Reference: Plagues, The ten
Smith
Plagues, The ten,
The occasion on which the plagues were sent is described in Exod 3-12.
1. The plague of blood.When Moses and Aaron came before Pharaoh, a miracle was required of them. Then Aaron's rod became "a serpent (Authorized Version), or rather "a crocodile." Its being changed into an animal reverenced by all the Egyptians, or by some of them, would have been an especial warning to Pharaoh, The Egyptian magicians called by the king produced what seemed to be the same wonder, yet Aaron's rod swallowed up the others.
This passage, taken alone would appear to indicate that the magicians succeeded in working wonders, but, if it is compared with the others which relate their opposition on the occasions of the first three plagues, a contrary inference seems more reasonable for the very first time that Moses wrought his miracle without giving previous notice, the magicians "did so with their enchantments," but failed. A comparison with other passages strengthens us in the inference that the magicians succeeded merely by juggling. After this warning to Pharaoh, Aaron, at the word of Moses, waved his rod over the Nile, and the river was turned into blood, with all its canals and reservoirs, and every vessel of water drawn from them; the fish died, and the river stank. The Egyptians could not drink of it, and digged around it for water. This plague was doubly humiliating to the religion of the country, as the Nile was held sacred, as well as some kinds of its fish, not to speak of the crocodiles, which probably were destroyed.
Those who have endeavored to explain this plague by natural causes have referred to the changes of color to which the Nile is subject, the appearance of the Red Sea, and the so called rain and dew of blood of the middle ages; the last two occasioned by small fungi of very rapid growth. But such theories do not explain why the wonder happened at a time of year when the Nile is most clear nor why it killed the fish and made the water unfit to he drunk.
2. The plague of frogs. --When seven days had passed after the first plague, the river and all the open waters of Egypt brought forth countless frogs, which not only covered the land but filled the houses, even in their driest parts and vessels, for the ovens and kneading-troughs are specified. This must have been an especially trying judgment to the Egyptians, as frogs were included among the sacred animals.
3. The plague of lice. --The dry land was now smitten by the rod, and very dust seemed turned into minute noxious insects, so thickly did they swarm on man and beast, or rather "in" them. The scrupulous cleanliness of the Egyptians would add intolerably to the bodily distress of this plague, by which also they again incurred religious defilement. As to the species of the vermin, there seems no reason to disturb the authorized translation of the word. The magicians, who had imitated by their enchantments the two previous miracles, were now foiled. They struck the ground, as Aaron did, and repeated their own incantations. but it was without effect.
4. The plague of flies. --After the river and the land, the air was smitten, being filled with winged insects, which swarmed in the houses and devoured the land, but Goshen was exempted from the plague. The word translated "swarms of flies" most probably denotes the great Egyptian beetle, Scarabaeus sacer, which is constantly represented in their sculptures. Besides the annoying and destructive habits of its tribe, it was an object of worship, and thus the Egyptians were again scourged by their own superstitions.
5. The plague of the murrain of beasts. --Still coming closer and closer to the Egyptians, God sent a disease upon the cattle, which were not only their property but their deities. At the precise time of which Moses forewarned Pharaoh, all the cattle of the Egyptians were smitten with a murrain and died, but not one of the cattle of the Israelites suffered.
6. The plague of boils --From the cattle the hand of God was extended to the persons of the Egyptians. Moses and Aaron were commanded to take ashes of the furnace, and to "sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh." It was to become "small dust" throughout Egypt, and "be a boil breaking forth [with] blains upon man and upon beast."
This accordingly came to pass. The plague seems to have been the leprosy, a fearful kind of elephantiasis which was long remembered as "the botch of Egypt."
De 28:27,35
7. The plague of hail. --The account of the seventh plague is preceded by a warning which Moses was commanded to deliver to Pharaoh, respecting the terrible nature of the plagues that were to ensue if he remained obstinate. Man and beast were smitten, and the herbs and every tree broken, save in the land of Goshen. The ruin caused by the hail was evidently far greater than that effected by any of the earlier plagues. Hail is now extremely rare, but not unknown, in Egypt, and it is interesting that the narrative seems to imply that if sometimes falls there.
8. The plague of locusts. --The severity of this plague can be well understood by those who have been in Egypt in a part of the country where a flight of locusts has alighted. In this case the plague was greater than an ordinary visitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because it was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete destruction than that always caused by a swarm of locusts.
9. The plague of darkness. --"There was a darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;" while "all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings." It has been illustrated by reference to the samoom and the hot wind of the Khamaseen. The former is a sand-storm which occurs in the desert, seldom lasting more than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, but for the time often causing the darkness of twilight, and affecting man and beast. The hot wind of the Khamaseen usually blows for three days and nights, and carries so much sand with it that it produces the appearance of a yellow fog. It thus resembles the samoom, though far less powerful and less distressing in its effects. It is not known to cause actual darkness. The plague may have been an extremely severe sandstorm, miraculous in its violence and duration, for the length of three days does not make it natural since the severe storms are always very brief.
10. The death of the first-born. --Before the tenth plague Moses went to warn Pharaoh: "Thus saith the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne even to the first-born of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts."
The clearly miraculous nature of this plague, its falling upon man and in its beast; and the singling out of the firstborn, puts it wholly beyond comparison with any natural pestilence, even the severest recorded in history, whether of the peculiar Egyptian plague or of other like epidemics. The history of the ten plagues strictly ends with the death of the first-born. The gradual increase in severity of the plagues is perhaps the best key to their meaning. They seem to have been sent as warnings to the oppressor, to afford him a means of seeing God's will and an opportunity of repenting before Egypt was ruined. The lesson that Pharaoh's career teaches us seems to be that there are men whom the meet signal judgments do not affect so as to cause any lasting repentance. The following characteristics of the plagues may be specially noticed: (1) Their relation to natural phenomena. Each of the inflictions has a demonstrable connection with Egyptian customs and phenomena; each is directly aimed at some Egyptian superstition all are marvellous, not for the most part as reversing, but as developing, forces inherent in nature, and directing them to a special end. --Canon Cook. (2) Their order. They are divided first into nine and one the last one standing clearly apart from all the others.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And I will make Pharaoh's heart hard, and my signs and wonders will be increased in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not give ear to you, and I will put my hand on Egypt, and take my armies, my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, after great punishments. read more. And the Egyptians will see that I am the Lord, when my hand is stretched out over Egypt, and I take the children of Israel out from among them. And Moses and Aaron did so: as the Lord gave them orders, so they did. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they gave the Lord's word to Pharaoh. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, If Pharaoh says to you, Let me see a wonder: then say to Aaron, Take your rod and put it down on the earth before Pharaoh so that it may become a snake. Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and they did as the Lord had said: and Aaron put his rod down on the earth before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a snake. Then Pharaoh sent for the wise men and the wonder-workers, and they, the wonder-workers of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. For every one of them put down his rod on the earth, and they became snakes: but Aaron's rod made a meal of their rods.
And say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, Let my people go so that they may give me worship in the waste land; but up to now you have not given ear to his words. So the Lord says, By this you may be certain that I am the Lord; see, by the touch of this rod in my hand the waters of the Nile will be turned to blood; read more. And the fish in the Nile will come to destruction, and the river will send up a bad smell, and the Egyptians will not be able, for disgust, to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking. And the Lord said, Say to Aaron, Let the rod in your hand be stretched out over the waters of Egypt, and over the rivers and the streams and the pools, and over every stretch of water, so that they may be turned to blood; and there will be blood through all the land of Egypt, in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had said; and when his rod had been lifted up and stretched out over the waters of the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants, all the water in the Nile was turned to blood; And the fish in the Nile came to destruction, and a bad smell went up from the river, and the Egyptians were not able to make use of the water of the Nile for drinking; and there was blood through all the land of Egypt. And the wonder-workers of Egypt did the same with their secret arts: but Pharaoh's heart was made hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said. Then Pharaoh went into his house, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians made holes round about the Nile to get drinking-water, for they were not able to make use of the Nile water. And seven days went past, after the Lord had put his hand on the Nile.
And this is what the Lord said to Moses: Go to Pharaoh and say to him, The Lord says, Let my people go so that they may give me worship. And if you will not let them go, see, I will send frogs into every part of your land: read more. The Nile will be full of frogs, and they will come up into your house and into your bedrooms and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and into your bread-basins. The frogs will come up over you and your people and all your servants. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Let the rod in your hand be stretched out over the streams and the waterways and the pools, causing frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. And when Aaron put out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and all the land of Egypt was covered with them. And the wonder-workers did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up over the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Make prayer to the Lord that he will take away these frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go and make their offering to the Lord. And Moses said, I will let you have the honour of saying when I am to make prayer for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs may be sent away from you and your houses, and be only in the Nile. And he said, By tomorrow. And he said, Let it be as you say: so that you may see that there is no other like the Lord our God. And the frogs will be gone from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people and will be only in the Nile. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh; and Moses made prayer to the Lord about the frogs which he had sent on Pharaoh. And the Lord did as Moses said; and there was an end of all the frogs in the houses and in the open spaces and in the fields. And they put them together in masses, and a bad smell went up from the land. But when Pharaoh saw that there was peace for a time, he made his heart hard and did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Let your rod be stretched out over the dust of the earth so that it may become insects through all the land of Egypt. And they did so; and Aaron, stretching out the rod in his hand, gave a touch to the dust of the earth, and insects came on man and on beast; all the dust of the earth was changed into insects through all the land of Egypt. And the wonder-workers with their secret arts, attempting to make insects, were unable to do so: and there were insects on man and on beast. Then the wonder-workers said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: but Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not give ear to them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh when he comes out to the water; and say to him, This is what the Lord says: Let my people go to give me worship. For if you do not let my people go, see, I will send clouds of flies on you and on your servants and on your people and into their houses; and the houses of the Egyptians and the land where they are will be full of flies. And at that time I will make a division between your land and the land of Goshen where my people are, and no flies will be there; so that you may see that I am the Lord over all the earth. And I will put a division between my people and your people; tomorrow this sign will be seen. And the Lord did so; and great clouds of flies came into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants' houses, and all the land of Egypt was made waste because of the flies. And Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said, Go and make your offering to your God here in the land. And Moses said, It is not right to do so; for we make our offerings of that to which the Egyptians give worship; and if we do so before their eyes, certainly we will be stoned. But we will go three days' journey into the waste land and make an offering to the Lord our God as he may give us orders. Then Pharaoh said, I will let you go to make an offering to the Lord your God in the waste land; but do not go very far away, and make prayer for me. And Moses said, When I go out from you I will make prayer to the Lord that the cloud of flies may go away from Pharaoh and from his people and from his servants tomorrow: only let Pharaoh no longer by deceit keep back the people from making their offering to the Lord. Then Moses went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. And the Lord did as Moses said, and took away the cloud of flies from Pharaoh and from his servants and from his people; not one was to be seen. But again Pharaoh made his heart hard and did not let the people go.
Then the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship. For if you will not let them go, but still keep them in your power, read more. Then the hand of the Lord will put on your cattle in the field, on the horses and the asses and the camels, on the herds and the flocks, a very evil disease. And the Lord will make a division between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt; there will be no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. And the time was fixed by the Lord, and he said, Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land. And on the day after, the Lord did as he had said, causing the death of all the cattle of Egypt, but there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. And Pharaoh sent and got word that there was no loss of any of the cattle of Israel. But the heart of Pharaoh was hard and he did not let the people go. And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Take in your hand a little dust from the fire and let Moses send it in a shower up to heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh.
And the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron, Take in your hand a little dust from the fire and let Moses send it in a shower up to heaven before the eyes of Pharaoh. And it will become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and will be a skin-disease bursting out in wounds on man and beast through all the land of Egypt.
And it will become small dust over all the land of Egypt, and will be a skin-disease bursting out in wounds on man and beast through all the land of Egypt. So they took some dust from the fire, and placing themselves before Pharaoh, Moses sent it out in a shower up to heaven; and it became a skin-disease bursting out on man and on beast.
So they took some dust from the fire, and placing themselves before Pharaoh, Moses sent it out in a shower up to heaven; and it became a skin-disease bursting out on man and on beast. And the wonder-workers were not able to take their places before Moses, because of the disease; for the disease was on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians.
And the wonder-workers were not able to take their places before Moses, because of the disease; for the disease was on the wonder-workers and on all the Egyptians. And the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said.
And the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not give ear to them, as the Lord had said. And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh, and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship.
And the Lord said to Moses, Get up early in the morning and take your place before Pharaoh, and say to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go so that they may give me worship. For this time I will send all my punishments on yourself and on your servants and on your people; so that you may see that there is no other like me in all the earth.
For this time I will send all my punishments on yourself and on your servants and on your people; so that you may see that there is no other like me in all the earth. For if I had put the full weight of my hand on you and your people, you would have been cut off from the earth:
For if I had put the full weight of my hand on you and your people, you would have been cut off from the earth: But, for this very reason, I have kept you from destruction, to make clear to you my power, and so that my name may be honoured through all the earth.
But, for this very reason, I have kept you from destruction, to make clear to you my power, and so that my name may be honoured through all the earth. Are you still uplifted in pride against my people so that you will not let them go?
Are you still uplifted in pride against my people so that you will not let them go? Truly, tomorrow about this time I will send down an ice-storm, such as never was in Egypt from its earliest days till now.
Truly, tomorrow about this time I will send down an ice-storm, such as never was in Egypt from its earliest days till now. Then send quickly and get in your cattle and all you have from the fields; for if any man or beast in the field has not been put under cover, the ice-storm will come down on them with destruction.
Then send quickly and get in your cattle and all you have from the fields; for if any man or beast in the field has not been put under cover, the ice-storm will come down on them with destruction. Then everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who had the fear of the Lord, made his servants and his cattle come quickly into the house:
Then everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who had the fear of the Lord, made his servants and his cattle come quickly into the house: And he who gave no attention to the word of the Lord, kept his servants and his cattle in the field.
And he who gave no attention to the word of the Lord, kept his servants and his cattle in the field. And the Lord said to Moses, Now let your hand be stretched out to heaven so that there may be an ice-storm on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field through all the land of Egypt.
And the Lord said to Moses, Now let your hand be stretched out to heaven so that there may be an ice-storm on all the land of Egypt, on man and on beast and on every plant of the field through all the land of Egypt. And Moses put out his rod to heaven: and the Lord sent thunder, and an ice-storm, and fire running down on the earth; the Lord sent an ice-storm on the land of Egypt.
And Moses put out his rod to heaven: and the Lord sent thunder, and an ice-storm, and fire running down on the earth; the Lord sent an ice-storm on the land of Egypt. So there was an ice-storm with fire running through it, coming down with great force, such as never was in all the land of Egypt from the time when it became a nation.
So there was an ice-storm with fire running through it, coming down with great force, such as never was in all the land of Egypt from the time when it became a nation. And through all the land of Egypt the ice-storm came down on everything which was in the fields, on man and on beast; and every green plant was crushed and every tree of the field broken.
And through all the land of Egypt the ice-storm came down on everything which was in the fields, on man and on beast; and every green plant was crushed and every tree of the field broken. Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no ice-storm.
Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, there was no ice-storm. Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have done evil this time: the Lord is upright, and I and my people are sinners.
Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have done evil this time: the Lord is upright, and I and my people are sinners. Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer.
Make prayer to the Lord; for there has been enough of these thunderings of God and this ice-storm; and I will let you go and will keep you no longer. And Moses said, When I am gone outside the town, my hands will be stretched out to the Lord; the thunders and the ice-storm will come to an end, so that you may see that the earth is the Lord's.
And Moses said, When I am gone outside the town, my hands will be stretched out to the Lord; the thunders and the ice-storm will come to an end, so that you may see that the earth is the Lord's. But as for you and your servants, I am certain that even now the fear of the Lord God will not be in your hearts.
But as for you and your servants, I am certain that even now the fear of the Lord God will not be in your hearts. And the flax and the barley were damaged, for the barley was almost ready to be cut and the flax was in flower.
And the flax and the barley were damaged, for the barley was almost ready to be cut and the flax was in flower. But the rest of the grain-plants were undamaged, for they had not come up.
But the rest of the grain-plants were undamaged, for they had not come up. So Moses went out of the town, and stretching out his hands made prayer to God: and the thunders and the ice-storm came to an end; and the fall of rain was stopped.
So Moses went out of the town, and stretching out his hands made prayer to God: and the thunders and the ice-storm came to an end; and the fall of rain was stopped. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ice-storm and the thunders were ended, he went on sinning, and made his heart hard, he and his servants.
But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the ice-storm and the thunders were ended, he went on sinning, and made his heart hard, he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was hard, and he did not let the people go, as the Lord had said by the mouth of Moses.
And the Lord said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh: for I have made his heart and the hearts of his servants hard, so that I may let my signs be seen among them: And so that you may be able to give to your son and to your son's son the story of my wonders in Egypt, and the signs which I have done among them; so that you may see that I am the Lord. read more. Then Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and said to him, This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you be lifted up in your pride before me? let my people go so that they may give me worship. For if you will not let my people go, tomorrow I will send locusts into your land: And the face of the earth will be covered with them, so that you will not be able to see the earth: and they will be the destruction of everything which up to now has not been damaged, everything which was not crushed by the ice-storm, and every tree still living in your fields. And your houses will be full of them, and the houses of your servants and of all the Egyptians; it will be worse than anything your fathers have seen or their fathers, from the day when they were living on the earth till this day. And so he went out from Pharaoh. And Pharaoh's servants said to him, How long is this man to be the cause of evil to us? let the men go so that they may give worship to the Lord their God: are you not awake to Egypt's danger? Then Moses and Aaron came in again before Pharaoh: and he said to them, Go and give worship to the Lord your God: but which of you are going? And Moses said, We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds; for we are to keep a feast to the Lord. And he said to them, May the Lord be with you, if I will let you and your little ones go! take care, for your purpose clearly is evil. Not so; but let your males go and give worship to the Lord, as your desire is. This he said, driving them out from before him. And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out over the land of Egypt so that the locusts may come up on the land for the destruction of every green plant in the land, even everything untouched by the ice-storm. And Moses' rod was stretched out over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and all the night; and in the morning the locusts came up with the east wind. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, resting on every part of the land, in very great numbers; such an army of locusts had never been seen before, and never will be again. For all the face of the earth was covered with them, so that the land was black; and every green plant and all the fruit of the trees which was untouched by the ice-storm they took for food: not one green thing, no plant or tree, was to be seen in all the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh quickly sent for Moses and Aaron, and said, I have done evil against the Lord your God and against you. Let me now have forgiveness for my sin this time only, and make prayer to the Lord your God that he will take away from me this death only. So he went out from Pharaoh and made prayer to the Lord. And the Lord sent a very strong west wind, which took up the locusts, driving them into the Red Sea; not one locust was to be seen in any part of Egypt. But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he did not let the children of Israel go. And the Lord said to Moses, Let your hand be stretched out to heaven, and all the land of Egypt will be dark, so that men will be feeling their way about in the dark. And when Moses' hand was stretched out, dark night came over all the land of Egypt for three days; They were not able to see one another, and no one got up from his place for three days: but where the children of Israel were living it was light. Then Pharaoh sent for Moses, and said, Go and give worship to the Lord; only let your flocks and your herds be kept here: your little ones may go with you. But Moses said, You will have to let us take burned offerings to put before the Lord our God. So our cattle will have to go with us, not one may be kept back; for they are needed for the worship of the Lord our God; we have no knowledge what offering we have to give till we come to the place. But the Lord made Pharaoh's heart hard, and he would not let them go. And Pharaoh said to him, Go away from me, take care that you come not again before me; for the day when you see my face again will be your last. And Moses said, You say truly; I will not see your face again.
And Moses said, This is what the Lord says: About the middle of the night I will go out through Egypt: And death will come to every mother's first male child in all the land of Egypt, from the child of Pharaoh on his seat of power, to the child of the servant-girl crushing the grain; and the first births of all the cattle.
The Lord will send on you the disease of Egypt, and other sorts of skin diseases which nothing will make well.
The Lord will send a skin disease, attacking your knees and your legs, bursting out from your feet to the top of your head, so that nothing will make you well.