שמות, פרק ז׳, פסוק כ״ה

The conclusion of the first plague in Egypt highlights the prolonged suffering of the Egyptian people, exposing both the devastation of their central deity and the deep apathy of their ruler. For an entire week, the river did not return to its natural state, forcing the Egyptians to continuously dig around the banks in a desperate search for drinking water [רש״י, רמב״ן, גור אריה, שפתי חכמים]. Unlike his reaction to later plagues, Pharaoh remained completely unmoved and never asked Moses to pray to God for relief, which allowed the affliction to run its full course [אור החיים, מלבי״ם]. This indifference was rooted in his profound stubbornness. While the masses suffered, thirsted, and even died, Pharaoh's royal table lacked nothing. He was willing to watch his own people perish rather than release the Israelites [ביאור יש״ר, שטיינזלץ].

Commentators debate the broader significance of this seven-day duration. One approach suggests that this timeframe establishes a pattern for all the plagues. In this view, each strike lasted seven days, followed by a period of relief and warning lasting twenty-one or twenty-four days, making each plague cycle exactly one month long [רש״י, רלב״ג, רבינו בחיי, דעת זקנים]. Conversely, others argue that the plague of blood was exceptionally long, being the only one to last a full week, which is why its duration is explicitly recorded [אבן עזרא, רשב״ם]. Beyond the timeline, the week-long affliction carries deep symbolic meaning. The primary approach among commentators views this as a measure-for-measure punishment. Because the Egyptians prevented Israelite women from immersing and purifying themselves after their seven-day period of ritual impurity, Egypt was punished with a seven-day plague [רבינו בחיי, אלשיך, צאינה וראינה]. Furthermore, because the Egyptians worshipped the river, God deliberately struck their deity before their eyes for a complete week [דעת זקנים]. This recurring theme of seven is also woven into the literary structure of the narrative, with the word for the river appearing fourteen times since the description began [קאסוטו].

A significant question arises regarding whether the Israelites also suffered from the blood and had to dig for water. One perspective maintains that during the first three plagues, God did not distinguish between the two nations, meaning the Hebrews also drank blood [אבן עזרא]. This view faces strong opposition from those who argue it is unthinkable that the Israelites were afflicted, maintaining that God always protected His people from the plagues [הטור הארוך, פרדס יוסף]. A middle-ground approach suggests that the Israelites residing in the region of Goshen were completely unharmed because they did not rely on the river for their water supply. However, individual Israelites living outside Goshen, directly among the Egyptian population, may have also been forced to dig for water [שד״ל].

Once the seven days passed, the river was completely healed and its waters became clear again. This detail is crucial because it dismisses any attempt to explain the subsequent plague of frogs as a natural occurrence. One might assume that the frogs fled the river because the water was polluted and rotting, or because the fish that normally consumed frog eggs had died from the blood. To counter this, it is made clear that the waters fully returned to normal. When the frogs eventually swarmed, they emerged from a perfectly clean river, acting solely in response to God's direct miraculous command [מלבי״ם, קונטרס חיבה יתירה].