Difference between revisions of "Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Vaera/0"
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<category>Egyptian Slavery | <category>Egyptian Slavery | ||
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| − | <category>The Plagues and Egyptian Deities | + | <category name="Plagues & Egyptian Gods"> |
| + | The Plagues and Egyptian Deities | ||
<p>Both Shemot 12:12 and Bemidbar 33:4 explicitly state that the Plague of the Firstborn executed a "judgment against the [Egyptian] gods". Both Midrashim and scholars have suggested that the other plagues as well might have targeted what were believed to be Egyptian deities.</p> | <p>Both Shemot 12:12 and Bemidbar 33:4 explicitly state that the Plague of the Firstborn executed a "judgment against the [Egyptian] gods". Both Midrashim and scholars have suggested that the other plagues as well might have targeted what were believed to be Egyptian deities.</p> | ||
<ul> | <ul> | ||
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| − | <category>The Wonders | + | <category>The Wonders and Egyptian Legends |
| − | Dr. Nahum Sarna, in Exploring Exodus, | + | Dr. Nahum Sarna, in Exploring Exodus (New York, 1996): 66-70, identifies connections between the miracles performed by Moshe and Aharon and parallels in Ancient Near Eastern legend, including the following: <br/> |
<ul> | <ul> | ||
| − | <li>The sign of the crocodile can be more fully understood against the context of the Egyptian legend of Khufu, narrated in brief here as<a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Westcar_Papyrus/"> Story 2</a> on the Westcar Papyrus. </li> | + | <li>The sign of the staff turning into a crocodile can be more fully understood against the context of the Egyptian legend of Khufu, narrated in brief here as<a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Westcar_Papyrus/"> Story 2</a> on the Westcar Papyrus. </li> |
<li>The Sumerian legend of Inanna and Su-Kale-Tuda, narrated in brief <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2127/inanna-and-su-kale-tuda/">here</a>, tells of a plague of water being turned to blood. </li> | <li>The Sumerian legend of Inanna and Su-Kale-Tuda, narrated in brief <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2127/inanna-and-su-kale-tuda/">here</a>, tells of a plague of water being turned to blood. </li> | ||
<li>The Egyptian text <a href="https://www.u.arizona.edu/~afutrell/w%20civ%2008/proph%20of%20neferti.html">The Prophecies of Neferti</a> describes wild animals overrunning the land as a symbol of destruction and chaos.</li> | <li>The Egyptian text <a href="https://www.u.arizona.edu/~afutrell/w%20civ%2008/proph%20of%20neferti.html">The Prophecies of Neferti</a> describes wild animals overrunning the land as a symbol of destruction and chaos.</li> | ||
Version as of 06:30, 27 November 2023
Ancient Near Eastern Index – Parashat Vaera
Egyptian Slavery
The Plagues and Egyptian Deities
Both Shemot 12:12 and Bemidbar 33:4 explicitly state that the Plague of the Firstborn executed a "judgment against the [Egyptian] gods". Both Midrashim and scholars have suggested that the other plagues as well might have targeted what were believed to be Egyptian deities.
- Primary sources – See Tanchuma Vaera 13, Midrash Aggadah Shemot 7:15, and Shemot Rabbah 9:9 that the Nile was viewed as a deity and was thus struck first with the plague of blood.
- See “And Upon All the Gods Of Egypt I Will Execute Judgment”: The Egyptian Deity in the Ten Plagues, by Ira Friedman, for analysis of the meaning and symbolism of the ten plagues against the context of Egyptian religious beliefs.
- See Z. Zevit, "Three Ways to Look at the Ten Plagues: Were They Natural Disasters, a Demonstration of the Impotence of the Egyptian Gods, or an Undoing of Creation?" BR 6 (1990): 16-23, 42.
The Wonders and Egyptian Legends Dr. Nahum Sarna, in Exploring Exodus (New York, 1996): 66-70, identifies connections between the miracles performed by Moshe and Aharon and parallels in Ancient Near Eastern legend, including the following:
- The sign of the staff turning into a crocodile can be more fully understood against the context of the Egyptian legend of Khufu, narrated in brief here as Story 2 on the Westcar Papyrus.
- The Sumerian legend of Inanna and Su-Kale-Tuda, narrated in brief here, tells of a plague of water being turned to blood.
- The Egyptian text The Prophecies of Neferti describes wild animals overrunning the land as a symbol of destruction and chaos.
