Commentaria in Exodum
Origen notes that the Egyptians were punished in their animals, because they worshipped them as gods, that they might be admonished of their folly when they saw them perish.
4. BETWEEN THE POSSESSIONS,—between the cattle which the Hebrews and the Egyptians possessed.
THAT NOTHING AT ALL SHALL PERISH OF THOSE THAT BELONG TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.—Behold here God’s wonderful providence for the Hebrews and the Egyptians; that, though the animals of both were mixed, only those of the Egyptians were touched by the pestilence, and no contagion of neighbouring cattle hurt those that were the Hebrews’. Whence it is plain that into the land of Gessen, in which many of the Egyptians dwelt, this plague also was sent, but so as not to touch the Hebrews. The same Philo, Josephus and Abulensis hold of all the other plagues, namely that the waters in Gessen also were turned into blood, and the frogs were there too, but troubled only the Egyptians; likewise the sciniphs and flies, and therefore, chap. 8, verse 22, it is pointedly said: “I will make the land of Gessen wonderful, wherein my people is,” as if to say: Where my people is, thence I will keep off the flies; but where the Egyptians are, I will make them fly thither: for this was very wonderful; so of the ninth plague of darkness it is said, chap. 10, verse 23: “Wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light,” as if to say: In the same house, in the same chamber, of the Egyptians there was darkness, but in the chambers of the Hebrews there was light. So the last plague slew the firstborn of the Egyptians even in the land of Gessen, the Hebrews there being unhurt. And the reason is, because it was fitting that those Egyptians especially should be punished who had oppressed the Hebrews. Such were the inhabitants of Gessen, most of all the overseers of the works.
Thou wilt say, why then did not Pharao in the preceding plagues, but only now in this fifth, send spies into Gessen, to learn this distinction of the Hebrews and the Egyptians in this plague?
I answer, because before, the roads were impassable by reason of the frogs, flies and sciniphs filling everything, and Pharao was so distracted by these scourges that he did not think of this inquiry, not even in the preceding plague, in which nevertheless Moses had foretold him that the Hebrews would be distinguished from the Egyptians, chap. 8, verse 23.
6. AND ALL THE BEASTS DIED,—namely those that were then in the fields, as is plain from what was said, verse 3, and this is expressed in the following plague of hail, verse 19. For there the rest of the Egyptians’ animals, which were now in stables and so had remained untouched, then went out to pasture in the fields, and being struck there by the hail perished.
7. AND PHARAO’S HEART WAS HARDENED.—Pharao here does not pray that the plague cease, as he had done before, because the animals were already dead; and therefore, since he had no hope of the plague being removed, his heart, hard, was hardened the more by the plague: so great a love of ruling over the Hebrews and increasing his own wealth by tyranny had settled in Pharao’s mind that he did not count the scourges already past as scourges; or by reason of tyranny did not think they were sent upon him, and preferred to expose himself henceforth to the uncertain vengeance of God than to leave a certain prey.
8. AND THE LORD SAID TO MOSES (immediately) AND TO AARON,—mediately, namely through Moses: for God spoke to Moses alone, as I said above.
TAKE TO YOU HANDFULS OF ASHES OUT OF THE CHIMNEY.—The Hebrew is: Take to you hollows of the hand full of the cinder of the furnace, that is of the ash which in the chimney and furnace has fallen from fire and coals: but properly the Hebrew piach signifies that white cinder which is not yet plainly turned to ash, with which half-dead coals are covered.
Aptly by this cinder are shown the burning pustules: for these become like ash from heat; and it was aptly done that the Egyptians, who had tormented the Hebrews in a brick-furnace, should be most bitterly tormented by the same; for which cause Moses, speaking of the Egyptian servitude, Deut. chap. 4, verse 20, says: “He brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt.”
AND LET MOSES SPRINKLE IT.—Note: Both, namely Moses and Aaron, are bidden to take the ashes from the chimney, but Moses alone to sprinkle them in the air; for Aaron, in producing blood and frogs from the waters, and sciniphs from the earth, had already given his signs: but here and henceforth greater things are reserved to Moses, which show miracles in fire, heaven and air, as Philo says. Moses therefore here sprinkles the ashes toward heaven, to signify that this plague is called forth and sent from heaven by God, and that this ash sprinkled, and turned into dust, carried partly by the wind, partly by angels, upon men and animals, might be turned into blains and ulcers.
9. AND BE THERE DUST UPON ALL THE LAND OF EGYPT.—“Be dust,” that is, let it become dust, be turned into dust. So the Hebrew, Chaldee, Septuagint. What dust here? Note: This cinder sprinkled was turned into dust, not such as is the dust of the earth; for this has not the power of burning or producing pustules, but such as is wont to be generated from resolved cinder. This dust therefore is burning ash. Secondly, Moses sprinkled no more cinder than he and Aaron had taken in their hands and brought to Pharao, which was little; but God multiplied the same, sprinkled in the air, so that in manner of thick snow or hoar-frost it fell continually upon the Egyptians and their animals. Thirdly, God impressed on this ash a fiery and burning power, and, carried by wind and angels through all Egypt, and strewn on men and beasts, it would by its noxious heat gather and generate ulcers and pustules.
FOR THERE SHALL BE BOILS IN MEN AND BEASTS,—not in all, but in very many, says Cajetan; for the rest, struck by the following plague of hail, perished.
BOILS AND SWELLING BLAINS.—Blains, says Pereira, are certain tumours raised in the skin by heat lifting and dissolving, which contain watery humours dissolved by the heat of fire from the subtler and more delicate parts of the flesh; then the heat drying more, the skin of men and animals was consumed and contracted, and finally burst; and this bursting open of the flesh was called a wound; after the bursting of the skin, that flesh, open and gaping, by little and little putrefying and consumed, became an ulcer. But such watery blains cause little pain, and are slight punishments. Again, and more truly, these blains of the Egyptians did not generate ulcers, but rather ulcers generated blains, as is plain from the Hebrew text, which has thus: there shall be an ulcer, or apostem, sprouting blains, or swellings, or effervescences, that is, there shall be an ulcer or apostem swollen, turgid and effervescent. Whence our Interpreter a little after renders: “ulcers of swelling blains.” These blains therefore were nothing else than the ulcers themselves, swollen and tumid with burning and gore, which tormented the Egyptians with great pain. Whence Josephus says that the bodies of the Egyptians were ulcerated inside the skin; hence Scripture also says here, verse 11: “Neither could the magicians stand before Moses, for the boils that were upon them.” Philo adds: “It seemed,” he says, “one ulcer from the crown of the head to the end of the foot, those which were scattered limb by limb meeting into one by a continuous creeping.” Hence Moses, Deut. chap. 28, threatens this plague as most grievous to the violators of the law, saying: “The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body by which the dung is cast out, with the scab also and with itch, so that thou canst not be healed.”