Plagues of Egypt

File:Scenes from Exodus f 16.jpg

Scenes from the Book of Exodus: The death of the firstborns (including the Pharaoh's son), and the Israelites leaving Egypt (Template:Transliteration, 1325–1374 CE, Barcelona via British Library)

In the Book of Exodus, the Plagues of Egypt (Template:Langx) were ten disasters that Yahweh inflicted on the Egyptians to convince the Pharaoh to emancipate the enslaved Israelites, each of them confronting the Pharaoh and one of his Egyptian gods;<ref name="Greifenhagen"/> they served as "signs and marvels" given by Yahweh in response to the Pharaoh's taunt that he did not know Yahweh: "The Egyptians shall know that I am the Template:LORD".<ref name="Tigay">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp These Plagues are recited by Jews during the Passover Seder.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

The consensus of modern scholars is that the Pentateuch does not give an accurate account of the origins of the Israelites.Template:Sfn<ref name="Moore">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="Meyers" />Template:Rp Similarly, attempts to find natural explanations for the plagues (e.g., a volcanic eruption to explain the "darkness" plague) have been dismissed by biblical scholars on the grounds that their pattern, timing, rapid succession, and above all, control by Moses mark them as supernatural.<ref name="Moore"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp

List of The Ten Plagues

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The first plague: Water Is Changed into Blood, James Tissot

Plague One: The Nile to Blood

The Hebrew Bible's Book of Exodus says that Moses turned the Nile to blood by striking it with his staff. Pharaoh's magicians used their secret arts to also strike the Nile, creating a second layer of blood. In addition to the Nile, all water that was held in reserve, such as jars, was also transformed into blood. The Egyptians were forced to dig alongside the bank of the Nile, which still had pure water. One week passed before the plague dissipated.<ref name=":0" />

Plague Two: The Invasion of Frogs

Exodus states that God ordered frogs to emerge from the Nile, which then jumped around virtually everywhere in Egypt. The magicians attempted to produce frogs from their secret arts, conjuring up a second wave of frogs. Even the private quarters of Pharaoh was infested with frogs. Three days passed before all the frogs died. The Egyptians had to do much work to rid themselves of the corpses, and the land stank of frog for long afterwards. When the decision came for Pharaoh about the slaves, the Pharaoh hardened his heart and decided that the slaves would not be freed.

Plague Four: Teems of Flies

The fourth plague of Egypt was of creatures capable of harming people and livestock. Exodus states that the plagues only came against the Egyptians and did not affect the Hebrews. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to grant the Israelites their freedom. However, after the plague was gone, Pharaoh refused to keep his promise, as his heart was hardened by God.

Various sources use either "wild animals" or "flies".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Plague Six: The Infection of Boils

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The sixth plague: miniature out of the Toggenburg Bible, created Template:Circa. Commonly the picture is mistaken as a depiction of the Black Death.

Plague Nine: Three Days of Darkness

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Spanish 15th century, Massacre of the Firstborn and Egyptian Darkness, Template:C., hand-colored woodcut

Template:AnchorPlague Ten: Death of the Firstborn

Before this final plague, God commands Moses to tell the Israelites to mark a lamb's blood above their doors in order that the Angel of Death will pass over them (i.e., that they will not be touched by the death of the firstborn). Pharaoh orders the Israelites to leave, taking whatever they want, and asks Moses to bless him in the name of the Lord. The passage goes on to state that the passover sacrifice recalls the time when the Lord "passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt".<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref>

Composition and theology

a page from the Rothschild Haggadah depicting the plagues, from the collections of the National Library of Israel

Page from the Rothschild Haggadah depicting the plagues, from the collections of the National Library of Israel

Scholars are in broad agreement that the publication of the Torah took place in the mid-Persian period (the 5th century BCE).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The Book of Deuteronomy, composed in stages between the 7th and 6th centuries,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> mentions the "diseases of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 7:15 and 28:60). John Van Seters contends that this refers to something that afflicted the Israelites, not the Egyptians, and that Deuteronomy never specifies the plagues.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Graham Davies, however, questions Van Seters' interpretation and argues that several verses in the book (e.g. Template:Bibleverse; Template:Bibleverse) seem to clearly allude to a plague tradition.Template:Sfn

The traditional number of ten plagues is not actually mentioned in Exodus, and other sources differ; Psalms 78 and 105 seem to list only seven or eight plagues and order them differently.<ref name="Greifenhagen">Template:Cite book</ref> It appears that originally there were only seven, to which were added the third, sixth, and ninth, bringing the count to ten.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

In this final version, the first nine plagues form three triads, each of which God introduces by informing Moses of the main lesson it will teach.<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp In the first triad, the Egyptians begin to experience the power of God;<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp in the second, God demonstrates that he is directing events;<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp and in the third, the incomparability of Yahweh is displayed.<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp Overall, the plagues are "signs and marvels" given by the God of Israel to answer Pharaoh's taunt that he does not know Yahweh: "The Egyptians shall know that I am the Template:LORD".<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp

Historicity

Template:Main Modern scholars broadly agree that the Exodus is not a historical account of the origins of the Israelites.<ref name="Moore"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Meyers">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp According to Avraham Faust, this view extends only as far as a reconstruction of an Exodus based on similar collective memories is unlikely if it is solely based on either Egyptian presence in Late Bronze Age Canaan or the foreign Hyksos rulers of Egypt, and rules out Midian human activity "which cannot help in dating the Exodus" in identification of the proto-Israelites.Template:Sfn Agreeing in treating the expulsion of the Hyksos "not as related to the flight of a group of slaves[,]" Manfred Bietak points out that the portrayal of the Hyksos as a ruling elite with a background in trade and seafaring conflicts with the biblical portrayal of the Israelites as oppressed in Egypt.Template:Sfn Some scholars also hold that the Israelites originated in Canaan and from the Canaanites, although others disagree.Template:Sfn

The Ipuwer Papyrus, written no earlier than the late Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt (Template:C.),Template:Sfn has been put forward in popular literature as confirmation of the biblical account, most notably because of its statement that "the river is blood" and its frequent references to servants running away; however, these arguments ignore the many points on which Ipuwer contradicts Exodus, such as Asiatics arriving in Egypt and that the "river is blood" phrase probably refers to red sediment during the Nile's periodic floods, or is simply a poetic image of turmoil.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Attempts to find natural explanations for the plagues (e.g., a volcanic eruption to explain the "darkness" plague) have been dismissed by biblical scholars on the grounds that their pattern, timing, rapid succession, and above all, control by Moses mark them as supernatural.<ref name="Moore"/>Template:Rp<ref name="Tigay"/>Template:Rp

Some scholars have suggested that the story of the Plagues of Egypt might have been inspired by natural phenomena like epidemics, although these theories are considered uncertain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Artistic representation

Visual art

File:Lamentations over the Death of the First-Born of Egypt by Charles Sprague Pearce.JPG

Lamentations over the Death of the First-Born of Egypt by Charles Sprague Pearce (1877)

In visual art, the plagues have generally been reserved for works in series, especially engravings. Still, relatively few depictions in art emerged compared to other religious themes until the 19th century, when the plagues became more common subjects, with John Martin and Joseph Turner producing notable canvases. This trend probably reflected a Romantic attraction to landscape and nature painting, for which the plagues were suited, a Gothic attraction to morbid stories, and a rise in Orientalism, wherein exotic Egyptian themes found currency. Given the importance of noble patronage throughout Western art history, the plagues may have found consistent disfavor because the stories emphasize the limits of a monarch's power, and images of lice, locusts, darkness, and boils were ill-suited for decoration in palaces and churches.Template:Citation needed

Music

Perhaps the most successful artistic representation of the plagues is Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt, which, like "Handel's Messiah", takes a libretto entirely from scripture. The work was especially popular in the 19th century because of its numerous choruses, generally one for each plague, and its playful musical depiction of the plagues. For example, the plague of frogs is performed as a light aria for alto, depicting frogs jumping in the violins, and the plague of flies and lice is a light chorus with fast scurrying runs in the violins.<ref> Template:Cite book</ref>

Another representation of the plagues, mainly the 10th plague, is the song "Creeping Death" by American thrash metal band Metallica.

Documentaries

• The Exodus Decoded (2006)

Films

• The Ten Commandments (1923)
• The Moon of Israel (1924)
• The Ten Commandments (1956)
• The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
• The Seventh Sign (1988)
• Moses (1995)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• Magnolia (1999)
• The Mummy (1999)
• The Reaping (2007)
• Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
• Seder-Masochism (2018)

Gallery

• The Second Plague: Frogs came up and covered the Sand of Egypt
  The Second Plague: Frogs came up and covered the Sand of Egypt
• The Third Plague - Gnats
  The Third Plague - Gnats
• The Fourth Plague: The Plague of Flies, James Jacques Joseph Tissot, Jewish Museum, New York
  The Fourth Plague: The Plague of Flies, James Jacques Joseph Tissot, Jewish Museum, New York
• The Fifth Plague: Pestilence of livestock, by Gustave Doré
  The Fifth Plague: Pestilence of livestock, by Gustave Doré
• The Seventh Plague of Egypt by John Martin (1823)
  The Seventh Plague of Egypt by John Martin (1823)
• The Eighth Plague: "The Plague of Locusts", illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible
  The Eighth Plague: "The Plague of Locusts", illustration from the 1890 Holman Bible
• The Ninth Plague: Darkness by Gustave Doré
  The Ninth Plague: Darkness by Gustave Doré

See also

• Aaron's rod
• Jochebed
• Miriam

Sources

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Further reading

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External links

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• Kabbalah and the 10 Plagues (www.kabbalaonline.org)