plagues of Egypt

plagues of Egypt in the Bible, the plagues and other troubles brought on Egypt by God through the hands of Moses, because Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go out of Egypt. The account, in the Book of Exodus, tells how Pharaoh relented each time until the plague was removed, then hardened his heart; in the end he let the children of Israel go, only to pursue them into the Red Sea. The plagues were 10 in number: plague of blood by which the waters of Egypt were turned to blood; plague of frogs; plague of lice; plague of flies; plague of murrain, by which all the cattle of Egypt and none of the Israelites' cattle were killed; plague of boils; plague of hail; plague of locusts; plague of darkness, by which darkness covered Egypt for three days; plague of the first-born, by which all the first-born of Egypt were killed. By tradition the first Passover was observed the night of the 10th plague. After it the Israelites left Egypt.

plagues Various diseases and pestilences are called plagues in the OT; they are often seen as divine punishment (Deut. 28: 21). But pre-eminently it is the ten plagues visited on Egypt that were ingrained in Hebrew memory or folklore (Exod. 7–12). The narratives are a combination of the J and P sources, the latter emphasizing the drama as a contest between God and Pharaoh. All except the last were regular and natural phenomena in Egypt but are exaggerated in the biblical version. Their miraculous character could derive from the remarkable coincidences of their timing. At any rate the Hebrews saw in them the providential care of their God Yahweh, as in Ps. 78: 43–51. Even the last plague, the death of the first-born, could have been an infectious illness which was confined to the Egyptians. See also Exodus, the.