Search Library

Ten Plagues
Contributed by David Querido

  • TOP HAGGADAHS FOR 2023

As we rejoice about becoming free, we regret that our freedom came at the cost of the Egyptians’ suffering. We pour out a drop of wine for each of the plagues as we recite them.

Dip a finger or a spoon into your wine glass for a drop for each plague.

These are the ten plagues the Egyptians suffered:

Blood דָּם ( dam )

Frogs צְפַרְדֵּֽעַ ( tzfardeiya )

Lice כִּנִּים ( kinim )

Flies עָרוֹב ( arov )

Livestock disease דֶּֽבֶר ( dever )

Boils שְׁחִין ( sh’chin )

Hail בָּרָד ( barad )

Locusts אַרְבֶּה ( arbeh )

Darkness חֹֽשֶׁךְ ( choshech )

Death of the Firstborn מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת ( makat b’chorot )

The Egyptians suffered from ten plagues because after each one, Pharaoh refused to open up his heart, change his perspective, and let the Israelites go.  

Historical scientists have found some evidence and made some suppositions concerning the progression of the plagues.  This does not discount the "miracle", for the timing of the events supported Moses' plead.

Sometime between 1650-1500BC, there is evidence that the volcano Santorini erupted, covering Cairo and the Nile River in ash.  The exodus of the Hebrews is thought to occurred between 1550-1400BC. This is an possible series of events.

1st Plague.  The ash from the volcano changes the PH level of the river allowing an algae to bloom. This makes the river look red like blood.

2nd Plague. The algae kills fish. Fish eat frog eggs. No fish, record number of frogs. Frogs can't live in polluted water and so they leave the river.

3rd and 4th Plague. The river became foul due to the high levels of dead fish, and the frogs lay dead in the fields. This brings the Lice and Flies.

5th Plague. Lice and Flies are attracted to the livestock carrying bacteria from the dead fish and frogs, and cause disease of the livestock.

6th Plague. Lice and flies bite the people.  Once infected, the wounds can progress to boils.

7th Plague. The ash in the air makes the upper atmosphere less stable and more volatile.  The ash laden water droplets circulate and freeze.  Instead of rain, hail fell.

8th Plague. Locusts hatch when the ground is very damp.  After record amount of hail, the ground stayed wet for an extended amount of time. Locust eggs hatched allowing the locusts swarm.

9th Plague. Darkness. Ash in the upper atmosphere will reduce penetrating sunlight to the ground.

10th Plague. Death of First born. A common tradition practiced at the time, was to feed the first born male first, when food was scarce.  This tended to be the oldest most productive son.  After the hail destroyed the fields and the locusts ate everything left, the stores of food became contaminated with locust feces, ash and dust. In the dark, food was not prepared properly. The first born ate the largest amount of food, causing their death in higher proportions.
haggadah Section: -- Ten Plagues

Featured clips


More clips from David Querido