10 Biblical Plagues

10 Biblical Plagues

Are the 10 calamities imposed upon Egypt by God in the Bible (as recounted in the book of Exodus, chapters 7 - 12), in order to convince Pharaoh to let the poorly treated Israelite slaves go. The Plagues of Egypt are recognized by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:
1.) The first plague was blood. God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to raise 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 into blood, and Pharaoh therefore made no concession to Moses' demands.

2.) The second plague of Egypt was frogs. 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 Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his permission, and the Israelites stayed in Egypt.

3.) 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.

4.) The fourth plague of Egypt was wild animals, capable of harming people and livestock. The Torah emphasizes that the arov ("swarm") 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.

5.) 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.

6.) 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 people and livestock. The Egyptian sorcerers were afflicted along with everyone else, and were unable to heal themselves, much less the rest of Egypt.

7.) 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 people 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. However, after the storm ceased, Pharaoh again "hardened his heart" and refused to keep his promise.

8.) The eighth plague of Egypt was locusts. Before the plague, God informed Moses that from that point on He would "harden Pharaoh's heart," (as promised earlier in 4:21) so that Pharaoh would not give in, and the remaining miracles (the final plagues and the splitting of the sea) would play out.
As with previous plagues, Moses came to Pharaoh and warned him of the impending plague of locusts. Pharaoh's officials begged him to let the Israelites go rather than suffer the devastating effects of a locust-swarm, 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 Moses 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.

9.) In the ninth plague, God commanded Moses to stretch his hands up to the sky, to bring darkness upon Egypt. This darkness was so heavy that an Egyptian could physically feel it. It lasted for three days, during which time there was light in the homes of the Israelites. Pharaoh then called to Moses and offered to let all the Israelites leave, if only the darkness would be removed from his land. However, he required that their sheep and cattle stay. Moses refused, and went on to say that before long, Pharaoh himself would offer to provide animals for sacrifice. Pharaoh, outraged, then threatened to execute Moses if he should again appear before Pharaoh. Moses replied that he would indeed not visit the Pharaoh again.
This plague was an attack aimed directly at Pharaoh's deity Ra, the Egyptian sun god. By introducing the plague of darkness, Moses attempted to prove whose god was more powerful.

10.) The tenth and final plague of Egypt was the death of all Egyptian first born — no one escaped, from the lowest servant to Pharaoh's own first-born son, including first-born of livestock. Before the plague, God commanded Moses to inform all the Israelites to mark lamb's blood on the doorposts on every door in which the Angel of Death will pass over them sparing all the Israelite first-borns. This was the hardest and cruelest blow upon Egypt and the plague that finally convinced Pharaoh to submit, and let the Israelites go.
After this, Pharaoh, furious and saddened, ordered the Israelites to go away, taking whatever they wanted. The Israelites didn't hesitate; and at the end of that night Moses led them out of Egypt with "arms upraised."

Source:
Wikipedia, The free Encyclopedia
The Bible