{"id":85702,"date":"2020-12-30T17:45:40","date_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=85702"},"modified":"2020-12-30T17:45:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T15:45:40","slug":"who-knows-ten-would-you-settle-for-seven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-knows-ten-would-you-settle-for-seven\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Knows Ten? Would You Settle for Seven?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"85702","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"645","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A different version of the plague narrative\r\n\r\n","content":"

We have encountered several biblical examples thus far of historical events commemorated in both prose narratives and poetic renditions. The first, and classic, example is the Song at the Sea (Exodus 14-15). Next is the Song of the Well (Numbers 21:14 ff.) that marked the Israelite victory over the Amorites\/Moabites at Wadi Arnon. The Song of Deborah celebrated her triumph over Sisera and Jabin (Judges 4-5). (David, too, celebrated his victories in song\u2014see 2 Samuel 22\u2014but that does not parallel a specific prose account.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In this psalm, we encounter a healthy slice of early Israelite history from Egypt through the sojourn in the wilderness, albeit in an abbreviated and disjointed form. I would like to focus on the several verses that revisit the plagues that struck the Egyptians. They were blood, crocodiles (so, at least, said Se`adyah Gaon), lice, swarms (of either beasts or insects), plague, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of Egypt\u2019s firstborn. Now, look for them in vs.42-51 of this psalm. Can you find ten of them? Which, in any case, can you find? Do they appear in the order you anticipated? What do you think happened to the others? Did you notice that one is mentioned twice?<\/span><\/p>\n

The plagues that are mentioned in this psalm are blood, swarms, crocodiles, locusts, hail, plague, and firstborn; not mentioned are lice, boils, and darkness. Thus, we have a total of seven plagues, a significant number given the typological use of seven. Note: while the Torah clearly describes ten separate acts perpetrated against the Egyptians, the phrase \u201cThe Ten Plagues\u201d (`<\/span>eser makot<\/span><\/i>) that has become so much a part of our Passover seders is not attested to in Tanakh, but makes its earliest appearance in tannaitic literature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let us see how the medieval exegetes dealt with these anomalies. Ibn Ezra\u2019s observation on the sequence was that the swarms were mentioned out of order because of their greater ferocity, and the plagues that were omitted are those which people were able to avoid (45). Radak addressed the sequence, saying: \u201cHe did not list the plagues in order; yet, there is no deficit since they are arranged in the Torah\u201d (45), and justified the total by saying: \u201c<\/span>He set against them His anger<\/span><\/em> (49) includes all the plagues not mentioned specifically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If you check Psalm 105:27 ff., however, you will find lice (31) and darkness (28), but boils and plague are missing.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":85703,"id":85703,"title":"ps78-plague","filename":"ps78-plague.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-knows-ten-would-you-settle-for-seven\/ps78-plague\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps78-plague","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":85702,"date":"2020-12-30 15:45:14","modified":"2022-04-27 04:39:40","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ps78-plague-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Who Knows Ten? 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