Monday, April 10, 2023

How many plagues on Egypt and what were they?

FOR PASSOVER: How Many Plagues Were There in Egypt? Surprise! The bible doesn’t actually mention plagues at all, and different sources cite radically different numbers. And what is arov, anyway? (Elon Gilad, Haaretz).
Scholars have grappled with reconciling these two accounts with the narrative in Exodus, which famously lists ten plagues: blood, frogs, lice, arov, disease of livestock, boils, hailstorms, locusts that destroyed crops, darkness that covered the land, and the death of the firstborn.

Their main conclusion has been that the story of the plagues went through various versions and transmission processes before being incorporated into the Book of Exodus, which given the differences between the three accounts was likely written only after Psalm 78, and Psalm 105.

As for the second plague: The Plagues of Passover: Blood. Toads… The second plague sent to afflict the ancient Egyptians who refused to let our people go was what exactly? (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

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