makkos

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The Ten

Plagues

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The following is a summary of the Biblical account of the plagues which is found in chapters 7-12 of Exodus.

Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh, and delivered God’s demand that the Israelite slaves be allowed to leave Egypt for the purpose of observing a holiday of worship and prayer for their God. After an initial refusal by Pharaoh, God sent Moses and Aaron back to show him a miraculous sign of warning - Aaron’s staff turned into a serpent. Pharaoh’s sorcerers, using trickery, also turned their staffs into snakes, but Aaron’s serpent turns back into a staff after swallowing the staffs of the magicians.

The Ten Plagues

blood

The first plague was blood. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to extend his staff over the river Nile; all of its water turned into blood. As a result of the blood, the fish of the Nile died, filling Egypt with an awful stench. Other water resources used by the Egyptians were turned to blood as well (7:19). Pharaoh’s sorcerers demonstrated that they too could turn water to blood, and Pharaoh therefore made no concession to Moses’ demands.

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frogs

The second plague of Egypt was frogs; alternatively they were alligators (see Talmud Kesuboth). God commanded Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his staff over the water, and hordes of frogs came and overran Egypt. Pharaoh’s sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with their magic. However, since they were unable to remove it, Pharaoh was forced to grant permission for the Israelites to leave so that Moses would agree to remove the frogs. To prove that the plague was actually a divine punishment, Moses let Pharaoh choose the time that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day, and all the frogs died the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his permission, and the Israelites stayed in Egypt.

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lice

The third plague of Egypt was Kinim, variously translated as Gnats, Lice or Fleas. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff and strike at the dust, which turned into a mass of gnats that the Egyptians could not get rid of. The Egyptian sorcerers declared that this act was “the Finger of God”, since they were unable to reproduce its effects with their magic.

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beasts

The fourth plague of Egypt was flies/wild animals, capable of harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that the arov (swarm or mixture) only came against the Egyptians, and that it did not affect the Land of Goshen (where the Israelites lived). Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow the Israelites to worship God in the wilderness. However, after the plague was gone, Pharaoh “hardened his heart” and again refused to keep his promise.

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pestilence

The fifth plague of Egypt was an epidemic disease which exterminated the Egyptian livestock; that is, horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats. The Israelites’ cattle were unharmed. Once again, Pharaoh made no concessions.

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boils

The sixth plague of Egypt was shkhin. The Shkhin was a kind of skin disease, usually translated as “boils”. God commanded Moses and Aaron to each take two handfuls of soot from a furnace, which Moses scattered skyward in Pharaoh’s presence. The soot induced festering Shkhin eruptions on Egyptian men and livestock. The Egyptian sorcerers were afflicted along with everyone else, and were unable to heal themselves, much less the rest of Egypt.

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hail

The seventh plague of Egypt was a destructive storm. God commanded Moses to stretch his staff skyward, at which point the storm commenced. It was even more evidently supernatural than the previous plagues, a powerful shower of hail intermixed with fire. The storm heavily damaged Egyptian orchards and crops, as well as men and livestock. The storm struck all of Egypt except for the Land of Goshen. Pharaoh asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow the Israelites to worship God in the desert, saying “This time I have sinned; God is righteous, I and my people are wicked.” As a show of God’s mastery over the world, the hail stopped as soon as Moses began praying to God - hail which was then in the air never reached the ground; it simply disappeared. However, after the storm ceased, Pharaoh again “hardened his heart” and refused to keep his promise.

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locusts

The eighth plague of Egypt was locusts. Moses again came to Pharaoh and warned him of the impending plague of locusts. Pharaoh’s officials begged him to let the Israelites go but he was still unwilling to give in. He proposed a compromise: the Israelite men would be allowed to go, while women, children and livestock would remain in Egypt. Moses repeated God’s demand that every last person and animal should go, but Pharaoh refused.

God then had Aaron stretch his staff over Egypt, and a wind picked up from the east. The wind continued until the following day, when it brought a locust swarm. The swarm covered the sky, casting a shadow over Egypt. It consumed all the remaining Egyptian crops, leaving no tree or plant standing. Pharaoh again asked Moses to remove this plague and promised to allow all the Israelites to worship God in the desert. As promised, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not allow the Israelites to leave.

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darkness

God instructed Moses to stretch his hand over Egypt, and this brought a plague of complete and utter darkness, which lasted for three days. This was an unnatural darkness, and was tangible. However, there was light where the Israelites lived. After the plague subsided, Pharaoh summoned Moses, and again tried to bargain with him: he offered to let all the Israelites go out to the wilderness, but required them to leave their livestock in Egypt. Moses refused this condition, and implied that before long, Pharaoh himself would offer to provide the sacrifices, as long as the Israelites would leave. This outraged Pharaoh, and he threatened Moses with death.

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death of firstborn

The tenth and final plague of Egypt was the death of all Egyptian first born males — no one escaped, from the lowest servant to Pharaoh’s own first-born son, including first-born of livestock. This was the hardest and cruellest blow upon Egypt and the plague that finally convinced Pharaoh to submit, and let the Israelites go.

God told Moses that this plague would cause Pharaoh to send the Israelites away, and ordered him to prepare the people to leave. He also commanded Moses to teach the ritual of Pesah - the sacrifice of a lamb for God, and the eating of Matzot.

At midnight, God came through Egypt to take the life of all the Egyptian first-born, including Pharaoh’s own son. . However, no Israelite first-born was killed, as God passed over the Israelite houses.

After this, Pharaoh, furious and saddened, ordered the Israelites to leave, taking whatever they wanted. The Israelites didn’t hesitate; at the end of that night Moses led them out of Egypt with “arms upraised.”

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The Ten Plagues

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