Exodus 7.8-10.29

Aaron’s Miracle / Plague I / Plague II / Plague III / Plague IV / Plague V / Plague VI / Plague VII / Plague VIII / Plague IX

Plague Day! Here are the first nine plagues. A plague wrap-up will follow in tomorrow’s post. Warning: this is a long one.

Keep your eye on who is acting in these: Moses alone (Text One) or in combination with his brother Aaron (Text Two).

Aaron’s Miracle: Exodus 7.8-13

The Lord comes to Moses and Aaron and tells them to perform the snake trick (which God previously taught Moses on Mount Horeb in Exodus 4) before Pharaoh. The pair go to Pharaoh and Aaron throws down his staff, which becomes a snake. The Pharaoh summons his sorcerers and magicians to perform the same trick, but their snakes are swallowed up by Aaron’s.

Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, as the Lord said it would be.

What this story tells us might not be so much that God’s magic is real, but rather that it is more powerful than the magicians’. Joseph displays God’s power in interpreting dreams that the Egyptian magicians could not. Likewise, Aaron and Moses demonstrate God’s power with a staff/snake that utterly destroys the magicians’ staff/snakes. The same feats are performed in each, but the Hebrew feat is greater than the Egyptian feat.

Don’t agree with me? By all means, let me know! Check out the comment section below!

The First Plague – Water into Blood: Exodus 7.14-25

There are two interwoven texts for the rest of this analysis.

Text One

Moses is alone for this one. The Lord tells Moses that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. Therefore, Moses should meet Pharaoh by the river in the morning and remind him of God’s command to “Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness” (Ex. 7.16). Moses should warn Pharaoh that he will strike the Nile so that it turns to blood, resulting in dead fish, a stinking river, and non-potable water.

Text Two

Then is interwoven the text of a different tradition. This one involves Moses and Aaron. In this version Moses is to tell Aaron to take his staff and stretch his hand over all the water of Egypt, so that all rivers, canals, pools, and ponds become blood. Even the water in vessels of wood and stone will contain blood.

God teaches Moses three tricks in Exodus 4: staff into snake, leprous hand, and water into blood. But the last of these was just some of the water of the Nile, not the entire Nile! Also, this is a different way of doing it. Now the water into blood trick is done with the staff. (Also of note, Moses never uses the second trick.)

When it comes to execution, the two narratives are interwoven. Here I unweave them.[Italics indicate phrases that indicate the text]:

[Text Two] “Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded.”

[Text One] “In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt.”

[Text Two] “But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts; so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.”

[Text One? (This one is iffy)] “And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.”

Note on magic: the magicians could do the same thing!

Also note that it is the Egyptians who have to dig for water. It is not indicated whether this plague affects the Israelites.

Seven days (a standard designation that does not necessarily mean a week but rather some short period of days) pass so that the river can clear up in preparation for the next plague.

The Second Plague – Frogs: Exodus 8.1-15

Two texts again.

Text One

The Lord tells Moses to got to Pharaoh and tell him the Lord says “Let my people go, so that they may worship me” (Ex. 8.1). God threatens frogs, and their presence will be personal: Though frogs will plague the entire nation, the frogs will come from the river into Pharaoh’s palace, into his bedchamber, into his bed, into the houses of Pharaoh’s officials and the Egyptians.

Text Two

The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his hand and staff over the rivers, canals and pools. Wait, have we seen this before? Yes, we have. See the first example of this story type in the first plague.

The magicians are able to replicate the plague. 

The frogs affect Egyptians; it is not indicated that the Israelites are affected.

Pharaoh Responds [Text Two]

Pharaoh entreats Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord to take away the frogs. If the frogs are taken away, Pharaoh will let the Israelites go. Moses tells Pharaoh to tell him when to pray, and it will be done. Pharaoh responds, “Tomorrow,” to which Moses says, “As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God, the frogs shall leave you and your houses and your officials and you people; they shall be left only in the Nile” (Ex. 8.10-11). (From this text, it seems that only the Egyptians are affected by the plague.)

Moses prays to God, the Lord answers Moses’ prayer, and the frogs all die. The frogs are gathered in heaps, and again the land stinks. But again, Pharaoh hardens his heart.

The Third Plague – Gnats: Exodus 8.16-19

Text Two

The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt” (Ex. 8.16). Aaron does so “and the gnats came on humans and animals alike; all the dust of the earth turned into gnats throughout the whole land of Egypt.” (Ex. 8.17).

This time, the plague seems to affect everyone in Egypt, which presumably includes the Hebrews.

The magicians are unable to reproduce this plague. They tell Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” (Ex. 8.19). And, indeed, it is one of ten plagues of God’s “mighty hand” that will bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

But Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he does not listen to his magicians.

The Fourth Plague – Flies: Exodus 8.20-32

Text One

The Lord tells Moses to rise early and find Pharaoh by the water. Moses is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, so that they can worship God. If this is not done, God will send swarms of flies, a plague just as personal as the frogs, and just like the frogs, affecting only Egyptians: “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people live, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I the Lord am in this land. Thus I will make a distinction between my people and your people” (Ex. 8.22-23). This will happen the next day. 

The distinction that was implicit before is made explicit here. Now we know that the Israelites are protected from the plagues.

The Lord executes his promise, and flies descend upon Egypt.

Text Two

Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and tells them to make sacrifices to God. Moses responds that this would be improper: sacrifices to the Lord are offensive to the Egyptians – the Israelites will be stoned if they make sacrifices. They must go three days into the wilderness.

Pharaoh tells Moses they may go, provided they do not journey too far. Moses answers that he will pray to the Lord so that the flies will depart the next day. But Pharaoh should stay true to his word.

Surprise! Moses and the Lord follow through, but Pharaoh’s heart is hardened.  

The Fifth Plague – Livestock Diseased: Exodus 9.1-7

Text One

The Lord tells Moses to go to Pharaoh with the message that Pharaoh should let God’s people go. If not, then “the hand of the Lord will strike with a deadly pestilence your livestock in the field: the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks” (Ex. 9.3). But the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Egypt and that of Israel. The Lord sets the next day for the plague.

All the livestock of the Egyptians dies, quite a number! But this is not completely correct. The next plagues will contradict this detail.

Pharaoh inquires himself and discovers that the livestock of the Israelites survived. But with his hardened heart, Pharaoh does not let the Israelites go.

The Sixth Plague – Boils: Exodus 9.8-12

Text Two

The Lord tells Moses and Aaron that Moses should take handfuls of soot and throw them into the air before Pharaoh. The soot will spread over Egypt, causing boils on humans and animals.

The magicians cannot respond to this plague because even they are affected by the boils! And still the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

The Seventh Plague – Thunder and Hail: Exodus 9.13-26

Text One

The Lord tells Moses to present himself to Pharaoh with the message to let God’s people go:

For this time I will send all my plagues upon you yourself, and upon your officials, and upon your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. For by now I cold have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But this is why I have let you live: to show you my power, and to make my name resound through all the earth.

 (Ex. 9.14-16)

That there is no one like me is completely true; God has shown himself better than Pharaoh’s magicians (and by extension his gods). But God does not send all his plagues this time. This is just a plague like any of the others.

God here reveals exactly why he has not simply smote Pharaoh and his people: he wishes to reveal his power. And he is not only revealing his power to Pharaoh, but to the world. And he is not only revealing his power to the world, but to all future generations. And indeed, this is the case. God’s plagues, which take up so much space, are a testament to God’s destructive power. In fact, compare this to the stories of creation. Destruction is given a lot more space. You know what receives even more space? Legal matters. Oy. This too shall pass arrive. 

Compare the sentiment to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18. The poem expresses the same sentiment; it is an ancient idea, after all. It is not the beauty or destruction that survives time, but the tale of it. Perhaps the biblical writers were conscious even of this.

Back to the plague. God promises through Moses “the heaviest hail to fall that has ever fallen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now” (Ex. 9.18). 

God offers reprieve for those who believe God’s word. The message comes with instructions to bring livestock and slaves into a sheltered place. Pharaoh is losing support; some of his officials who fear the word of the Lord secure their possessions. (Hey, wait a minute. Weren’t the livestock all destroyed in the fifth plague? Perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration.)

God then command Moses to stretch out his hand to heaven. Moses stretches out his staff, and the Lord sends thunder and hail and fire down on Egypt. Notice that Moses is told to stretch out his hand, and the hand becomes synonymous with the staff in the next verse. Also, this command up until this point has been fulfilled by Aaron, not Moses. Moses takes action in this text.

The hail kills everything in the open field, and destroys all the plants in the field. But there is no hail in Goshen.

Text Two

Pharaoh summons Moses and Aaron and declares his guilt, saying he has sinned and that the Israelites are in the right. Pharaoh then promises to release the Israelites. Moses promises to stop the hail, “so that you may know that the earth is the Lord’s” (Ex. 9.29). But Moses knows that Pharaoh and his officials do not yet fear God.

An editorial note states that the flax and barley were ruined, but the wheat and spelt were not, for they grow later. That means no beer for a year!

Moses stops the rain and thunder and hail, but when Pharaoh sees this, “he sinned once more and hardened his heart, he and his officials” (Ex. 9.34).

The Eighth Plague – Locusts: Exodus 10.1-20

Text One

Exodus 10, which begins the tale of the eighth plague, opens:

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh; for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his officials, in order that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I have made fools of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them—so that you may know that I am the Lord.’

(Exodus 10.1-2)

Again there is the sentiment that God is acting in such an elaborate manner so that the grand story will be told to future generations. The story of the plagues will be passed on – and it is! Of course, as noted before, it helps to have someone around to write down the story so it lasts even longer:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, 

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

(Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18; see above)

Text Two

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh with a message from God: How long will Pharaoh refuse to humble himself? Let God’s people go! If Pharaoh does not, God will bring locusts into the country that will blanket the land. They will devour everything left in the fields (wheat and felt; see above) and every tree. They will fill the houses of every Egyptian – something that “neither your parents nor your grandparents have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day” (Ex. 10.6). This sentiment is similar to that of the seventh plague. The seventh plague brought the heaviest hail; the eight brings the greatest infestation of gnats.

Pharaoh’s officials tell him that Moses is quite a pain – why not let him into the wilderness? After all, Egypt is already ruined. It is enough to have Pharaoh bring Moses and Aaron back in and tell them they may go into the wilderness. But Pharaoh will not allow all the Israelites to leave along with their livestock: 

The Lord indeed will be with you, if ever I let your little ones go with you! Plainly you have some evil purpose in mind. No, never! Your men may go and worship the Lord, for that is what you are asking.

(Ex. 10.10-11)

Well, this is simply unacceptable.

Text One

Again it is Moses that is commanded to stretch out his hand, which translates to his staff. The Lord whips up an east wind for a day and a night, which brings locusts the next day. The land is black with locusts. The trees, the crops are all ruined.

Text Two

Pharaoh once again summons Moses and Aaron, saying he has sinned against them and the Lord. He asks for forgiveness (“just this once” [Ex. 10.17]) and removal of the locust. The Lord changes the east wind into a west wind, and the locusts are driven into the Red Sea. But once again the Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

The Ninth Plague – Darkness: Exodus 10.21-29

Text One

The Lord commands Moses to stretch out his hand so that there is darkness. Moses stretches his hand out, not his staff, and a “dense” darkness descends for three days. It is so bad that the Egyptians do not move for three days. The Israelites, on the other hand, have plenty of light.

Pharaoh summons Moses and tells him to go worship the Lord. Even the children may go now, but the livestock must be left behind (one senses as collateral). Moses argues the animals are necessary for sacrifices: 

‘You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt-offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them for the worship of the Lord our God, and we will not know what to use to worship the Lord until we arrive there.’

(Ex. 10.25-26)

The Lord hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh cries, “Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die” (Ex. 10.28). Moses replies, “Just as you say! I will never see your face again” (Ex. 10.29).

Actually, Moses will.

Does anyone share my appreciation of the dark humor in that last exchange? In a tale in which Egypt is robbed of its sight, Pharaoh and Moses argue over seeing each other. I hope that is intentional on the author’s part.

Interesting. For this plague there is no introduction about Pharaoh’s heart being hardened or Moses going to Pharaoh. Perhaps God has finally had enough?