Essay על שמות 8:12

With the third plague, the curse becomes more intimate, affecting the bodies of all living creatures in Egypt (cf. the refrain in vv.13–14, “on man and on beast”). The narrative uses the briefest plague formula here, without introduction or warning to Pharaoh. Yet it results in an Egyptian effort to end the siege, as the magicians term the plague “the finger of a god” (v.15).