Day 30

IV From the Patriarchs to the Exodus - 1606 - 1462 B.C. ~ cont.

F. Moses, the deliverer ~ cont.

4. The ten plagues ~ cont.

b. Frogs - Exodus 8:1-7; 8:8-11; 8:12-15

c.  Lice - Exodus 8:16-19
d. Flies - Exodus 8:20-23, 24-28, 29-32
e. Murrain - Exodus 9:1-5, 6, 7
f. Boils - Exodus 9:8-12
g. Hail - Exodus 9:13-19, 20-26, 27-35
h. Locusts - Exodus 10:1-6, 7-13; 12:1-2; 10:14-15, 16-20

Murrain?  What is that?

H1698 - From H1696 (in the sense of destroying); a pestilence.

• H1696 - A primitive root; perhaps properly to arrange; but used figuratively (of words) to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue.

H1698 is used 49 times in 48 verses.  Except for Exodus 9:3 where it is translated murrain and Hosea 13:14 where it is translated as plagues, all the other instances are pestilence.

That did not help...Gill's commentary:

a very grievous murrain: or "pestilence" (y), a very noisome one, and which would carry off great numbers; the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan render it a "death", as the Jews commonly call a pestilence, whether on man or beast, because it generally sweeps away large numbers.

Not a lot of information available about murrain, other than it is a disease which kills cattle.  :-O

Browsing for information on the murrain and the 10 plagues and came across this site, which supposedly has a natural answer for the plagues.  Ultimately God is always in control and whether HE used natural means to bring about the plagues or just made them happen, I do not know.  I do know HE is in complete control.

Father separates the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt with the fourth plague - flies.  Ick...flies, always remind me of sin and Baalzebub (king of the flies - 2 Kings 1:2).

Came across this site which discussed how the 10 plagues correspond to the top 10 gods or goddesses of Egypt.