The Ten Plagues of Egypt

[Belial]

I watched a really interesting tv show the other evening, it was all about the ten plagues of Egypt, and how the bible worded the events, and how in todays modern world it could be worded to show the facts.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

1. (exodus 7:14–25˄) water turned to blood killing all fish and other water life. (Dam)

2. (exodus 8:1–8:15˄) frogs (Tsifardeah)

3. (exodus 8:16–19˄) lice or gnats (Kinim)

4. (exodus 8:20–30˄) flies (Arov)

5. (exodus 9:1–7˄) disease on livestock (Dever)

6. (exodus 9:8–12˄) unhealable boils (Shkhin)

7. (exodus 9:13–35˄) hail and thunder (Barad)

8. (exodus 10:1–20˄) locusts (Arbeh)

9. (exodus 10:21–29˄) darkness (Choshech)

10. (exodus 11˄,12˄) death of the first-born of all humans and animals who do not have marked doorposts. (Makat b'chorot)

The tv show looked at all of them and broke them down into seperate events and showed via science that it probably did happen because it still happens today.

Lets take the first - WATER TURNS RED.

Science as discovered a water born virus that acts like an algae, and when it grows it takes up all the waters oxygen, and in the process turns a rusty red colour (blood like), this would account for the fish stocks being killed off, and it then as a knock on effect with the next chapter, FROGS.

The frogs would naturally leave the water and run riout all over the land, they inturn die in the heat causing swarms of Gnats, the lice would probably happen because of the lack of clean water and the break down of all cleanliness really.

That inturn brings the FLIES,causing the disease to livestock, that inturn would have an effect on peoples skin quality via lack of iron and other vitamins (BOILS).

HAIL and THUNDER would be a natural happening anyway, just put into the story to add effect?

lOCUSTS again part of the other happenings, water/flies etc. From the massive flight migrations of the LOCUSTS you would more than likely have a darkened sky, as for the DEATH TO ALL FIRST BORN, i think thats to do with the steps being highlighted to show the plague within the house or building.

Just a thought while watching a great tv show.

[Malakhim]

Any link to watch this so called documentary?

[Beren Erchamion]

I saw something on the History Channel about this a few years ago, The Death of the First Born can be explained away with possibly tainted food and the fact the the First born got the most food out of the famiily in Ancient Egypt

I saw something on the History Channel about this a few years ago, The Death of the First Born can be explained away with possibly tainted food and the fact the the First born got the most food out of the family in Ancient Egypt

[Dr. D]

I saw something on the History Channel about this a few years ago, The Death of the First Born can be explained away with possibly tainted food and the fact the the First born got the most food out of the famiily in Ancient Egypt

I saw something on the History Channel about this a few years ago, The Death of the First Born can be explained away with possibly tainted food and the fact the the First born got the most food out of the family in Ancient Egypt

Velikovsky explained the plagues quite well.

[Rock-Star]

I watched a really interesting tv show the other evening, it was all about the ten plagues of Egypt, and how the bible worded the events, and how in todays modern world it could be worded to show the facts.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

1. (exodus 7:14–25˄) water turned to blood killing all fish and other water life. (Dam)

2. (exodus 8:1–8:15˄) frogs (Tsifardeah)

3. (exodus 8:16–19˄) lice or gnats (Kinim)

4. (exodus 8:20–30˄) flies (Arov)

5. (exodus 9:1–7˄) disease on livestock (Dever)

6. (exodus 9:8–12˄) unhealable boils (Shkhin)

7. (exodus 9:13–35˄) hail and thunder (Barad)

8. (exodus 10:1–20˄) locusts (Arbeh)

9. (exodus 10:21–29˄) darkness (Choshech)

10. (exodus 11˄,12˄) death of the first-born of all humans and animals who do not have marked doorposts. (Makat b'chorot)

The tv show looked at all of them and broke them down into seperate events and showed via science that it probably did happen because it still happens today.

Lets take the first - WATER TURNS RED.

Science as discovered a water born virus that acts like an algae, and when it grows it takes up all the waters oxygen, and in the process turns a rusty red colour (blood like), this would account for the fish stocks being killed off, and it then as a knock on effect with the next chapter, FROGS.

The frogs would naturally leave the water and run riout all over the land, they inturn die in the heat causing swarms of Gnats, the lice would probably happen because of the lack of clean water and the break down of all cleanliness really.

That inturn brings the FLIES,causing the disease to livestock, that inturn would have an effect on peoples skin quality via lack of iron and other vitamins (BOILS).

HAIL and THUNDER would be a natural happening anyway, just put into the story to add effect?

lOCUSTS again part of the other happenings, water/flies etc. From the massive flight migrations of the LOCUSTS you would more than likely have a darkened sky, as for the DEATH TO ALL FIRST BORN, i think thats to do with the steps being highlighted to show the plague within the house or building.

Just a thought while watching a great tv show.

Interesting. This would suggest that the story as written around the plagues was added to give dramatic effect to natural occurences...did the documentary provide any historical evidence that these events actually did occur, or are they simply supposing how they could have happened?

[JGirl]

i've never thought these plagues were anything but natural occurances. the bible is a story, not a factual account of history.

[Belial]

Any link to watch this so called documentary?

This is not the one i watched but it is close enough.

My link

Any link to watch this so called documentary?

This is not the one i watched but it is close enough.

My link

[Drrhodes2000]

I think the explanation of the death of the firstborn needs improvement. The Pharaoh of Egypt was probably pretty smart and well educated, given his position. If all the firstborn died from eating tainted food, and they received the most food because they were the firstborn, then certainly everyone else would have gotten sick! The Pharaoh would have recognized the deaths as natural occurrences, not an act of God. Yet he obeyed Moses and let the people go. Any ideas anyone?

[Astral Hillbilly]

I think the explanation of the death of the firstborn needs improvement. The Pharaoh of Egypt was probably pretty smart and well educated, given his position. If all the firstborn died from eating tainted food, and they received the most food because they were the firstborn, then certainly everyone else would have gotten sick! The Pharaoh would have recognized the deaths as natural occurrences, not an act of God. Yet he obeyed Moses and let the people go. Any ideas anyone?

It's been a while since I actually saw it, but it had something to do with the fact that the first born was first in line for everything, so he got his grain out of the top of the barrel, where more spores would be located. There was further explanation regarding the sleeping situations, where the first born slept on the floor, and would be more exposed to a vapor, or gas that entered the dwelling. Sorry, I'm leaving a lot out I'm sure, but I hope you get the point.

[+Paranoid Android]

There is also a powerful theological purpose behind the plagues. I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact source of this. I wrote this down many years ago after hearing it. I did have a source at the time, but now I just have a couple of paragraphs describing each one. In essence, the Ten Plagues were each an attack on a different god of Egypt. The ultimate goal of the Ten Plagues was to show Yahweh's complete dominance over all the gods, that he's not just any old codger but actually THE powerful and only true God. Below I'll break down each of the ten plagues and how they attacked the gods of Egypt:

The First Plague - the Nile is turned to blood. The River Nile is believed to represent the Egyptian god Hapi. Hapi was portrayed as a god with a beard like a man, but had female features and a pregnant stomach like a woman’s. The river Nile was the life of Egypt. It provided water and food in the form of fish for the Egyptians. Hence Hapi was seen as the god that kept Egypt alive by providing water and food. God here turns the Nile to blood. Hapi can no longer give life and food to Egypt. God here is proved more powerful than Hapi.

The second plague - God brings forth frogs from the Nile and plagues the whole country. They enter into Pharaoh’s palace, his bedroom, bed and also goes into the houses of his officials. The Egyptians regarded the frogs as a symbol of their goddess Hekkhet. Hekkhet was the god of childbirth. She was also the one that controlled the number of frogs in Egypt. This plague shows that God overpowered Hekkhet and that He controls the frogs and childbirth, and not Hekkhet.

The Third and Fourth Plague - The third and fourth plagues go together. The third plague is the plague of Gnats and the fourth is of flies. Both these plagues were flying plagues. The Egyptian god Khelprer was symbolised by a flying beetle. Here God shows that he controls the Gnats and flies, not Khelprer.

The Fifth Plague - The fifth plague was a plague upon the domesticated animals of Egypt. Ancient Egyptians viewed the domesticated bulls as the embodiment of the great Egyptian gods Ptah and Re. Numerous important female deities were also pictured as livestock animals. Isis, queen of the gods had cow’s horn on her head. The livestock animals provided necessities to the people in the form of food, milk, clothing, and transportation. But Yahweh destroyed these animals to show that he is more powerful then these gods.

THe Sixth Plague - In the sixth plague, boils affected the men and the animals. The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet was the deity of the plagues. She was responsible for epidemics in ancient Egypt but she also had the power to heal those who were visited by these pestilence as well. Well, Yahweh sends boils upon the men and the animals and no one can stop it. Not even the goddess Sekhmet. Yahweh is more powerful than Sekhmet.

The seventh Plague - God rains down hail from heaven of such a force that the Egyptians had never seen before. Here, the Egyptian gods Nut, Shu and Tefnut, all sky gods, were all powerless against Yahweh.

The Eighth and Ninth plague - The eighth plague of locusts ridiculed Senehem, the God of pests. And the ninth plague, the plague of darkness ridiculed Amon-Re, the Egyptian Sun god.

The tenth Plague - The tenth plague was directed at Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh was seen as a god of Egypt. Pharaoh’s firstborn and all Egypt’s firstborn were killed in this plague. And it is with this act that God proves that Pharaoh is not a god (or at least that Pharaoh is powerless against Yahweh). It is with the conclusion of this plague that Pharaoh realises he can't win, let's the Israelites go.

The ten plagues showed Yahweh’s awesome power. That he was more powerful than Pharaoh and all the Egyptian God’s put together. God showed his power and he does so to glorify his own name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I said, I apologise for not having a source, I'm sure it's out there, I just have lost it. This site does provide similar information, but there are some small differences in the gods referenced for each plague. I only googled it quickly to get a source here, I cannot vouch for the content properly, but take it as you like it anyway

Hope this helps

~ Regards, PA

[Doug1029]

The plagues are plausible, sort of a "falling dominoes" effect. But did they really happen, and if so, when?

First, they're all rather common, run-of-the-mill plagues. The legend could simply have been assembled by combining several historical disasters into a single story. The Bible is good at doing this sort of thing.

But there are two plagues that stand out: the "plague of darkness" and the burning hail. "Darkness" could be a solar eclipse, or a storm, like the kamasine dust storms. BUT, this darkness lasted three days - impossibly long for an eclipse and very unusual for a dust storm. Now: read "The Admonitions of Ipuwer." Does this sound like a description of the biblical plagues? The Nile turning red, fire everywhere, breakdown of law. Ipuwer is believed to have lived during the New Kingdom, but the events he described appear to be a couple hundred years or so older - Second Intermediate Period, perhaps?

About the hail: it was on fire. Exodus 9:23-24; Psalms 18:12-13. Burning hail. What does that sound like? How about ignimbrite - the red-hot stones spit out by a volcano? But no volcanos erupted in either Egypt or Sinai during the second millennium BC. But one volcano - Thera - on the island of Santorini in the Aegean - did erupt (Actually, so did Vesuvius.). This eruption has been dated, using tree rings, to the fall-winter-spring of 1629-1628 BC. The eruption occurred in four stages, with the last stage being the most-violent. That stage would have occurred in March or April (when barley and wheat are ripening in Egypt). Ignimbrite from the Theran eruption has been found on the shores of the Black Sea, 350 miles from Thera. Piramesse (now Tel el D'aba) is 436 miles from Thera - farther, but not that much farther for a volcano like Thera.

And then there's the plague of darkness: a one-centimeter layer of ash from the Theran eruption lies on the bottom of the Mediterranean, right up to the shores of Egypt. There is nothing quite so dark as the stygian blackness of a volcanic ash cloud. To put down a one-centimeter layer, it had to last several days, maybe a week or more.

The eruption and the disaster it produced brought down the Thirteenth Dynasty and set the stage for the Hyksos in northern Egypt. I submit that the Bible is remembering this disaster. And Ipuwer is its witness.

BUT: which Pharoah was this? Josephus (Against Apion), who cites "ancient writings," describes that Pharaoh as having a father named Ramses and a son named Ramses. There is only one such Pharoah in Egyptian history: Seti I. While Horemheb was Pharaoh (The Pharaoh of the Oppression?), Seti was detailed to rebuild the ancient Hyksos capitol. He needed laborers and rounded up all the "inferior" people he could find, mainly "Shosu." One of these was a priest of On named Osar-Seph ("Mighty Seth"). He became the foreman or leader of the "slaves" and carried their complaints and problems to Seti. I don't have time to go into the story in detail, but there was an issue involving Seti's desire to be privy to the councils of the gods and a thirteen-year curse on Egypt if any priests were harmed. When Seti proved difficult to deal with, Osar-Seph led a slave revolt (with the help of people from Jerusalem) and for thirteen years, they "despoiled the Egyptians." About the time the curse expired, Horemheb died and was replaced by Seti's father, Ramses I (For whom the biblical city of Ramses is named). Ramses I lived only fourteen months after taking the throne. When he died, Seti became Pharaoh.

Did Seti's first-born die? No. His first-born was Ramses, who became Ramses II the Great. But Seti II's first born son, Seti-Merneptah, did. I can make a case for Seti II and Moses being half-brothers, but I think that is more-likely to be a legend than a fact. It's possible, but not probable.

There's more to this story, of course - a lot more. Historians will tell you that there is no record of the Exodus in Egyptian history. But I submit that the story is a legend, composed of bits and pieces of Egyptian history from different dynasties and centuries rolled into a single story. Those bits and pieces are in the historical record and can be identified. Moses was a composite of flesh-and-blood people. The biblical plagues are the memory of two great disasters that befell Egypt. The story, as a whole, is not literal history, but most of it actually happened.

Doug

Edited May 25, 2013 by Doug1029