. He also commanded Moses to teach the ritual of Pesah - the sacrifice of a lamb for God, and the eating of Matzot ("Poor-man's Bread" לחם עוני). God told Moses to order the Israelites to mark their doorpost with the lamb's blood, in order that the plague of death would pass over them.

At midnight, God came through Egypt to take the life of all the Egyptian first-born, including Pharaoh's own son. "That night, there was a great cry in Egypt, such as had never been heard before, or ever will be heard again". However, no Israelite first-born was killed, as God "passed over" the Israelite houses.

After this, Pharaoh, furious and saddened, ordered the Israelites to go away, taking whatever they wanted. The Israelites didn't hesitate; and at the end of that night Moses led them out of Egypt with "arms upraised."

Context

Although the main reason for the plagues appears to be Pharaoh's repeated refusal to release the Israelites from slavery, according to the Torah, God hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would be strong enough to persist in his unwillingness to release the people, so that God could manifest his great power and cause it to be declared among the nations (Ex 9:14, 16), so that other peoples would discuss it for generations afterward (Jos 2:9-11; 9:9; Isa 4:8; 6:6). In this view, the plagues were punishment for the Egyptians' long abuse of the Israelites, as well as proof that the gods of Egypt were powerless. (Ex 12:12; Nu 33:4).

If God triumphed over the gods of Egypt, a world power at that time, then the people of God would be strengthened in their faith, although they are a small people, and would not be tempted to follow the deities that God put to shame. Although some have advanced theories as to which of the Egyptian gods would have been discredited by which plague, this is only scantily supported by Midrashic sources, and these attempts have generally produced widely divergent results.

Interpretation

One of the noticeable features of the tales is that there appears to be an underlying pattern, the third, sixth and ninth plagues come without warning, and many Biblical commentators see there as being three sets of three plagues each. Attempts to draw parallels between each have had limited success, and are somewhat disputed. Some point to Rabbi Yehuda (quoted in the Haggadah of Pesach) who implied this idea by grouping the first three, middle three and last four together with the mnemonics DE.ZA.KH. A.DA.SH. BA.A.HA.V.

Another significant feature is that some plagues, but not others, are instigated by Aaron, rather than Moses. Many critical religious commentaries resolve this situation by saying that due to the principle of Ha-karat ha-tov, Moses was obliged to appreciate the help he received earlier from the Nile, as a baby (Exodus 2:1-10), and the dust, when he murdered a guard in his youth, (Exodus 2:11-12) and was therefore unable to smite either of these.

Historicity

The vast majority of scientists and secular thinkers believe the plague stories are simply mythical or allegorical, or inspired by passed-down accounts of disconnected natural disasters. Some, however, have speculated on possible natural inspirations behind the story of the succession of plagues.

Archaeology

There is archaeological material that archaeologists, such as William F. Albright, have considered historical evidence of the Ten Plagues; for example, an ancient water-trough found in El Arish bears hieroglyphic markings detailing a period of darkness.

The Egyptian Ipuwer papyrus describes a series of calamities befalling Egypt, including a river turned to blood, men behaving as wild ibises, and the land generally turned upside down. However, this is usually thought to describe a general and long term ecological disaster lasting for a period of decades, such as that which destroyed the Old Kingdom. The document is usually dated to the end of the Middle Kingdom, or more rarely, to its beginning, fitting the Old Kingdom destruction, possibly the same time as the Exodus.

Immanuel Velikovsky, the bulk of whose work is rejected by the scientific community, decided that the Egyptian papyrus did, in fact, describe the events of Exodus, along with the major natural catastrophes that he thought preceded it; in his opinion it was the conventional chronologies of Egypt that were wrong by several hundred years.

Natural explanations

As noted above, some science writers and Bible researchers have suggested that the plagues were passed-down accounts of ordinary natural disasters, and not supernatural miracles. This view has been challanged by the allegation that such a sequence of natural disasters may indicate that a divine entity was responsible for stirring them. Natural explanations have been suggested for most of the phenomena:

(plague 1—water turned into blood, fish died)

The redness in the Nile could have actually been pollution caused by volcanic activity, specifically that of Santorini, which erupted around 1500 B.C. and whose ash is found in the Nile region. The silt could make the Nile turn blood red, and would also render it undrinkable. Heavy rains in the red-soiled area of Lake Victoria could have caused reddened water to wash downstream.
Alternatively, a red toxic algal bloom (red tide) could have produced large quantities of toxins that would kill fish.
Earthquakes could have caused a limnic eruption the same way it happened at Lake Nyos.

(plague 2—frogs) Any blight on the water that killed fish also would have caused frogs to leave the river and, probably, die.
(plagues 3 and 4—biting insects and flies) The lack of frogs in the river would have let insect populations, normally kept in check by the frogs, increase massively.
(plagues 5 and 6— livestock disease and boils) There are biting flies in the region which transmit livestock diseases; a sudden increase in their number could spark epidemics.
(plague 7— fiery hail) Volcanic activity not only brings with it ash, but brimstone, and also alters the weather system, occasionally producing hail. Hail could also have occurred as a completely independent natural weather event, with accompanying lightning as the "fire".
(plague 8—locusts) The weight of hail will destroy most crops, leaving several insects and other animals without a normal food source. The remaining crops therefore would become targeted heavily, and thus be destroyed by swarms of locusts which would otherwise be distributed rather thinly. Or the locusts could have increased due to a lack of predators. Even without these explanations, swarms of locusts are not uncommon today.
(plague 9—darkness) There could be several causes for unusual darkness: a solar eclipse, a sandstorm, volcanic ash, or simply swarms of locusts large enough to block out the sun.
(plague 10—death of the firstborn)

If the last plague indeed selectively tended to affect the firstborn, it could be due to food polluted during the time of darkness, either by locusts or by the black mold Cladosporium. When people emerged after the darkness, the firstborn would be given priority, as was usual, and would consequently be more likely to be affected by any toxin or disease carried by the food.
The word we know as "firstborn" may have meant the higher social class rather than literally the eldest sons, but the same argument applies.
This plague could also be explained by a simple metaphor used by the writers of the bible, to explain the sole death of the Pharaoh's son.
In the 2006 documentary Exodus Decoded, Jewish Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici hypothesised the selectiveness of the tenth plague was under the circumstances similar to the 1986 disaster of Lake Nyos that is related to geological activities that caused the previous plagues in a related chain of events. The hypothesis was that the plagues took place shortly after the eruption of Thera (now known as Santorini), which is thought to have happened some time between 1450 BCE and 1650 BCE. The eruption sets off a chain of events resulting in the plagues and eventually the killing of the first born. Jacobovici suggests that the first borns in ancient Egypt had the privilege to sleep close to the floor while other children slept on higher ground or even on roofs. Like in Lake Nyos, when carbon dioxide or other toxic gases escape the surface tension of a nearby waterbody either due to geological activity or over saturation, the gas being heavier than air, "flooded" the nearby area displacing oxygen and killing those who were in its path. Jewish households escaped the fate because they were told to observe their first Passover rituals.

All these explanations do not account for the selectiveness of the plagues: according to the Hebrew Bible the plagues affected only the Egyptians, while the Hebrews remained untouched. Typically, modern writers, and particularly skeptics, account for such details of the account as being pious exaggerations, or literary devices, intended to encourage faith.

A volcanic eruption which happened in antiquity and could have caused some of the plagues if it occurred at the right time is the eruption of the Thera volcano 650 miles to the northwest of Egypt. Controversially dated to about 1628 BC, this eruption is one of the largest on record, rivaling that of Tambora, which resulted in 1816's Year Without a Summer. The enormous global impact of this eruption has been recorded in an ash layer deposit found in the Nile delta, tree ring frost scars in the bristlecone pines of the western United States, and a coating of ash in the Greenland ice caps, all dated to the same time and with the same chemical fingerprint as the ash from Thera.

However, all estimates of the date of this eruption are hundreds of years before the Exodus is believed to have taken place; thus the eruption can only have caused some of the plagues if one or other of the dates is wrong, or if the plagues did not actually immediately precede the Exodus.

Following the assumption that at least some of the details are accurately reported, many modern Jews believe that some of the plagues were indeed natural disasters, but argue for the fact that, since they followed one another with such uncommon rapidity, "God's hand was behind them". Indeed, several Biblical commentators (Nachmanides and, more recently, Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky) have pointed out that, for the plagues to be a real test of faith, they had to contain an element leading to religious doubt.

Possible Contradictions

The Fifth plague (pestilence, Exodus 9) wiped out the Egyptian livestock, including horses. Yet, Exodus 14 talks about the Pharaoh pursuing the Jews with chariots and horsemen. However, the plague in chapter nine specifically states that only the livestock in the fields would be affected. Some suppose that the livestock in the stables and under shelter would be spared. Another possible explanation is that Egyptians purchased the animals from the Jews after the plague of pestilence. The plague of hail only wiped out the animals of those Egyptians who ignored Moses' warning to bring them into their houses. They then provided their surviving livestock to Pharaoh's army.

However, this can possibly be considered a moot point because the text does not say that the pestilence killed all of the livestock. It merely states that it was a very severe pestilence that killed livestock.

Morality

The last plague has been depicted by critics as a cruel and unjustifiable punishment against the Egyptians, and is criticized for promoting an unethical schadenfreude ("pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune"). A common and widely accepted Jewish Midrash explains the dreadful plague by expanding upon Exodus 10:28, where Pharaoh threatens to kill Moses:

When Moses went to Pharaoh to demand of him that he let the people go, the whole event is happening in front of Pharaoh's first born son who teases and mocks his father for allowing the Hebrew shepherd to humiliate him. Enraged by the insult and mad with pride, Pharaoh resolved to have revenge for the plagues, and told Moses that he shall deal with the Hebrews in such a manner that a great cry will be heard in Egypt, such that has never been heard before. This was an allusion to the crimes of his father, who ordered the drowning of the male children of the Hebrews. Therefore, Pharaoh brought this harsh punishment upon his own people. His cruel plan was turned back upon him, so that what Pharaoh wanted to do to the Hebrews, God made to happen to him.

This Midrash justifies the last plague with two main arguments:

Retribution in kind מידה כנגד מידה (Mida ke-neged mida): in the Bible the punishment fits to the crime, not only in severity, but also in symbolism. This is for a pedagogic reason: so that everyone, including the sinner himself, shall know why he has been punished by God.
Self defence הקם להרגך, השכם להורגו (Ha-kam le-horgecha hashkem le-horgo): Pharaoh planned to slaughter all Hebrew children. By inflicting upon Pharaoh the same thing he planned for the Hebrews, his plan was thwarted.

However, under this rationale, God is basically committing the same evil that Pharaoh intended to commit. By sending a plague that will kill innocent Egyptian children God is performing the same "crime" for which Pharaoh deserved punishment, that of wanting to kill innocent people. After all, what did the Egyptian children have to do with Pharaoh's murderous desire? Self defense would have only required killing Pharaoh himself. Furthermore, since Pharaoh had not yet done the crime, God's act cannot be seen as retribution.

Some scholars, however, disagree with the interpretation of this plague which emphasizes children, and focus rather on the "first-born" aspect of the plague. As was typical in cultures of the time (and is seen many times in the Old Testament), the custom was for the first-born son to be the major inheritor, from the lowest strata of society to the throne of Pharaoh itself; and thus the first-born sons of Egypt would embody the leadership of the families of the nation. In addition, according to this interpretation, the priests of Egypt were largely first-born sons. Thus, in this view, the first-born sons of Egypt were in fact the decision makers, and communally responsible for the deeds of the nation, good or evil.

Popular culture

The 1956 film The Ten Commandments depicts the plagues of Blood, Hail, Darkness, and Death of the Firstborn, and alludes to Frogs, Boils and Flies, but omits those of Lice, Death of Cattle, and Locusts. The film also omits the funnel-cloud they followed out of Egypt, and it creates a funnel-cloud of fire before nightfall whereas The Book of Exodus says it had been fire all night long out of Egypt, and now as they passed through the Red Sea on this second night it was fire again illuminating forward upon the Israelites as it pushed them forward, but this time as dark cloud to the west for the Egyptians who looked up at it as they followed not realizing they were on sea bed. In the morning, the dawn light overpowered the look of fire, restoring it to only a cloud. William Whiston (translator of Josephus) claimed a comet caused this. And we must also note the rise and set of the full moon in the clear sky over the Israelites as a source of light.
The Ten Plagues of Egypt were dramatized by the heavy metal group Metallica in their song "Creeping Death", on their 1984 release Ride the Lightning. Late bassist Cliff Burton came up with the title of the song while watching the 1956 Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, specifically when the Angel of Death moved among Egyptians, killing the firstborn in each family. The plagues were also dramatized (albeit diverging somewhat from the canonical list) as part of a modern horror film in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971).
The band Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards have the song "Ten Plagues of Egypt" on their first self titled album.

The Reaping, released in 2007, depicts the Ten Plagues in a modern version, due to natural causes.

In the 1999 release of The Mummy, Imhotep brings about several of the plagues as he seeks to be fully resurrected. The most notable are the locusts, flies and gnats, water (and apparently whiskey) turning to blood, boils and sores, the hailstorm of fire and an eclipse.

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