The Ten Plagues
According to the Old Testament, The Ten Plagues are the plagues Jehovah visited upon Egypt in the time of Moses. These were manifestations of his great power and caused his name Jehovah or "He Causes to Become" to be declared among the nations (Ex 9:14, 16). For generations afterward their effects would be discussed by other peoples (Jos 2:9-11; 9:9; Isa 4:8; 6:6) Also, these plagues proved that the gods of Egypt were powerless (Ex 12:12; Nu 33:4).
The Ten Plagues
The plagues were:
- rivers turned to blood (Exodus 7:14-25)
- a plague of frogs (Exodus 8:1-25)
- gnats (Exodus 8:16-19)
- flies (Exodus 8:20-32)
- pestilence on livestock (Exodus 8:1-7)
- boils (Exodus 9:8-12)
- hail (Exodus 9:13-35)
- locusts (Exodus 10:13-14,19)
- three days of darkness (Exodus 10:21-29)
- death of the firstborn (Exodus 12:29-36)
Context
The main reason for the plagues was Pharaohs repeated refusal to release the Jewish people from slavery. Moses, acting as a messenger, and his brother Aaron, who spoke for Moses due to his Israel" and "near to them" by reclaiming them with "an outstretched arm and with great judgments" (Ex 6:6, 7; De 4:7). Following the destruction of Pharaoh's hosts in the Red Sea, the people of Israel "began to fear God and to put faith in God and in Moses his servant" (Ex 14:31).
Egyptian gods
Another consequence of the plague was the proven superiority of God over the Egyptian deities ("nature gods"). Although some have advanced theories as to which god was affected by which plague, this is only scantily supported by Midrashic sources, and these attempts have generally produced widely divergent results.
