The Ten Plagues as a King's Order of Siege Warfare

Rabbi Levi bar Zechariah in the name of Rabbi Berechiah: He came upon them with the strategy of kings. First He dammed up their water channels, and afterward He brought upon them clamoring creatures, and afterward He shot arrows at them, and afterward He brought legions upon them, and afterward He brought upon them squadrons, and afterward He hurled naphtha at them, and afterward He cast upon them ballista stones, and afterward He set besiegers over them, and afterward He bound them in fetters, and afterward He brought out the greatest among them and killed him. First He dammed up their water channels, "He turned their rivers to blood" (Psalms 78:44). And afterward He brought upon them clamoring creatures, the frogs Rabbi Yose bar Hanina said their croaking was harder for them than the frogs themselves. And afterward He shot arrows at them, the lice. And afterward He brought legions upon them, the swarms of wild beasts. And afterward He gave them squadrons, the pestilence, "a very severe plague" (Exodus 9:3). And afterward He hurled naphtha at them, the boils. And afterward He cast upon them ballista stones, the hail. And afterward He set besiegers over them, the locusts. And afterward He bound them in fetters, the darkness. And afterward He brought out the greatest among them and killed him, the plague of the firstborn. Rabbi Levi, the son-in-law of Rabbi Zechariah, in the name of Rabbi Berechiah said: "As when the report concerning Egypt, so they shall be in anguish at the report of Tyre" (Isaiah 23:5). Rabbi Eliezer said: Every "Tzor" spelled full in Scripture speaks of the city of Tyre, and every "Tzar" spelled defective in Scripture speaks of wicked Rome. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina: He who exacted punishment from the first ones will exact punishment from the last ones. Just as Egypt had blood, so too Edom, "I will set wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke" (Joel 3:3). Just as Egypt had frogs, so too Edom, "A sound of uproar from the city, a sound from the Temple, the sound of the LORD repaying recompense to His enemies" (Isaiah 66:6). Just as Egypt had lice, so too Edom has lice, "Its streams shall be turned into pitch and its dust into brimstone, and its land shall become burning pitch" (Isaiah 34:9), "and strike the dust of the earth" (Exodus 8:12). Just as Egypt had wild beasts, so too Edom, "The pelican and the hedgehog shall possess it" (Isaiah 34:11). Just as Egypt had pestilence, so too Edom, "I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood" (Ezekiel 38:22). Just as Egypt had boils, so too Edom, "And this shall be the plague with which the LORD will strike" (Zechariah 14:12). Just as Egypt had hail, so too Edom, "flooding rain and hailstones" (Ezekiel 38:22). Just as Egypt had locusts, so too Edom, "And you, son of man, thus says the LORD to the birds of every wing, You shall eat flesh and drink blood; you shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink blood and eat fat to satiety and drink blood" (Ezekiel 39:17-19). Just as Egypt had darkness, so too Edom, "He shall stretch over it the line of formlessness and the stones of emptiness" (Isaiah 34:11). Just as Egypt had the greatest among them killed, so too Edom, "And wild oxen shall come down with them, and bullocks" (see Isaiah 34:7). Rabbi Meir said: And Romans shall come down with them.