Exiting Egypt Chapter 9 P3

Exiting Egypt

“The Fifth Plague – Death of Livestock”

Exodus 9:1-7

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 9 P3

Another deity whose worship would have been affected was Hathor, the goddess of love, beauty, and joy. The cow represented Hathor. This deity is depicted often as a cow suckling the king giving him divine nourishment. In other representations Hathor was a woman whose head was adorned with two cow horns with a sun disc between them.

Amenhotep II, the Pharaoh during this time, was said to be fanatical in his devotion of worship of these animals, especially the bull. Archeologist have uncovered a statue that was made of Amenhotep II leaning his head under the head of Hathor as represented by the cow, and in another it has him kneeling under a cow drinking its divine milk.

So, you can see how unhappy Pharaoh would have been of this plague and how personally involved he got when the plague hit.

And so, this plague could be seen as directly attacking the animals that the Egyptians held sacred, thus letting Egypt and Pharaoh know that it is the Lord, not their false gods that is in control of the animals and livestock.

This is further seen in that none of the Jewish cattle were affected at all.

Beyond that, what is see is that this word all means all, but with this condition, “in the field.” Why is that important? Because in the seventh plague, the plague of hail, it says that every animal in the field that is not brought under shelter will die. Well, if all the animals died at the fifth plague, what animals is being talked about with this plagues.

Now, going back to the plague itself, it is often thought that such a pestilence would surely come, because anthrax and the like are spread by flies, and since the fourth plague was one of all sorts of flies, then it would be a natural conclusion.

But we must be careful not to try to put our natural explanations to the miracles of God. If the flies of the fourth plague brought the disease, then it would affect not only the animals in the fields, but also the animals that are in stables.

Further, it has been noted that during this time that the Nile River was in its flood stage. Historians have noted that during the flood season, normally Egyptian cattle were stabled. And so, it would seem that the word all refers to the livestock that was in the field.