The Fifth Plague - The Plague of a Deadly Cattle Sickness (Exodus 9:1-7).
Up to this point the inflictions had mainly been to do with people. Now the wealth of the Egyptians was to be attacked. The attacks were increasing in intensity. That would really hit at their hearts for their very existence was being threatened.
a Yahweh tells Moses to go and command Pharaoh that he let Yahweh's people go (as he had promised) (Exodus 9:1).
b If he refuses the hand of Yahweh will be on the cattle throughout the land and they will be severely diseased (Exodus 9:2-3).
c Yahweh will make a difference between the cattle of Egypt and the cattle of Israel. None of Israel's cattle will die (Exodus 9:4).
d Yahweh appoints a set time for His action (Exodus 9:5 a).
d On the morrow Yahweh will do this thing to the land (Exodus 9:5 b).
c And on the morrow He did so. All the cattle of Egypt died (cattle of all types in all parts of Egypt, all who were outside and were smitten) but of Israel not one died (Exodus 9:6).
b And Pharaoh sent and (while all Egypt's cattle were diseased) not one of the cattle of Israel were dead (Exodus 9:7 a).
a But Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he did not let the children of Israel go (Exodus 9:7 b).
The parallels give a continual contrast between Yahweh's action on behalf of His people and as against Egypt.
‘Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, Let my people go that they may serve me, for if you refuse to let them go and still hold them, the hand of Yahweh is on your cattle which are in the field, on the horses, on the asses, on the camels, on the herds and on the flocks. There will be a very grievous disease. And Yahweh will make a difference between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and nothing will die of all that belongs to the children of Israel.”
The call came yet again for Pharaoh to let the children of Israel worship Yahweh in the wilderness, for if he refused this time the hand of Yahweh would bring grievous disease on the Egyptian cattle. The fact that the cattle of Israel would not be affected suggests that the disease would come from the swarms of flying insects and not directly from the diseased frogs, for the flying insects too were excluded from the territory of the children of Israel.
“The hand of Yahweh.” Compare Exodus 7:4. The hand represents God working in power and in judgment (see Deuteronomy 2:15; Deuteronomy 7:8; Judges 2:15; 1 Samuel 5:6).
“Horses.” Prior to the coming of the Hyksos horses had been rare in Egypt. They were now more plentiful and their main use was at first military, but they gradually began to be used in farming. Asses were commonplace and used widely.
“Camels”. Domesticated camels were comparatively rare in Egypt even at this time when they were well known elsewhere, but a camel-skull was discovered in the Fayum province dating to before 1400 BC and from the Memphis region comes a figure of a camel with two water jars datable by associated material to 13th Century BC. Thus domestic camels were known. Note the order, horses the most valuable, asses the most plentiful, camels third because rare and little used, and then the herds and flocks.
“A grievous disease.” Probably brought and passed on by the flying insects.
“The cattle of Israel.” Events and the contrast with Egypt were helping to make ‘the children of Israel' be designated as a distinctive people. At this stage the word ‘Israel' by itself (excluding ‘the children of' or ‘the congregation of' or ‘the elders of' (Exodus 3:16; Exodus 3:18) which still linked the people directly to Jacob) was only used when addressing Pharaoh, or by Pharaoh (Exodus 4:22; Exodus 5:1-2; Exodus 9:4), until Exodus 14:30-31 when a national identity had been established (but see Exodus 11:7. Yahweh already sees the distinction). Pharaoh does once speak of ‘the children of Israel', but only once in a situation where he no longer feels contempt for them but recognises them as the favoured of Yahweh (Exodus 12:31).
‘And Yahweh appointed a set time saying, “Tomorrow Yahweh will do this thing in the land.” And Yahweh did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died. But of the cattle of the children of Israel not one died. And Pharaoh sent and behold, there was not so much as one of the cattle of the Israelites dead.'
“Yahweh appointed a set time.” This time the choice was not given to Pharaoh (compare Exodus 8:9-10). Yahweh was sovereign over affairs. This, like all the other plagues, was to be seen as under the direct control of Yahweh. It was the first plague in which the property of Egyptians has been directly affected.
“All the cattle of Egypt.” All, that is, that were ‘in the field' (Exodus 9:3), in other words those being kept outside and more vulnerable to the swarms of flying insects. However here the word ‘all' is probably a general word meaning ‘every kind of' cattle ‘all over Egypt' signifying the great majority (notice that it does not say ‘not one was left alive' - compare verse 7a of the Israelite cattle). We can compare the use of ‘all' in such verses as Genesis 41:57; Genesis 47:14-15; 2Sa 11:18; 1 Kings 4:34. See also Genesis 6:21; Genesis 24:1; Genesis 29:22; Genesis 31:6; Genesis 45:13; Exodus 18:1; Exodus 18:8; Exodus 18:14; Exodus 33:19; Numbers 14:2; Deuteronomy 2:32; 1 Samuel 8:20; 1Sa 25:1; 1 Samuel 30:16; 2 Samuel 5:17; 2 Kings 19:11 and often.
Bulls and cows were sacred to the Egyptians, and on death were often embalmed. Great cemeteries of embalmed cattle have been discovered there. These multiplicities of deaths would therefore cause a huge embalming problem. Furthermore the god Apis was in the form of a bull and Hathor the goddess of love was often represented in the form of a cow. Yet they could do nothing about this disease. Thus this plague hit at the very heart of Egyptian religion.
“And Pharaoh sent --”. He was not unmoved and he checked to see whether what Moses had said was true, and found that it was.
“The Israelites.” This is the first use of the term in English versions. Yitsrael is here the shortened form of ‘children of Israel' and therefore means Israelites, although it could equally be translated ‘Israel'. Note that it is used in regard to the intentions of Pharaoh who knows the people as ‘Israel' (Exodus 4:22; Exodus 5:2). It thus reflects what his command would be.
‘But the heart of Pharaoh was stubborn (heavy) and he did not let the people go.'
The whole thing had become a matter of pride and Pharaoh was very proud. Here he was, one among the gods of Egypt, destined (in his own eyes) to rule the underworld, subservient to no one, being told what to do by the God of the Hebrews, and he did not like it. And he had been used to always having his own way. This was an unusual situation for him. Once things had settled down his obstinacy resurfaced.
We are reminded by this plague that all that we have comes from God, and belongs to God. In the end these cattle were His own for He had created them. We should therefore learn to give thanks daily for all that we possess, for all we have is as a result of His graciousness. And in the end it is He Who determines whether we retain it or lose it.