Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
by any of the earlier plagues. Hail is now extremely rare, but not unknown, in Egypt, and it is
interesting that the narrative seems to imply that if sometimes falls there. (Exodus 9:13-34)
•The plague of locusts .—The severity of this plague can be well understood by those who have
been in Egypt in a part of the country where a flight of locusts has alighted. In this case the plague
was greater than an ordinary visitation, since it extended over a far wider space, rather than because
it was more intense; for it is impossible to imagine any more complete destruction than that always
caused by a swarm of locusts. (Exodus 10:1-20)
•The plague of darkness .—“There was a darkness in all the land of Egypt three days;” while “all
the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” It has been illustrated by reference to the samoom
and the hot wind of the Khamaseen. The former is a sand-storm which occurs in the desert, seldom
lasting more than a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, but for the time often causing the darkness
of twilight, and affecting man and beast. The hot wind of the Khamaseen usually blows for three
days and nights, and carries so much sand with it that it produces the appearance of a yellow fog.
It thus resembles the samoom, though far less powerful and less distressing in its effects. It is not
known to cause actual darkness. The plague may have been an extremely severe sandstorm,
miraculous in its violence and duration, for the length of three days does not make it natural since
the severe storms are always very brief. (Exodus 10:21-29)
•The death of the first-born .—Before the tenth plague Moses went to warn Pharaoh: “Thus saith
the Lord, about midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the first-born in the land of
Egypt shall die, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne even to the first-born
of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the first-born of beasts.” (Exodus 11:4,5) The
clearly miraculous nature of this plague, its falling upon man and in its beast; and the singling out
of the firstborn, puts it wholly beyond comparison with any natural pestilence, even the severest
recorded in history, whether of the peculiar Egyptian plague or of other like epidemics. The history
of the ten plagues strictly ends with the death of the first-born. The gradual increase in severity
of the plagues is perhaps the best key to their meaning. They seem to have been sent as warnings
to the oppressor, to afford him a means of seeing God’s will and an opportunity of repenting before
Egypt was ruined. The lesson that Pharaoh’s career teaches us seems to be that there are men
whom the meet signal judgments do not affect so as to cause any lasting repentance. The following
characteristics of the plagues may be specially noticed: (1) Their relation to natural phenomena.
Each of the inflictions has a demonstrable connection with Egyptian customs and phenomena;
each is directly aimed at some Egyptian superstition all are marvellous, not for the most part as
reversing, but as developing, forces inherent in nature, and directing them to a special end.—Canon
Cook . (2) Their order. They are divided first into nine and one the last one standing clearly apart
from all the others. The nine are arranged in threes. In the first of each three the warning is given
to Pharaoh in the morning. In the first and second of each three the plague is announced beforehand
in the third, not. At the third the magicians acknowledge the finger of God; at the sixth they cannot
stand before Moses; and at the ninth Pharaoh refuses to see the face of Moses any more. The
gradation of the severity of these strokes is no less obvious. In the first three no distinction is made
among the inhabitants of the land; in the remaining seven a distinction is made between the
Israelites, who are shielded from, and the Egyptians who are exposed to, the stroke. -Kurlz, (3)
Their duration. It is probable that the plagues extended through a period of several months. The
first plague occurred probably during the annual inundation of the Nile, hence about the middle
of June (Edersheim). The second, that of the frogs, in September, the time when Egypt often suffers
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William Smith