שמות, פרק ט׳, פסוק י׳

The plague of boils marks a turning point in the sequence of afflictions, where an action resembling a simple magical trick transforms into an undeniable, overpowering miracle. Striking the bodies of both the Egyptians and their animals, the event demonstrated God’s absolute command over the natural world.

Moses and Aaron positioned themselves outside, waiting for Pharaoh to leave his palace before confronting him [קאסוטו]. This public appearance was essential to make it clear that the ensuing plague was a deliberate divine act, preventing the Egyptians from dismissing it as a mere natural epidemic [ביאור יש״ר]. Because this plague was meant to serve as such a powerful and sudden sign, Moses did not give Pharaoh any prior warning before initiating it [ביאור יש״ר].

Taking furnace soot, Moses threw it into the air. This physical gesture was designed to mimic the manipulative methods of the Egyptian magicians. However, the outcome shattered the boundaries of both nature and sorcery. Miraculously, the soot was cold when it touched the skin. Furthermore, the small handfuls Moses gathered miraculously spread across the entire land of Egypt, causing boils to erupt even in places the dust never reached. This proved to the magicians, whose own abilities failed them entirely, that God alone controls the forces of nature they believed they had mastered [אבן עזרא, חומש קה״ת].

The resulting disease was a severe outbreak of spreading blisters [קאסוטו, רלב״ג]. The boils were moist and bubbling on the surface but dry underneath, a condition signifying a harsh affliction with no possible cure [העמק דבר, תורה תמימה]. The outbreak was so brief that Pharaoh did not even have the opportunity to ask Moses to pray for its removal [אבן עזרא]. Desperate to cure his untreatable condition, Pharaoh resorted to the cruel practices of ancient Egyptian kings, attempting to heal himself by bathing in the blood of Israelite children [אם למקרא].

The fact that the boils afflicted livestock raises a question, as the preceding plague of pestilence seemingly wiped out the Egyptian herds. The primary approach among commentators is that the pestilence only targeted livestock left out in the open fields. Those Egyptians who feared God’s word had brought their animals indoors, sparing them from death [רש״י, חזקוני, שפתי חכמים, גור אריה, דברי דוד]. Alternatively, some suggest that the earlier destruction was not absolute, but rather wiped out the vast majority of the animals, leaving a surviving remnant to suffer the boils [ברכת אשר].

This raises another issue: why would the animals belonging to those who actually feared God and saved their herds be punished now? One explanation is that their fear of God was only temporary, born out of immediate panic. As soon as the pestilence passed, they hardened their hearts once more. The boils struck to reveal that their earlier repentance was insincere [משכיל לדוד]. Furthermore, while the death of livestock in the previous plague was a financial blow, the boils caused direct physical pain. God afflicted humans and animals equally to break the pride of the arrogant Egyptians, demonstrating that they held no true advantage or superiority over the beasts [קונטרס חיבה יתירה].