Exodus Plagues -> Egyptian Gods

[dumbox1]

I’ve seen various popular speakers (Cavins, etc.) assert that the 10 plagues in the Book of Exodus can be matched up with various Egyptian gods – e.g., turning the river to blood showed God’s superiority over the Egyptian Nile deity Hapi, the frogs were related to the frog-headed goddess Heqet, etc.

Unfortunately, everyone I’ve seen make this argument seems to do it a little differently, and I haven’t found a version yet that really “works” completely. Some cite Egyptian gods that weren’t worshipped in Exodus times, in other versions the gods and the plagues don’t match up very well, others leave a few plagues “blank” (i.e., not matched up to a deity), others cite Egyptian gods that are either very minor or (as far as I can research) nonexistent, etc. The plagues of flies, boils and locusts seem to be particularly problematic re: matchups.

Does anyone know of a really good, scholarly Catholic presentation of this idea that I can feel comfortable using (with a CCD class, etc.)? It’s a neat idea, but I don’t want to pass it along unless I can find something a bit more solid and workable than I have now.

 

[Matrix_Refugee]

Wish I could help you on this: the idea is fascinating!

 

[yinekka]

Have you thought of trying to contact either Cavins or Hahn and asking them to flesh out their opinions re the plagues?

 

[Cathryn]

I don’t believe that kind of a match up exists. Scott Hahn teaches the plagues were judgments on the gods of Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped the Nile as a god (Hapi); God turned its water to blood and made it undrinkable. The Egyptians worshiped a bull; God brought a plague on their cattle. The Egyptians worshiped a frog; God sent them so many frogs that they had to shovel them into stinking piles of dead Egyptian gods.

He cites from Holy Scripture itself:
(Wis 11: 15-16) In return for their foolish and wicked thoughts, which led them astray to worship irrational serpents and worthless animals, thou didst send upon them a multitude of irrational creatures to punish them, that they might learn that one is punished by the very things by which he sins.

 

[Mintaka]

First off, it’s not Hahn’s or Cavin’s idea. It’s a very old idea, found in both the Church Fathers and in a lot of old rabbis. And both of those groups got it from the Bible, yup.

The Egyptians had tons and tons of gods, but it’s hard to say which ones are important and which ones unimportant. As I found out when I was researching Roman mythology and Shinto, a god can be “somebody I’ve never heard of” in one time and/or place, and a hugely important god to some other time and/or place. A god could be hugely important to commoners, but not have much in the way of impressive temples founded by kings.

This leads also to different listings being used, because frankly, scientists and historians don’t know as much about the religious practices of Egypt in all periods as they would like to. And since that’s one of the things they know the most about, it’s not fair to expect more definite info from Hahn and Cavin than Egyptologists are able to give.

If we were able to go back in time and ask Moses, he’d probably be able to tell you in detail which God were being disrespected by God. (Although he’d probably be making horrible puns on their names that made them all sound like “trash” or “manure” or “flies” in Hebrew, as Biblical writers were wont to do.)

 

[Dave_Noonan]

I’ve seen various popular speakers (Cavins, etc.) assert that the 10 plagues in the Book of Exodus can be matched up with various Egyptian gods – e.g., turning the river to blood showed God’s superiority over the Egyptian Nile deity Hapi, the frogs were related to the frog-headed goddess Heqet, etc.

Unfortunately, everyone I’ve seen make this argument seems to do it a little differently, and I haven’t found a version yet that really “works” completely. Some cite Egyptian gods that weren’t worshipped in Exodus times, in other versions the gods and the plagues don’t match up very well, others leave a few plagues “blank” (i.e., not matched up to a deity), others cite Egyptian gods that are either very minor or (as far as I can research) nonexistent, etc. The plagues of flies, boils and locusts seem to be particularly problematic re: matchups.

Does anyone know of a really good, scholarly Catholic presentation of this idea that I can feel comfortable using (with a CCD class, etc.)? It’s a neat idea, but I don’t want to pass it along unless I can find something a bit more solid and workable than I have now.

Sounds like a nice theory, but as you’re finding out, also like something someone probably made up. If you’re really serious, you should consult sources from Egyptology that aren’t trying to force a speculative idea back onto the biblical text.

The main Nile goddess is Anuket, BTW; Hapi is the god who causes the Nile to flood every year. Hapi does have frogs as attendants though.