Warning at the palace
Brought by HaShem
Lasted seven days
Cattle of those Egyptians that fear G-d are spared
Economic Epidemic
Egypt's Economic Epidemic! The Plague of Pestilence (Dever)
The Plague:
The fifth plague that G-d imposed on the Egyptians was Dever or pestilence. All Egyptian livestock, including cattle, horses, donkeys, etc. found in their fields were destroyed. The Torah refers to the “hand of G-d” striking. The Hagadah states that the “outstretched arm of G-d”, the military sword, refers to this Plague.
Rashi says the Plague only struck the domestic animals that remained in the fields. Ramban states that even the animals in the houses were struck.
Difference between the Jews and the Egyptians
The Jewish cattle were unharmed. In fact, Paroh investigated the Jewish cattle to ascertain if any were harmed and found that none were, however, he still persisted on disallowing the Israelites from leaving Egypt. This was a great miracle since not one Jewish animal died even ones that were sick or old.
Even though not one animal from the Jews died, however, the cattle owned by the son of Shulamite (whose father was Egyptian) did die. This provide an “out” to Paroh to not believe the word of G-d was completely accurate.
Why Pestilence and destruction of wild stock?
The Egyptians worshiped many animals, and many animal-headed deities. Horses and cattle were not only highly valued in the land of Egypt, but they were also sacred. The god Apis was represented as a bull, and had been worshipped in Egypt since around 3,000 B.C. Hence, G-d sent the plague of Dever to display His strength over their G-ds.
Additionally, we see a "Measure for Measure" - The Cattle Plague was a response to the Egyptians' criminal appropriation of cattle belonging to Jews. By destroying the Egyptian livestock, G-d, as it were, took back the Egyptian cattle, thus demonstrating that unjust enrichment would not be tolerated. The price of livestock soared and the Jews had the limited supply of this commodity.
Paroh relented, promised to let the Israelites leave. And then, once the Dever was removed, Paroh's hardened his heart and he reneged on his promise.
