Page 23 - Advanced Biblical Backgrounds Student Textbook
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Egyptian Deity                      Plague                       Yahweh’s victory
             Hapi: The Nile God                 Water was turned to blood      Hapi was shown to be unable to
                                                                               undo the work of Yahweh in the
                                                                               waters.
             Heket: Goddess of Fertility (who is   Frogs were in everything.    Pharaoh had priests who could
             pictured as having the head of a                                  summon more frogs. The problem
             frog)                                                             was they couldn’t make them leave.
                                                                               Yahweh was shown to be the true
                                                                               ruler of fertility as represented in the
                                                                               frogs.

             Geb: God who ruled over the dust   Lice came from the dust and    The Egyptian priests failed to copy or
             of the earth                       afflicted the Egyptians.       to overcome the plague. This proved
                                                                               Yahweh was the true Lord of the
                                                                               earth.
             Khepri: God of creation and rebirth   Swarms of flies             The flies are a pestilence that only
             (who had the head of a fly)                                       affect the Egyptians. Yahweh’s
                                                                               people are not affected. Again, the
                                                                               flies cannot be removed by the
                                                                               Egyptian priests. This proves Yahweh
                                                                               is the true Lord of creation not
                                                                               Khepri.

             Hathor: Goddess of protection and   The Egyptian cattle and       Hathor could not protect the
             love. (Had the head of a cow).     livestock die.                 Egyptian food supply, and this
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                                                                               proved Yahweh was the true power
                                                                               over their life or death.
             Isis: Goddess of health and wellness   Boils and Sores affect the   Isis could not prevent or remove the
                                                Egyptians but not the Jews.    sores, thus proving she was could not
             Sekhmet: Goddess of pestilence and
             healing.                                                          best the power of Yahweh.
             Nut: Goddess of the firmament      Fire filled hail rained down from  Nut could not control the sky as
                                                the sky.                       Yahweh proved he alone was Lord of
                                                                               the sky.

             Seth: God of chaos                 Locust swarms eat the          Seth was supposed to be able to
                                                remaining crops.               command and remove destructive
                                                                               forces. Yet Yahweh could send them,
                                                                               and Seth could not remove them.
                                                                               This proved Yahweh was greater
                                                                               than Seth.

             Ra: God of the sun                 Complete darkness for three    Ra was the most well-known God
                                                days.                          from Egypt because he was the most

               40  Friedman, Ira. ""And Upon All the Gods of Egypt I Will Execute Judgment": The Egyptian Deity in the Ten
                       Plagues." Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 48, no. 1 (2015): 8-18. Accessed July 14, 2020.
                       www.jstor.org/stable/44821255.

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