20 And the LORD said to Moses, «Get up early tomorrow and appear before Pharaoh.» Here, he will go to the water, and you tell him: Thus saith the LORD: Let my people go, that they may serve me. (The priest is bending his line, as he needs soldiers for conquests).
21 But if you do not let my people go, then, behold, I will send dog flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with dog flies, and the very land on which they [live]; (There are many flies in Egypt and Judea, and one of these species, found by recent travelers near the Nile River and called the Abyssinian fly (zebub), is also as large as a bee and is so harmful to cattle and other animals that shepherds are often forced to leave their pastures and flee from those places where the said fly appears or to escape from the sting of it by throwing yourself into the sand or sea mud. Cattle are horrified at the sight of these insects; even an elephant and a rhinoceros, although their skin is covered with a copious layer of dirt, are unable to protect themselves from their sting. The annoyance and anxiety caused by these insects were so strong that the Canaanites even had a special deity, whose special purpose was to protect them from flies (Beelzebub is the god of flies).
22 And on that day I will separate the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, and there will be no dog flies, so that you may know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth; (The manifestation of volcanism in Goshen, most likely, was not, and the priest knew about it).
23 I will make a division between my people and your people. Tomorrow there will be this sign. (Divide and conquer!).
24 So the LORD did: a multitude of dog flies flew into the house of Pharaoh, and into the houses of his servants, and over all the land of Egypt: the land was destroyed by dog flies. (As you know, it is very difficult to drive away flies, especially if there are food residues and excrement, flies are also carriers of a huge type of diseases, among which are such genuine scourges of humanity as typhoid fever, dysentery and brucellosis. It is known that in Goethe’s «Faust» Mephistopheles is called the god of flies. In the Sumerian legend of the flood, Ut-Napishtim also sacrificed to the gods, who gratefully circled over the smoke, flying «like flies». The ancient Egyptian military commander Amenemheb was awarded the Order of «Two Flies» for his military services. It seems that the gods were hungry for the sacrificial fragrance that served them as food, and expressed gratitude for the resumption of the custom).
25 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, «Go and sacrifice to your God in this land.» (Pharaoh released the Jews).
26 But Moses said, This cannot be done, for our sacrifice to the LORD our God is abominable to the Egyptians: if we offer a sacrifice abominable to the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? (Someone else’s sacrifice, and this is the rule of talion, does not bring relief).
27 We will go into the wilderness, three days’ journey, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he tells us. (It is necessary to go to the desert, which proves that the ancestors of the Jews came from deserts, former nomads).
28 And Pharaoh said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but do not go far away; pray for me. (Pharaoh also wants to join the «strong» god).
29 Moses said, «Behold, I am going out from you and I will pray to the LORD, and the dog flies will depart from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people tomorrow, only let Pharaoh stop deceiving, not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. (The solution seems to have been found).
30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. (Moses already fully believes his patron-leader).
31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and removed the dog flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people: there was not one left. (After a while, the flies leave the territory, the corpses were filled in, the water was purified).
32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time, and did not let the people go. (So trust the rulers after that, they are so crafty!).
Chapter 9
1 And the LORD said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and tell him: Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Jews: Let my people go, that they may serve Me; (Again an appeal to Pharaoh).
2 for if you do not want to let go and still hold him, (Threats! And why does almighty God need threats, if everything is in his power, then the issue can only be solved by threats, which means that the Lord-God – man is a blackmailer).
3 Then, behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your cattle that are in the field, on horses, on donkeys, on camels, on oxen and sheep: there will be a pestilence very severe; (On the Jewish frescoes of antiquity (it was from them that all Christian painting then grew) Sabaoth was portrayed differently from humans. The figures of people are painted in full height, but Sabaoth remained an invisible god, only his mighty hand (right hand) stretched out from the sky was depicted. But, having become a Christian god, the same Sabaoth acquired the body and face of a mighty elder – copied from the pagan Zeus. Pestilence ulcers occur due to the introduction of various microorganisms into the skin or mucous membranes of humans and animals from the outside, for example, diphtheria bacillus, spirochetes, fungi, protozoa. Various insects can serve as carriers).
4 And the LORD will divide between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and of all the children of Israel nothing will die. (In order to avoid infection, healthy cattle are separated from the sick, they are quarantined, so the separated cattle do not get sick).
5 And the LORD appointed a time, saying, Tomorrow the LORD will do this in this land. (This must be done urgently, otherwise infection is possible).
6 And the LORD did this the next day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; but of the cattle of the children of Israel nothing died. (That’s what it means to quarantine on time. Quarantine – from ital. quaranta giorni – forty days, a system of measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.).
7 Pharaoh sent to find out, and, behold, none of the cattle of Israel died. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the people go. (The Pharaoh most likely does not know the reasons for the death of cattle, and the priest-God knows, the latter plays on this).
8 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: take a handful of ashes from the furnace, and let Moses throw it to heaven in the eyes of Pharaoh; (The ashes have bactericidal properties as a product of gorenje and were therefore an object of worship, the residue of the sacred fire, during the cremation of corpses, the body was transformed into ashes and «raised» it in in the form of smoke up into the place of the «dwelling» of the gods, which symbolized a kind of unity with the deceased – sprinkling the head of a living person with this product of gorenje. But, in this case, the ashes are just a distraction).
9 And the dust will rise up throughout all the land of Egypt, and there will be an inflammation with boils on people and cattle throughout all the land of Egypt. (Egypt, lying along the Nile, among deserts, depends on the river and the desert. There are various natural disasters here: the khamsin blows – the wind that carries the dust of the desert, when it gets dark during the day and this «darkness» grits on the teeth; there are invasions of parasites, locusts, hail, there are epidemics and epizootics, there is a flowering of water that becomes like blood and unsuitable for drinking. It has to be filtered with earth, pulling holes along the shore near the water. According to the law of the Babylonian king Hammurabi, the epidemic is defined as «the touch of God»).
10 They took the ashes from the furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses threw him to heaven, and there was an inflammation with boils on people and cattle. (After the cattle got sick, people also got infected from sick animals).
11 And the magi could not stand before Moses because of the