Vaera | The Makkot In Narrative and in Song, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

Why are only 7 of the Makkot mentioned in Tehillim 78? Why are a different 7 or 8 listed in Tehillim 105?    Although we are all instinctively familiar with "10 Makkot", we have a wide range of approaches to read the story of God's punishment/education of the Egyptians; indeed, in the famous Midrash which appears in the Haggada, as many as 50 Makkot are suggested. Yet in two of the Psalms, the Makkot are adumbrated yet only 7 of them are listed - and not the same 7. In Tehillim 78, כנים (lice), שחין (boils) and חשך (darkness) are omitted. In Psalm 105, the cattle plague (דבר) and boils (שחין) are left out - and the "swarm" (ערוב) may also be omitted. We explore each of these lists, the order of their presentation and the rhetoric of their description to suggest that the author of each of these psalms utilized those Makkot and particular features of each of them to drive home the particular message of his psalm. To that end, we explore the overall theme of each psalm and then suggest how the selected Makkot and their particular order and descriptions fit each of those themes.   Source sheet >>