Table 3.D Plagues as Judgment on the Gods of Egypt

Table 3.D Plagues as Judgment on the Gods of Egypt

While the correlation between plagues and Egyptian deities is incomplete and in some cases ambiguous, there are enough parallels to suggest that on at least some level the plagues of Yahweh were intended to demonstrate his superiority over Egyptian gods (see Zevit 1990).

Plague	Egyptian Deity targeted
1. Nile to blood	Khnum--creator of water and life Hapi--Nile god Osiris--the Nile was his bloodstream
2. Frogs	Heket--goddess of childbirth whose symbol was the frog
3. Gnats
4. Flies
5. Cattle disease	Hathor--mother and sky goddess whose symbol was the cow Apis--bull god
6. Boils
7. Hail	Seth--god of wind and storm
8. Locusts	Isis-goddess of life Min--goddess of fertility and vegetation, protector of crops
9. Darkness	Amon-Re, Atum, Horus--sun deities
10. Death of firstborn	Osiris--judge of the dead and patron deity of the pharaoh