The tenth plague killed every firstborn in Egypt. But the Mekhilta asks a question that pushes the scope of the devastation further than most readers imagine: what about the firstborn of foreigners living in Egypt? What about the descendants of Ham and Cush — peoples of other nations who happened to be present on that terrible night?
The proof comes from (Psalms 78:51): "And He struck every firstborn in Egypt, the first fruit of their strength in the tents of Ham." The Psalmist does not say "in the tents of Egypt" — he says "in the tents of Ham." Ham was the ancestor of multiple nations, not just Egypt. His descendants included Cush, Put, and Canaan. The plague, the Mekhilta derives, did not discriminate by citizenship. Every firstborn in the geographic territory of Egypt was struck, regardless of their national or ethnic origin.
This expansion is theologically significant. The plague was not simply a punishment directed at <strong>Pharaoh's</strong> people. It was a demonstration of <strong>God's</strong> absolute sovereignty over the land itself. Anyone living in Egypt on that night — whether Egyptian by birth, Cushite by ancestry, or any other descendant of Ham — fell under the same devastating judgment. The land was the target, not the ethnicity.
The Mekhilta is also explaining why foreigners suffered alongside Egyptians. They had benefited from Israel's enslavement. They had stood by — or participated — as Israel was oppressed. The phrase "tents of Ham" suggests that the guilt extended to every household that sheltered under Egypt's power, regardless of bloodline. God's judgment was territorial and total.