During the 10 Plagues in Egypt as described in the book of Exodus, domesticated animals suffered as well as humans.[i]
Why?
Plague #3 Kinim
has bugs suddenly so numerous that they constantly harassed humans and domestic
animals.
Plague #5 Dever
or pestilence spread deadly disease which killed humans and animals.
Plague #6 Shechin – Boils broke out all over
the bodies of humans sand animals. They were itchy and made sitting and lying
down painful.
Plague #7 Barad
Huge hailstones pounded to death any humans and animals who were outdoors.
Plague #10 Death
of the Firstborn This affected all firstborn male children among the
Egyptians and even their slaves; and likewise with the firstborn male of all
livestock.
So, out of
the 10 Plagues, five (5) caused harm and death to the domesticated animals of
the Egyptians: their cattle, sheep, goats, horses, etc.
Again, why
harm their animals?
What could
these animals have done that deserved divine punishment? And five times at
that!
To us, it would
be unjustified” animal cruelty”, and if someone were similarly cruel to any
such animal, they could legally be charged, fined and even imprisoned in our society and culture.[ii]
in ancient Egypt,
animals were treated very well.
Cats and
dogs were universal household pets and seen as sacred animals. Cats were the earthly link to the goddess Bastet and dogs to Anubis, the god of
mummification and transition to the afterlife.
Herodotus[iii]
notes that if a house caught fire, people would rush into the burning structure
to remove any cats to safety -- even at the risk of their own lives.
And to kill
a cat on purpose (or any other sacred animal) was punishable by death!
Cats when
they died, were often mummified and buried in special cemeteries. And so too dogs and other sacred animals.
Sheep and
goats were similarly revered as manifestations of the twirled straight horn
ram’s headed god Khnum and cattle to the central goddess Hathor who was
depicted as a cow or human with a cow’s horns.
Even wild
animals such as the baboon and ibis bird were considered holy and associated
with the god Thot, the inventor of writing and patron of scribes.
To understand
the punishment of animals in the10 plagues, one must understand Exod. 12:12.
It is the
key.
Exod. 12:12
|
יב וְעָבַרְתִּי בְאֶרֶץ-מִצְרַיִם,
בַּלַּיְלָה הַזֶּה, וְהִכֵּיתִי כָל-בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, מֵאָדָם
וְעַד-בְּהֵמָה; וּבְכָל-אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם אֶעֱשֶׂה
שְׁפָטִים, אֲנִי יְהוָה. |
12 For I will go through the land of
Egypt in that night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. |
Exodus 12 / Hebrew - English
Bible / Mechon-Mamre (My red.)
This verse
states that not only male firstborn Egyptians were to be killed in Plague #10,
but also all of their firstborn animals.
And Egypt’s
pagan deities were also punished.
This
information is repeated by Moses in Num: 33:4.
|
ד וּמִצְרַיִם מְקַבְּרִים, אֵת
אֲשֶׁר הִכָּה יְהוָה בָּהֶם--כָּל-בְּכוֹר; וּבֵאלֹהֵיהֶם, עָשָׂה יְהוָה
שְׁפָטִים. |
4 while the Egyptians were burying them
that the LORD had smitten among them, even all their first-born; upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments. |
Numbers 33 /
Hebrew - English Bible / Mechon-Mamre
(my red.)
Now in rabbinic
literature[iv]
Rashi on Exod. 12:12 cites the Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael (Tractate
Pesachim 7: 17-18)[v] , an
early medieval commentary, that the Egyptian idols self-destructed at Plague
#10: wooden ones suddenly rotted away, metal rusted out or melted.
This explanation
is repeated by Ramban, Rabbeinu Bahya, Tur HaAroch and Tze’enah Ure’enah.
Ibn Ezra states
the idols simply fell to the ground just like the Philistine idol Dagon in 1
Samuel 5:4. A reading accepted by Toledot Yitzchak
Then there
are Bekhor Shor and Hadar Zekenim (12th to 13th century)
that see the
term “אֱלֹהֵי
מִצְרַיִם” as
referring to the Egypt’s leaders and nobility rather than their idol gods.
But two 19th
century commentaries: Reggio and Em LaMikra see “אֱלֹהֵי מִצְרַיִם” to mean the animals that the Egyptians worshiped as gods: cattle, sheep, etc.
NOTE: Any
commentaries to Num. 33:4 repeat the views already given in Exod.12:12.[vi]
So, of the four
different understandings of “וּבֵאלֹהֵיהֶם,
עָשָׂה יְהוָה שְׁפָטִים” – i.e., God punished their gods
as well”, which is correct?
I suggest
that it is the view of Reggio and Em LaMikra of the 19th century
that is the truth.
Only thanks to the last three centuries of work by archaeologists and Egyptologists have the details of long lost ancient Egyptian religion become clear.
In fact, Christian scholars in efforts to elucidate the Biblical text in light of our better archaeological understanding, see each one of the 10 Plagues as punishing Egyptian deities.
Their analysis at The Exodus Plagues: Judgment on
Egypt’s Gods | United Church of God and https://www.ucg.org/learn/beyond-today-magazine/beyond-today-magazine-march-april-2019/exodus-plagues-judgment-egypts is very
thorough and list numerous Egyptian deities who would have been challenged by God’s
plagues.
In a few spots, however, I have added
the names of additional deities – underlined – that would be applicable.
·
Plague #1 Blood – The Nile’s waters and canals turn to
blood red (and all the fish die). (Exod. 7: 17 and 20)
The Nile
River was the foundation of ancient Egypt. Without the river and its frequent
flooding cycle, all of Egypt would be desert and more or less uninhabitable:
never the cradle of a great civilization.
The river
was seen as under the protection of gods: Khnum, the deity of the Upper
Nile, Anuket, goddess of the Lower Nile, Hapi, the god of the annual floods and
related gods Sodpet and Satet, Hatmehit, goddess of fish and fisherman, and Osiris,
god of the underworld, but whose life blood was the pure river Nile.
·
Plague #2 Frogs
-- An infinite number of frogs leapt from the river bank and inundated all of
Egypt’s land and homes. (Exod. 8: 1 – 2)
This was a
direct challenge to Heqet, the frog headed goddess of fertility and
nature’s natural order, and the primordial gods Nun, Kek and
Heh who were depicted as men with frog heads.
Frogs were sacred animals and killing a frog was punishable
by death.
As they literally covered the ground, Egyptians were constantly
stepping on and crushing them – in violation of their religion.[i]
·
Plague #3 Gnats
-- When Aaron touched his rod to
the ground, biting gnats
emerged and attacked all humans and
animals. (Exod. 8: q12 – 13)
This
challenged the Egyptian god of soil and the ground, Geb.
·
Plague #4
Flies -- Massive swarms of flies: probably scarab
beetles,[ii]
entered everyone’s home and even Pharoah’s palace. (Exod. 8: 17 and 20)
Kheper was the scarab headed male deity who could not
control these beetles. And Shu was the Egyptian god who
controlled the air and sky, but failed in this case.
·
Plague #5 Livestock disease – A deadly disease spread
rapidly among all Egyptian cattle, sheep, goats, horses, donkeys and camels.
(Exod. 9: 3 and 6)
This
directly challenged the Egyptians gods and goddesses depicted as bulls and or
cows: Ptah as Apis, the bull god, Hathor, the fertility
goddess represented as a cow, primal goddesses Nut and Neith and Khnum as the creator of
all animals and depicted with ram’s horns.
·
Plague #6 Boils -- Both Egyptians and their surviving
livestock broke out in painful boils all over their bodies. (Exod. 9: 9 – 10)
Egyptians
worshipped two goddesses who were supposed to prevent illness and cure disease:
The primary goddess Isis, Sekhmet and Nefertem.
·
Plague #7 Hail
– Moses forewarned Pharoah that a massive hail storm with lightning would ensue
and kill any humans and animals left outdoors, and also would smash down trees
and the barley and flax crops. (Exod. 9: 18 -25 and 31)
Three gods
were supposed to control the sky and weather: Shu, his celestial daughter Nut, and Seth,
the storm god. Other affected gods were Neper, the god of agriculture and
Osiris ,still revered as the god of vegetation. Even Horus, the
head of the gods was powerless.
·
Plague #8 Locus
– The sky was made black by a countless swam of locus who ate any crops and
stubble that survived the hail. (Exod. 10:
4 – 6 and 12 – 15)
This challenged
many deities as well. Bastet, the cat headed goddess, was
supposed to protect crops and so too Anubis,
protector of fields, and the gods Neper, the god of agriculture, and
Osiris. The sky and wind gods were also overruled: Shu, Seth and Amun.
·
Plague #9
Darkness – For 3 full days and nights, Egypt was covered in thick
darkness. (Exod. 10: 21 – 22)
This was a
rejection of the power of the Sun god Ra/Re, Khepri, the scarab
headed god of the morning rising sun, and the main deity Horus whose
right eye was the sun.
·
Plague #10
Death of the firstborn -- This sudden death of all firstborn applied to
all Egyptians, from the son of pharaoh to their slaves and all their animals. (Exod. 11: 5 and 12: 29 -30)
This
challenged the authority and power of numerous Egyptian deities: Horus, Isis,
Hathor, Sekhmet, Meshkenet
(goddess of childbirth), Putah, and Khnum and overruled the power of Anubis and Osiris
who were supposed to control death.[iii]
As pharaoh and the royal family were divine, they had special
protector gods who too failed: Sobek, Renenutet,
Wadjet , Maat and Sekhmet, who was
supposed to breath fire to protect the royal family.
In brief, then, in Egyptian religion and culture, animals were sacred and earthly manifestations of or links to one deity or another.
So, by punishing and even killing the domesticated animals of the Egyptians, the real God, God the Eternal, displayed His power and superiority over all of Egypt’s false deities.
He alone rules the world and the 10 plagues – including the punishment of holy animals – was His proof to the Israelites, the Egyptians and all nations who heard of the events.[ix]
The book of Jonah also reflects this ancient pagan linkage of animals to the divine. When the people of Nineveh heard and believed Jonas’ message: that God the Eternal would destroy them and their city for their sins in 40 day’s time, they repented and fasted and wore rough/crude sackcloth and sat on the dusty ground tossing dust/ashes on themselves: the universal ancient Mesopotamian and Israelite attire of penitence and remorse (as did Jacob on hearing of his son Joseph's death (Gen. 37: 34), the elders of destroyed Jerusalem in Lamentations 2:10 and Mordechai in the Book of Esther, 4:1.)
.
Moreover, the King of Nineveh ordered all animals to fast: no food and no drink, and that they too should be dressed in sackcloth.
Jonah 3:4 - 8
Put simply, the Egyptians were not alone in linking domesticated animals to the divine.
Having animals fast and wear sackcloth, as ordered by the king of Nineveh, attests to the Bible’s account and the link between animals and the divine in ancient Egypt and elsewhere.
To the Egyptians (and Assyrians) they were holy and manifestations of their gods.
Their punishment and death at the hands of the Israel’s God, God the Eternal, was absolute proof of God’s superiority over the false gods of Egypt.
So, Reggio and Em LaMikra were correct, and it needed a modern Christian scholar to make the Egyptological connections plague by plague.
__________________________
[i] See plague details at The Ten Plagues of Egypt - Chabad.org
[ii] Canadian
animal cruelty laws - Search and Cruelty
to Animals Laws in Canada | Criminal Code Help
[iv] See
left sidebar at Sefaria for Exod. 12:12.
[vi] See
left sidebar at Sefaria for Num. 33:4.
[ix] Yitro, Moses; Midianite father-in-law,
comes to visit Moses in the desert because he had heard of the 10 plagues and the
Exodus (Exod. 18: 1).
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