ContradictionsReading order 327Bible context 2 min read
Did God kill all the Egyptian cattle in the fifth plague?
The announced destruction of all Egyptian cattle contrasts with later passages that still presuppose cattle in Egypt, though the initial warning specifies animals in the field.
- Textual conflict
- Weak tension
- The alleged conflict needs substantial assumptions, such as treating an omission as a denial or figurative language as literal.
- Importance
- Major
- A major event or claim with wider implications.
Later living cattle conflict with an unrestricted reading of all, but the initial warning expressly limits the affected livestock to animals in the field.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
The plague account says all Egyptian cattle died
Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain. And the Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: and there shall nothing die of all that is the children’s of Israel. And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land. And the Lord did that thing on the morrow, and all the cattle of Egypt died: but of the cattle of the children of Israel died not one.
Exodus 9:3-6
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Exodus 9
Later warnings and plagues still include Egyptian livestock
Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast