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 Holiday Central > Passover > The Ten Plagues > Locust

The Eighth Plague: Locust  מכת ארבה
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וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מַטֵּהוּ, עַל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיהוָה נִהַג רוּחַ-קָדִים בָּאָרֶץ, כָּל-הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל-הַלָּיְלָה; הַבֹּקֶר הָיָה--וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים, נָשָׂא אֶת-הָאַרְבֶּה. וַיַּעַל הָאַרְבֶּה, עַל כָּל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיָּנַח, בְּכֹל גְּבוּל מִצְרָיִם:  כָּבֵד מְאֹד--לְפָנָיו לֹא-הָיָה כֵן אַרְבֶּה כָּמֹהוּ, וְאַחֲרָיו לֹא יִהְיֶה-כֵּן. וַיְכַס אֶת-עֵין כָּל-הָאָרֶץ, וַתֶּחְשַׁךְ הָאָרֶץ, וַיֹּאכַל אֶת-כָּל-עֵשֶׂב הָאָרֶץ וְאֵת כָּל-פְּרִי הָעֵץ, אֲשֶׁר הוֹתִיר הַבָּרָד; וְלֹא-נוֹתַר כָּל-יֶרֶק בָּעֵץ וּבְעֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה, בְּכָל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם. 
       שמות י: י"ג-ט"ו --   

And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts. And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the borders of Egypt; very grievous were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such. For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left; and there remained not any green thing, either tree or herb of the field, through all the land of Egypt.
-- Exodus 10:13-15

The Plague:
The eighth plague that God inflicted on the Egyptians was Arbeh or Locust. Moses was instructed by God extend his staff over Egypt and an eastern wind started blowing. It continued to blow all day and night, bringing with it a large swarm of locusts the next morning. The swarm of locust covered the entire sky, hiding the sun and darkening the land. Its size and destruction were never equaled in the past or the future. This plague destroyed all the crops including wheat and spelt not devastated by the plague of hail. As with the previous plagues, Moses warned Pharaoh of the impending plague. However, even though his magicians and officials begged him to relent and sent the Israelites, Pharaoh stood firm in his refusal. He did consent to allow the men to leave but insisted that the women, children and livestock remain in Egypt. Moses reiterated to Pharaoh that God demanded that all the Israelites including their livestock had to leave. After the locust wreaked havoc on the land, Pharaoh came running to Moses to beg God to remove the plague. God removed all the locust from the land including those that the Egyptians had caught and prepared to eat. 

Why Locust?
Again, as with the preceding plagues, the gods of Egypt were rendered useless. God brought the locust to Egypt, and its citizens, the worshippers of Nepri, the god of grain and Ermutet, the goddess of childbirth and crops, watched the devastation.. as not one of their deities came to the rescue.

Additionally, we see a "Measure for Measure" - The Egyptians used Jews as slave labor in their fields to grow their crops, and stole from them when they did not have sufficient inventory of their own. God punishes them by having their crops totally consumed by the locust. Furthermore, Arbeh in Hebrew mean many – the locust came in great numbers as punishment for the Egyptians trying to limit the Jews from multiplying and stopping God’s blessing of “Harbeh Arbeh” – you should be fruitful and multiply.

The Pharaoh relented, promised to let the Israelites leave. And then, once the the Locust was removed, Pharaoh's heart hardened and he reneged on his promise.

The Ten Plagues of Egypt: Information and more
   Ten Plagues of Egypt, an Overview
    
Plague of Blood (דָם): Ex. 7:14–25
   Plague of Frogs (צְּפַרְדֵּעַ): Ex. 7:25–8:11
   Plague of Lice (כינים): : Ex. 8:16–19
   Plague of Wild Animals / Swarm of Flies (עָרוֹב): Ex. 8:20–32
     Plague of Livestock Death (דֶּבֶר): Ex. 9:1–7
    Plague of Boils (שְׁחִין): Ex. 9:8–12
   Plague of Hail (בָּרָד): Ex. 9:13–35
   Plague of Locusts (אַרְבֶּה): Ex. 10:1–20
   Plague of Darkness (חוֹשֶך): Ex. 10:21–29
    Death of the Firstborn (מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת): Ex. 11:1–12:36

The Ten Plagues of Egypt - a Passover (Pesach) brings you much more about the holiday, its meaning and its traditions... See the links below.


 


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