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If someone tells you the plagues of Egypt are just a mythical fairy story, don't buy it.
In the biblical, Christian worldview—among those who accept biblical inspiration—extraordinary recorded events may be purely natural phenomena, wholly supernatural, or a combination. That’s the question to be pondered with regard to the plagues of Egypt. Here, I shall explore the notion that six of the ten plagues of Egypt may have a plausible natural explanation or cause.
Greta Hort (1903-1967), a brilliant Danish scholar, wrote an influential article about this, called “The Plagues of Egypt.” I don’t read German, so I will rely on the descriptions of archaeologist James Hoffmeier and scientific articles dealing with similar subject matter.
Plague of Blood
Moses and Aaron . . . lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt (Exod. 7:20-21).
Hort tied this “plague” to the Nile’s annual rise in July through September, where it is usually reddish in appearance owing to the presence of Roterde, particles of soil, suspended in the water. Hort posits a scenario that could result in the four conditions of red color, death of fish, foul smell, and undrinkability: millions of organisms called flagellates (Euglena sanguinea and Haematoccus pluvalius), probably originating from Ethiopia, in the floodwaters. At night, flagellates require more oxygen, which would cause the death of fish.
An article in Live Science, entitled “The Science of the 10 Plagues,” opines similarly:
The sudden appearance of red-hued waters in the Nile could have been caused by a red algae bloom, which appears when certain conditions enable a type of microscopic algae to reproduce in such great numbers that the waters they live in appear to be stained a bloody red. . . . These algae blooms can certainly be harmful to wildlife, as the algae contain a toxin that can accumulate in shellfish and poison the animals that feed on them.
Now, a suspicious reader could fairly object that these explanations deny a literal turning to blood of the Nile, which the text, prima facie, seems to assert. But it’s a question of whether the text must be taken literally, or whether it can be properly interpreted as phenomenological language, or the language of appearances. We know that the Bible often expresses that sort of language, and also that it does so specifically regarding “blood,” like in Joel 2:31 (“the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood”) and Revelation 6:12 “the full moon became like blood”).
Joel 2:31 seems at first glance to read literally, whereas Revelation 6:12 uses the comparative and analogical term “like.” I daresay that no serious commentators would interpret either passage literally. They both clearly employ a metaphor for “red color.” Perhaps Exodus 7:20-21 is an instance of the same thing.
Plague of Frogs
Continued below.
www.catholic.com
In the biblical, Christian worldview—among those who accept biblical inspiration—extraordinary recorded events may be purely natural phenomena, wholly supernatural, or a combination. That’s the question to be pondered with regard to the plagues of Egypt. Here, I shall explore the notion that six of the ten plagues of Egypt may have a plausible natural explanation or cause.
Greta Hort (1903-1967), a brilliant Danish scholar, wrote an influential article about this, called “The Plagues of Egypt.” I don’t read German, so I will rely on the descriptions of archaeologist James Hoffmeier and scientific articles dealing with similar subject matter.
Plague of Blood
Moses and Aaron . . . lifted up the rod and struck the water that was in the Nile, and all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. And the fish in the Nile died; and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt (Exod. 7:20-21).
Hort tied this “plague” to the Nile’s annual rise in July through September, where it is usually reddish in appearance owing to the presence of Roterde, particles of soil, suspended in the water. Hort posits a scenario that could result in the four conditions of red color, death of fish, foul smell, and undrinkability: millions of organisms called flagellates (Euglena sanguinea and Haematoccus pluvalius), probably originating from Ethiopia, in the floodwaters. At night, flagellates require more oxygen, which would cause the death of fish.
An article in Live Science, entitled “The Science of the 10 Plagues,” opines similarly:
The sudden appearance of red-hued waters in the Nile could have been caused by a red algae bloom, which appears when certain conditions enable a type of microscopic algae to reproduce in such great numbers that the waters they live in appear to be stained a bloody red. . . . These algae blooms can certainly be harmful to wildlife, as the algae contain a toxin that can accumulate in shellfish and poison the animals that feed on them.
Now, a suspicious reader could fairly object that these explanations deny a literal turning to blood of the Nile, which the text, prima facie, seems to assert. But it’s a question of whether the text must be taken literally, or whether it can be properly interpreted as phenomenological language, or the language of appearances. We know that the Bible often expresses that sort of language, and also that it does so specifically regarding “blood,” like in Joel 2:31 (“the sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood”) and Revelation 6:12 “the full moon became like blood”).
Joel 2:31 seems at first glance to read literally, whereas Revelation 6:12 uses the comparative and analogical term “like.” I daresay that no serious commentators would interpret either passage literally. They both clearly employ a metaphor for “red color.” Perhaps Exodus 7:20-21 is an instance of the same thing.
Plague of Frogs
Continued below.
6 Biblical Plagues Explained by Science
If someone tells you the plagues of Egypt are just a mythical fairy story, don't buy it. Hard science can have the last word here.
