PLAGUES
OF
EGYPT
commentaries.
The
analysis,
on
which
critics
are
in
the
main
agreed,
is
as
follows:
If
the
sources
have
here
been
rightly
separated,
becomes
probable
that
the
original
account
of
JE
con-tained
eight
and
not
ten
plagues.
The
3rd
and
4th
are
insect
pests,
the
former
kinnlm,
kinnam,
i.e.
gnats
or
mosquitoes
(P),
the
latter
'SrSb/i,
i.e.
swarms
of
flies
(J).
These
may
with
probability
be
considered
duplicates.
And
similarly
the
5th
and
6th,
murrain
(J)
and
boils
(P).
It
this
is
so,
all
the
eight
were
originally
contained
In
J's
narrative;
E
has
elements
in
the
1st,
7th,
8th,
and
9th,
and
m
the
9th
E's
narrative
has
largely
dis-placed
that
of
J.
2.
Relation
to
natural
phenomena.
—
The
hostility
which
used
to
exist
between
religion
and
natural
science
is
rapidly
passing
away,
as
it
is
becoming
more
clearly
recognized
that
science
is
concerned
solely
with
the
observation
of
physical
sequences,
while
religion
em-braces
science
as
the
greater
includes
the
less.
Nothing
can
lie
outside
the
activity-of-a
God^
who
is
both
a
transcendent
Person
anU
an
immanent
sustaining
Power
in
the
univers&.'^nd
therefore
to
point
out
a
connexion
between
some
of
the
'
miracles
'
of
Scripture
and
'
natm'al
phenomena'
does
not
eliminate
from
them
the
Divine
element;
it
rather
transfigures
an
unreasoning
'faith
in
the
impossible'
into
a
faith
which
recognizes
the
'finger
of
God'
in
everything.
Thus
the
following
discussion
of
the
plagues
may
claim
to
be
entirely
con-structive;
it
seelss
to
destroy
nothing,
but
aims
at
showing
it
to
be
probable
that
the
providence
of
God
worked
in
Egypt
by
means
of
a
series
of
natural
phenom-ena,
upon
which
the
religious
instinct
of
the
Hebrew
writers
unerringly
seized
as
signs
of
God's
favour
to
their
forefathers,
and
of
punishment
to
their
oppressors.
This
religious
conviction
led
m
process
of
time
to
accre-tions
and
amplifications;
as
the
stories
were
handed
down,
they
acquired
more
and
more
of
what
is
popularly
called
the
miraculous.
The
earliest
stage
at
which
they
emerge
into
writing
is
in
J;
in
the
remains
of
E
the
wonders
have
increased,
while
in
P
they
are
greatly
multiplied.
1st
Plague.
—
According
to
J,
this
consisted
in
the
smiting
of
the
river
by
J",
and
the
consequent
death
of
the
fish,
causing
the
necessity
of
obtaining
water
by
digging
in
the
neighbourhood
of
the
river.
Nothing
is
here
said
of
blood,
but
that
is
introduced
in
the
next
stage
of
development.
In
E
the
marvel
is
performed
not
directly
by
J"
in
the
ordinary
course
of
nature,
but
through
Moses'
wonder-working
staff,
and
the
river
is
turned
to
blood.
Two
suggestions
have
been
made
as
to
the
natural
phenomena
which
might
give
rise
to
the
story.
When
the
Nile
rises
in
June,
its
waters
become
discoloured
from
fragments
of
vegetable
matter,
which
gradually
turn
to
a
dull
red
colour
as
the
river
rises
to
its
height
in
August.
This
is
confirmed
by
733
PLAGUES
OF
EGYPT
many
travellers,
who
also
speak
of
offensive
odours
emitted
at
the
later
stage.
Others
refer
the
reddening
of
the
water
to
enormous
quantities
of
minute
organisms.
Whatever
may
have
been
the
actual
cause,
J
comes
the
nearest
to
the
natural
fact;
a
fetid
exhalation
killed
the
fish,
or
in
Hebrew
language
J"
smote
the
river.
And
the
ease
with
which
the
belief
could
arise
that
the
water
was
turned
to
blood
is
illustrated
in
2
K
3^.
In
P's
final
amplification,
every
drop
of
water
in
Egypt
was
turned
to
blood.
2nd
Plague.
—
From
whatever
cause
the
river
became
fetid,
a
mass
of
organic
matter
and
of
animal
life
would
be
collected.
And
these
conditions
would
be
suitable
to
the
rapid
multiplication
of
frogs.
In
J,
J"
foretells
that
He
will
Himselt
smite
Egypt
with
frogs;
in
the
ordinary
course
of
nature
'the
river
shall
swarm
with
frogs.'
In
P,
Aaron
(as
usual)
is
bidden
by
Moses
to
bring
the
plague
by
stretching
out
his
staff.
Plagues
of
frogs
were
not
unknown
in
ancient
times;
and
Haggard
tells
of
a
plague
in
the
upper
Nile
valley
in
modern
times
(
Under
Crescent
and
Star,
p.
279).
Frogs
^^
are
most
plentiful
in
Egypt
in
September.
1*
■
y^
3rd
and
ith
Plagues.
—
The
mass
of
dead
frogs
collected
it
,
'
in
heaps
(8")
would
lead
to
the
breeding
of
innumerable
insects.
In
J,
J"
Himself
sends
'swarms
of
flies';
in
P,
through
the
stretching
out
of
Aaron's
staff,
'all
the
dust
of
Egypt
became
mosquitoes'
(EV
lice
[wh.
see]).
The
'mosquitoes'
cannot
have
been,
according
to
any
natural
sequence,
distinct
from
the
'swarms';
P
par-ticularizes
the
general
statement
of
J.
Stinging
gnats
of
various
kinds
are
common
in
Egypt
about
October.
The
insects
come
to
maturity
after
the
waters
of
the
Nile
inundation
have
receded,
and
the
pools
in
which
the
larvae
have
lived
have
dried
up.
Note
that
in
Ps
105"
the
'swarm'
and
the
'mosquitoes'
are
coupled
in
one
sentence;
and
Ps
78"
omits
the
'mosquitoes'
altogether.
5th
and
6th
Plagues.
—
The
decomposing
bodies
of
the
frogs
would
produce
pestilential
effects;
and
bacterio-logical
research
shows
that
some
insects,
especially
mosquitoes,
are
a
serious
factor
in
the
spread
of
disease.
Thus
the
murrain
(J)
is
amply
accounted
for.
In
the
preceding
narrative
J
relates
that
Goshen
enjoyed
com-plete
immunity
from
the
insects.
It
is
not
impossible
that
the
direction
of
the
wind
or
other
natural
causes,
under
God's
guidance,
prevented
them
from
reaching
the
Israelite
territory.
And
if
the
insects,
which
spread
disease,
did
not
enter
Goshen,
the
statement
that
the
murrain
did
not
touch
the
cattle
of
the
Israelites
is
also
explained.
P,
on
the
other
hand,
departs
from
natural
causes.
Moses
and
Aaron
fiung
soot
into
the
air,
which
became
boils
on
man
and
beast.
Cattle
plagues,
causing
enormous
mortality,
are
reported
in
Egypt.
One
such
in
a.d.
1842
killed
40,000
oxen.
7th
Plague.
—
Thus
far
the
series
of
plagues
have
followed
one
another
in
a
natural
sequence.
But
at
this
point
a
new
series
begins
with
a
destructive
thunder-storm,
accompanied
by
hail.
Such
storms
are
rare
in
Egypt,
but
are
not
without
example.
Those
which
have
been
reported
in
modern
times
have
occurred
about
January;
and
that
is
the
point
of
time
defined
in
93H._
'the
barley
was
in
the
ear,
and
the
fiax
was
in
bud,
but
the
wheat
and
the
vetch
.
.
.
were
not
grown
up.'
Thus
the
cattle
plague
had
lasted
about
two
months
and
a
half
(Nov.
to
the
middle
of
Jan.)
when
the
storm
came;
and
the
first
five
plagues
(reckoning
3,
4
and
6,
6
as
duplicates)
occupied
a
period
of
about
five
months.
8th
Plague.
—
The
atmospheric
conditions
which
re-sulted
in
the
storm
also
led
to
other
plagues.
A
strong
east
wind
(the
sirocco)
was
sent
by
J",
and
brought
a
dense
mass
of
locusts
(J).
In
E,
Moses
brought
them
by
lifting
his
staff.
The
lightness
and
fragility
of
the
locusts
render
them
helpless
before
a
wind
(cf.
Ps
lOQ^s'').
And
when
the
wind
shifted
to
the
west,
they
were
com-pletely
swept
away
into
the
Red
Sea
(J);
cf.
Jl
2".
