The Bible tells us the plagues were aimed at Egypt’s gods (Exod 12:12; Num 33:4), the elohim who had been given their authority by Yahweh and who were supposed to govern Egypt on his behalf. The idea is not that each plague neatly corresponds to an Egyptian deity, only that the powerful acts of Yahweh went beyond the power of the gods of Egypt and their divine representative-son, Pharaoh.1 Egyptian theology linked Pharaoh and Egypt’s pantheon. From the fourth dynasty onward in Egypt, Pharaoh was considered the son of the high God Re. He was, to borrow the biblical expression, Re’s image on
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