Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Exodus, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
God’s Identity and Power
Redemption and Deliverance
The Covenant
Mediators and the Priesthood
Summary
Analysis
Then the LORD tells Moses to approach Pharaoh again. If Pharaoh refuses to let the people go this time, God will plague Egypt with frogs. Frogs will fill the Nile, and they will even enter people’s houses, bedrooms, and kitchens. Aaron stretches out his staff and causes frogs to cover the land, but Pharaoh’s magicians do the same. Pharaoh begs Moses and Aaron to pray so that the LORD will remove the frogs. Moses promises to do so; when the frogs die, then Pharaoh will know that there’s nobody like God. But when Egypt is filled with piles of stinking frogs, Pharaoh’s heart hardens again.
Moses and Aaron bring about the second of the ten plagues, causing frogs to overrun Egypt. Again, the Egyptian magicians can replicate the miracle. This time, however, Pharaoh reacts differently than before, seeming to acknowledge God’s unique power for the first time. However, his change of heart is short-lived, and he still refuses to let the people go. The multiplying frogs were probably meant to mock Heqet, the Egyptian fertility goddess who was often portrayed as a frog.
Themes
Then the LORD tells Moses to have Aaron strike the ground; the dust will become gnats, which will cover Egypt. When Aaron does so, both humans and animals are soon covered with gnats. This time, Pharaoh’s magicians cannot replicate the plague. They tell Pharaoh that this wonder surely comes from God. But Pharaoh still refuses to listen.
The third plague is different—the magicians fall short for the first time. In this case, the magicians try to warn Pharaoh—they see that Israel’s God is more powerful, and that by remaining stubborn, Pharaoh brings harm on his own people. But Pharaoh’s defiance blinds him to this advice.
Themes
The LORD tells Moses to go to Pharaoh early the next morning. Moses must warn Pharaoh that if he doesn’t let the Israelites go, God will send swarms of flies on the people, into their houses, and throughout the land. The land of Goshen, where the Israelites live, will be spared this plague, so that a distinction can be made between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The next day, flies swarm across Egypt, just as God had said.
By this point (the fourth plague), a pattern is established: Moses demands freedom, Pharaoh refuses, Moses unleashes a plague, Pharaoh appears to soften, but then his heart hardens again. In this plague, one difference is the obvious sparing of the Israelites (who are concentrated in Goshen, on the eastern Nile Delta), which demonstrates that God sets his chosen people apart in a special way; he has a purpose for them.
Themes
Pharaoh calls Moses and Aaron and tells them to offer sacrifices to God here in Egypt. But Moses argues that the Israelites’ sacrifices will offend the Egyptians; therefore, they must journey three days into the wilderness. Pharaoh concedes to let the Israelites worship in the wilderness, as long as they don’t go far, and they must pray for Egypt’s relief. So Moses prays, and the flies disappear. Once again, however, Pharaoh hardens his heart and won’t let the people go.
Another notable detail of the fourth plague is that Pharaoh tries to negotiate—the Israelites can worship as they want, they just can’t leave Egypt. Moses points out that Israelite practices would offend the Egyptians’ sensibilities, but the bigger point is that Israel must obey God’s whole command—to go out and worship—not just part.
Themes
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