Warning at the river
Brought by Aharon
Lasted seven days
Water of the Nile and all other waters turn to Blood
Deity of Egypt (Nile) is afflicted in its entirety
Constant involvement by G-d in Creation
UNDERSTANDING THE RIVER NILE
The Nile River is the land of Egypt. Its life-giving course running for a distance of one thousand kilometers from the first waterfall at Aswan to the Mediterranean Sea. On either side of the river there is a narrow ribbon of black, arable earth that supports a teeming population, while the rocky and barren Saharan plateau stretches interminably beyond. The black earth is intensively cultivated, with painstakingly dug and meticulously maintained water works bringing the river's vitality to the crops. Rain is rare in the land of Egypt, and life – of man, beast, bird and tree – therefore depends exclusively upon the river's bounty.
It is not at all surprising, therefore, that the Nile was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians as a god. Of course, cultivating the favor of the G-ds was always prudent, and all the more so in a situation that concerned life and death. The god of the Nile, personified as male and female, was known as Hapi or "Inundation", and was thought to live in a grotto above the first waterfall of the river at Aswan. Considering the matter of the plagues in general, and the underlying Divine agenda to demolish idolatrous and polytheistic doctrines, we may safely assume that the plague of blood was intended to make abundantly clear that there was a G-d even more powerful and more dependable than the Nile itself, a G-d who fashioned its flow, controlled its annual rise and determined its efficacy in sustaining the life of all those who tenaciously clung to the black soil astride its shimmering course. As Rashi remarks: Since rain does not fall in the land of Egypt and the Nile rises and irrigates the land, the Egyptians worship the Nile. G-d therefore struck down their deity and then He struck down them (Shmos 7:17).
UNDERSTANDING THE BLOOD
While Rashi addresses the fundamental question concerning WHY the river was struck at the outset of the process, he does not elucidate the particular and grotesque nature of the plague. According to Rashi we do not know why the Nile was transformed into blood to render its waters undrinkable. It could have easily been stricken with some other malady or effect to make it unpotable. But who could fail to hear in this opening salvo the echo of an earlier crime perpetrated at the river's edge, by a zealous and cruel people who worshipped their own tyrannical king as an all-powerful deity? Recall that an earlier Paroh, the one who had ushered in the age of oppression and slavery, had attempted to check the ever-increasing population of Israelites in Egypt's midst. First, he had subdued them with national labor and then he had pressed them into bondage, but still their numbers burgeoned. His commands to the midwives to slay the male children at birth mercifully went unheeded. Then it was that the wicked Paroh pronounced his cruelest of decrees: "let all male newborns be cast into the Nile, so that only the females might live!" (1:22).
Perhaps the blood, then, was meant to serve the Egyptians as a striking reminder that they had brought the disaster upon themselves by so enthusiastically shedding the blood of the Israelite children whom they had heartlessly cast into the Nile's murky depths in the Book's first chapter. It was as if those depths now disgorged that innocent blood and revealed the evil crime for all to see, for elsewhere in the Tanakh we find that the theme of "blood exposed" indicates the uncovering of a murderous felony that had been intentionally concealed by the perpetrator (see Bereshis 4:9-10; 9:4-7; BeMidbar 35:3-34; etc.). G-d's power was thus matched by His concern for justice, for unlike the G-ds of Egypt who went about their business unfazed by moral ambiguities, the G-d of Israel demanded accountability.
THE TIMING OF THE PLAGUE OF BLOOD
In any case, if the people of Israel left the land of Egypt on the fifteenth day of the "first month" or the fifteenth of Nissan, then the plague of blood must have struck about nine months earlier during the month of Tammuz. Or, to put the matter in seasonal terms, if the people were freed during the "month of spring" (13:4), say sometime in late March or early April, then the Nile must have been stricken during the summer month of June. What is most remarkable about the results of this calculation is that they are in perfect agreement with the natural cycle of the Nile's most astonishing feature, the miracle of the Inundation!
The Nile River is fed by great tributaries deep in Africa that annually fill its basin with the copious spring rains that pour down from the Ethiopian plateau. In May, the river is at its lowest point and the Egyptian soil is dry and cracked. But soon the rejuvenating effects of the spring rains are felt, and the level of the river begins to rise. A green wave pours down the river course from the African interior, laden with vegetable detritus, and this is followed about a month later by a red wave rich in minerals and potash. The water saturates the soil with such fertility that three or four crops may be cultivated and harvested annually. These life-giving waters continue until October, when they begin to recede. Then, the water is held in reserve by means of man-made canals and reservoirs. The ancient Egyptians were so dependent upon the annual miracle of the Inundation that they would take careful measurements of the Nile's level at critical points along its course. The priests of Memphis calculated, for instance, that if the river rose above eighteen cubits or else sank below sixteen as it entered the Delta, then disaster would ensue in the form of either flooding or famine.
If the plague of blood struck during the month of June, then the effects of that plague were all the more manifest and impressive. After all, here was the proud Paroh and his devoted people eagerly anticipating the annual Inundation when Hapi the river god would restore the Nile to life and bring blessing upon the land, when suddenly and unexpectedly the waters turned to blood, so that their life-giving effects were now lethal and deadly. The fish and other organisms in the river perished, and the stench of the waters ominously hung over the chastened land! Who indeed was this G-d who had overpowered the cycles of the river and imposed His will upon it?
Thus, it was by this most forceful demonstration of His prowess that the G-d of the Hebrews introduced Himself to Paroh and to the Egyptians and made the re-acquaintance of His own people Israel. As time progressed, they would all learn more about His power and His involvement, about His abilities to utterly master the forces of nature while never neglecting the broken heart of the slave. This Deity was indeed unusual, for He was both omnipotent as well as omniscient, and His absoluteness was mirrored by His unwillingness to countenance oppression and injustice. In short, the entry of the G-d of Israel onto the stage of human history would change its trajectory forever. As the plagues unfolded and time went on, the new realities gradually dawned. Paroh came to finally accept the limits of his own seemingly absolute powers, the Egyptians began to appreciate the serious constraints of their stultifying belief in idolatry, and Israel steadily started to realize that freedom from enslavement means nothing if it is not coupled with a sense of mission and purpose. With the striking of the Nile with blood, this intricate process of transformation was ushered in, to be ultimately completed only with the people of Israel's fateful encounter at Sinai.
THIS PLAGUE’S POSITION
There are some that do not count the Plague of Blood as one of the 10 Makkos (Gra and others) but as one of the prior wonders and signs that established Moshe’s representation.
Most commentators do count this as the first Plague. However, as pointed out by the Maharal this Plague was different as it did not exist within the natural order previously. The other Plagues already existed and were conscripted to perform miraculous actions.
The Plague turned all the waters of Egypt into blood, not just the Nile and just its appearance but in actual taste and texture. However, according to the Daas Zekanim the water’s appearance did change, but the taste remained the taste of water. The main miracle was that all the fish died and polluted the water.
The water that belonged to the Jews did not turn to blood. The Jews were able to sell the water to the Egyptians and become rich.
