God's anger toward Egypt was not an uncontrolled outburst, but rather a measured, precise, and highly targeted system of punishment. He directed the plagues with absolute control over their scope and timing. The primary approach among commentators is that God cleared a direct path for His anger, allowing it to strike the Egyptians quickly and without delay [רד״ק, מצודת דוד, מאירי]. These judgments descended from heaven like focused decrees [אבן עזרא], following a narrow, carefully weighed trail [מצודת ציון, מלבי״ם]. Even though these strikes were sent out of deep anger, they acted as loyal messengers that never wandered from their set course. During the plague of the firstborn, for instance, God precisely guided the destruction to enter only Egyptian homes while entirely passing over the homes of the Israelites [רש״י]. He did not hold back or stop the devastation [שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון], but completely handed the Egyptians over to death.
There are different perspectives on exactly who or what was handed over to this destruction, which shapes how the sequence of the plagues is understood. One view suggests that the devastation was initially aimed at the livestock of the Egyptians [שטיינזלץ, מצודת ציון, מאירי]. According to this understanding, God’s precise planning is seen across two distinct plagues. He could have easily wiped out all the Egyptians during the plague of pestilence, but He intentionally limited the disease to the animals. By sparing the people at that specific moment, He set the stage to deliver the final and most devastating blow later—the plague of the firstborn [אלשיך, מלבי״ם].
Conversely, another approach understands the destruction as targeting the bodies or souls of the people themselves [רש״י, אבן עזרא, מאירי]. Following this line of thought, the focus remains entirely on the plague of the firstborn. God did not wait for the Egyptians to eventually die a natural death. Instead, He handed down a decree of premature death, delivering their souls directly to sudden ruin [רד״ק].