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We are used to thinking that Yahveh struck Egypt with ten plagues. It is interesting, therefore, to discover that this number is mentioned
nowhere in Torah, unlike the Ten Commandments, whose number is explicitly noted.
At the burning bush, Yahveh gave Moses three signs: the staff turning into
a serpent, the hand that became leprous, and the water that turned into blood. These signs were given, originally, so that
Israel will believe Moses, but Yahveh commanded him explicitly to also display them before Pharaoh: "See
all the wonders that I have placed in your hand - and you shall perform them before Pharaoh." Exodus 4:21
Surprisingly,
Moses showed Pharaoh only the signs of the staff and of the blood. Moses never showed him the sign of leprosy, and even
the two signs that were displayed did not match the command concerning them. At the burning bush the staff turned into a snake,
while before Pharaoh it became a crocodile. At the burning bush Moses was commanded to take some of the water from the Nile
and to pour it onto the dry land; when Moses actually carried out the plague of blood, all the water of the Nile (and all
the other water in Egypt) turns into blood.
The plague of blood is described three times, with slight differences each
time. The first time was when Moses described it to Pharaoh. The second time Yahveh told Moses how to carry out the plague,
and the third time, the Torah describes how the plague was actually performed.
"Thus says Yahveh: By this shall you know that
I am Elohim; behold, I smite with the staff that is in my hand upon the water in the river and it will turn
to blood."
"Yahveh said to Moses: Say to Aaron, Take your
staff and stretch your arm upon the water of Egypt,
upon their streams, upon their rivers, upon their ponds and upon all their pools of water, and they shall be blood. And there
shall be blood throughout the land of Egypt, and
in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone."
"Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahveh had commanded.
He lifted the staff and struck the water that was in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants,
and all the water that was in the river turned to blood. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt." Exodus 7:17-21
As we see, Moses was commanded to tell Pharaoh that he will strike
the water of the river with his staff, but in the actual event Yahveh commanded him to tell Aaron to stretch
his staff over all the water of Egypt. When
the plague was actually performed, Moses and Aaron did "as Yahveh had commanded" (Exodus 7:20) but they struck the water of
the river and did not stretch their arms over all the water of Egypt.
This lack of clarity continues: The Torah testifies that all the water of
the river turned into blood and that the Egyptians were forced to dig wells around the river for water. At the same time,
however, we are told explicitly that there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. Was it just the river that turned to blood, or was it all the water of Egypt?
All these difficulties seem to point to the idea that the plague of
blood was actually comprised of two parts. Indeed, the plague of blood has a dual character. On the one hand, this was the
final sign that Moses was commanded to perform before Pharaoh. On the other hand, it was the first plague.
Therefore, it was the only plague that was performed in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants. The plagues did not have to
be performed before Pharaoh, but the signs had to be displayed specifically in his presence. In the sign of blood,
Moses striked the river, turning its water into blood. In the plague of blood, Aaron stretched his staff
over all the water of Egypt and turned it to blood.
By distinguishing between Moses and Aaron, the Torah emphasizes the difference between the sign (turning the river
into blood) and the plague (turning all the water of Egypt
into blood).
The purpose of the signs was to prove Yahveh’s existence. Moses claimed
that the Elohim of the Hebrews appeared to him, while Pharaoh counterd: "I do not know Yahveh." The first sign - the
staff becoming a snake - proved that Yahveh exists and that His power is greater than that of the gods of the magicians. (Aaron's
staff swallowed up the staffs of the Egyptian magicians.) The plague of blood was the next stage in the same direction: the
entire river turned to blood, proving that Yahveh was able to prevail over the Egyptian god.
As for the third sign - the sign of leprosy, it could
not be performed before Pharaoh in its original form: the signs must be directed towards Pharaoh, and a sign that would cause
Moses to contract leprosy was not appropriate. Thus, the sign of leprosy, too, seemed to be absorbed into a plague that was
performed in front of Pharaoh - the plague of boils.
The plague of boils was unique among the plagues in several ways. The Torah
states that the magicians were struck with the plague of boils, although no mention was made of this in the other plagues.
(This is the first plague in which we are told that Yahveh hardened Pharaoh's heart, and this is the only plague, other than
blood, which was performed in Pharaoh's sight. The plague of boils, too, had a dual character. The plague of boils
affected all of Egypt, while the sign of
boils attacked, first and foremost, Pharaoh and his magicians - in order to prove Yahveh's power.
The dual nature of the plague of boils is hinted at, just as in the plague
of blood, through the cooperation between Moses and Aaron in performing it, although Aaron played no role in its actual effects.
The sign of boils was the climax of all the signs. Yahveh not only swallowed up the serpents "created" by other gods,
and not only harmed the River (the god of Egypt), but actually stretched out His hand and attacked Pharaoh's body.
So far, all the plagues affected the environment only: the water turned
to blood, swarms of frogs and lice infested Egypt
and wild beasts invaded the land. The plague of boils caused direct harm to the Egyptians, particularly Pharaoh. Therefore,
this sign was postponed to the end of the series, in contrast to the order in which they were given to Moses.
Because the sign of leprosy was a direct assault on Pharaoh's body, it was
combined with the plague of boils. The question is - Why? Also, why weren’t the three signs performed consecutively?
Yahveh wanted to first bring upon Egypt all the plagues that represented indirect harm, and only afterwards to strike them with a
direct blow - the plague of boils. However, this was not the only reason for delaying the plague of boils. The plague of boils
was the first in the second half of the plagues that befell Egypt.
This plague brought a fundamental change. Up to this point, Pharaoh hardened his heart; from now on, Yahveh hardens Pharaoh's
heart. Yahveh chose the third sign as the introduction to the second stage of the plagues, just as the second sign introduced
their first stage.
Division of The Plagues
The plagues can be categorized into three groups, each group representing
a different purpose. Each group begins with two plagues for which Pharaoh was given advance warning, and concludes with one
plague that appears without warning. Additionally, each group concerns the personality responsible for its performance: Blood
- Moses and Aaron; Frogs and Lice - Aaron; Wild Beasts and Pestilence - Yahveh. Boils - Moses and Aaron; Hail, Locusts and
Darkness - Moses; Death of Firstborn - Yahveh.
The clear exceptions in this division, were the plagues of blood and boils.
Were it not for these, the plagues could be organized into three straightforward triplets: (Blood), Frogs, Lice - Aaron; Wild
Beasts and Pestilence (Boils) - Yahveh; Hail, Locusts and Darkness - Moses; Death of Firstborn - Yahveh. The plague of blood
(like those of frogs and lice) was performed by Aaron, and Moses performed the sign of blood only, not the plague.
The plague of boils should have been performed by Yahveh, but instead it was performed by Moses and Aaron. This was because
the plague of boils comprised a plague and a sign combined, and in order to emphasize this, it was performed jointly
by Moses and Aaron. But in fact, it was really Yahveh who performed all the plagues.
Moses performed the sign of Leprosy by taking soot, throwing it over
all of Egypt in Pharaoh's sight, afflicting all
Egypt with boils. Aaron performed the plague
of boils by taking soot, but he did not throw it upwards, since this plague should be performed by Yahveh. Instead, Aaron
only took the soot in his hand, and the plague of boils came about by itself, without Aaron taking any action.
The Number of Plagues
How many plagues were there? As we have seen, the plagues of blood and boils
were each composed of a sign and a plague. The miraculous nature of each was the same, though there was a difference
in the purpose of the miracles: the sign served as a warning and as proof that Yahveh exists, while the plague
was the actual punishment. The connection between them is clear: Yahveh will never punish without giving a warning first.
The series of plagues began with the sign of the snake, rather than the
plague of blood, to warn Pharaoh. Similarly, the plague of the death of the firstborn could be seen not only as the tenth
plague, but as a warning prior to the eleventh plague - i.e. the splitting of the Red Sea, both of which were performed by
stretching the staff. If we add the sign of blood and the splitting of the sea to the count of the plagues, we reach a total
of twelve plagues. This number is quite fitting: it is as though the Egyptians were punished with a plague for each tribe
they afflicted.
The sign of the snake was not accompanied by any punishment, and
represents (the tribe of) Joseph, since the Egyptians were not responsible for his enslavement - they bought him as a slave
from the Ishmaelites.
The twelve signs may be categorized into four groups of three plagues. Aaron
brought about the sign of the snake, the frogs and the lice; Yahveh performed the plagues of the wild beasts, the pestilence
and the death of the firstborn and Moses caused the plagues of blood, boils and darkness. The remaining plagues - hail,
locusts and the splitting of the sea - were carried out by Moses, but executed by Yahveh.
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