Announcement of the plagues
1Yahweh said to Moses, “See, I have made you like a god in Pharaoh’s eyes; and Aaron, your brother, will be your prophet. 2You will tell Aaron all that I command you, and he will tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave the country. 3But I will make him stubborn and although I multiply my signs and miracles, 4he will not listen to you. Then I will use my power and lead my armies, my people, the Israelites out of Egypt by means of great punishments. 5Then will the Egyptians know that I am Yahweh when they see with what power I bring the people of Israel out of their country.”
6Moses and Aaron did exactly what Yahweh had commanded. 7Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, 9“When Pharaoh speaks to you and tells you to perform a miracle to prove the truth of what you say, you will say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’”
10Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what Yahweh had commanded. Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and his ministers, and it became a snake. 11Pharaoh then summoned wise men and magicians, and they, too, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by means of their secret arts. 12Each one threw his staff down and the staffs became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed the staffs of the magicians. 13However, Pharaoh was obstinate and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had said.
The plagues of Egypt
14 ① Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh is stubborn; he has refused to let the people leave. 15So you will go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes to the water. Wait for him on the bank of the river and hold in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16You will say to him, “Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to say to you: ‘Let my people go to worship me in the desert; but so far you have not listened. 17By this you shall learn that I am Yahweh: Look, I will strike the water of the Nile with the staff I have in my hand, and it will turn into blood! 18The fish in the river will die and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will no longer be able to drink its water.”
19Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, rivers, canals, ponds and pools of water; and they will turn into blood. There will be blood throughout Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.’” 20Moses and Aaron did as Yahweh had commanded.
Aaron raised his staff and struck the waters of the Nile, in the presence of Pharaoh and his ministers, and all the water in the Nile turned to blood. 21The fish in the river died and the Nile was contaminated so that the Egyptians could no longer drink the water of the Nile.
There was blood all over the country of Egypt. 22The Egyptian magicians, however, could do the same with their secret crafts, and Pharaoh remained unmoved; and, as Yahweh had foretold, he would not listen to Moses and Aaron.
23Pharaoh returned to his house as if nothing of importance had happened. 24And yet all the Egyptians were digging near the Nile for water to drink because they could not drink from the river.
The second plague: the frogs
25Seven days passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile. 26Yahweh said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him that Yahweh says, ‘Let my people go to worship me! 27If you refuse to let them leave, I will punish the country with a plague of frogs. 28The Nile will teem with frogs. They will invade your house, your bedroom and your bed, your servants’ and your people’s houses, your ovens and your kneading bowls. 29Over you and your people the frogs will climb.”
- Ex 7,14 Here we have the plagues of Egypt. The paragraphs which come from the most ancient story narrate 7 plagues. The other story, the Elohist's, gives 9. The third story adds the plague of ulcers. The biblical writers knew that the power of evil also performs miracles to obscure the interventions of God. Note these details: 7:11-12; 8:3; 8:14; 9:10. Chapter 10 describes the reactions of people who recognize the signs of God without arriving at true conversion. Regarding the plagues or misfortunes of Egypt, the modern reader will ask three things: - Did these stupendous miracles to bring harm upon the Egyptians really happen? - If these plagues were merely natural phenomena, should we consider any misfortune as a punishment from God? - Was the Egyptian peasant or citizen responsible for the politics of Pharaoh, and did he deserve to be punished? With regard to the first question, we know that for centuries, these stories were narrated and amplified by the Israelites. They were meant to show that through these natural misfortunes common in Egypt: the locusts, the Red Nile, frogs - God manifested his will to Pharaoh. With regard to the second, see the commentary on Luke 13:1. God warns us through signs. National leaders, if they would open their eyes to the evils that afflict their country, would realize that injustices will be paid for dearly. With regard to the third question, let us not forget that the sacred authors shared the culture of their times. They were not concerned about whether it was the Egyptians or Pharaoh himself who had sinned in opposing Moses. They only saw that they opposed God's design and must therefore be vanquished: that is what they expressed with the word punished. They were not concerned about the fate of the Egyptian peasant. For them, Egypt represented the unjust Power, and Pharaoh, the Enemy of God.
