The word here translated “cattle” includes also “beasts” in general, as in Lev. 11:2, where the same Hebrew word has more accurately been rendered “beasts.” The plague was not limited to domestic animals. See also on ch. 11:5.

 This phrase is parallel to that of ch. 11:5, “The firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill.” In both cases the general meaning is that all classes of people suffered, from highest to lowest. However, it is also true that captives were in some cases employed as mill workers (see Judges 16:21).

If Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus (see Introduction), it was his eldest son, the brother of his successor, Thutmose IV, who was slain during that night of horror. No non-Biblical records of this event are extant; in fact, the ancient Egyptians customarily passed over in silence any humiliating experience. Nevertheless, Thutmose IV left inferential evidence of the unexpected death of his brother and his own elevation to the status of crown prince. The stele of the Sphinx at Giza records that he had the sand removed from that ancient monument in gratitude for the divine appointment he unexpectedly received in its shadow. In the inscription he tells of hunting near the Sphinx on a certain day. While he was taking his siesta in its shade, this “great god” (the Sphinx) appeared to him in a vision and spoke to him as a father addresses a son, revealing that he was to be the future king of Egypt. The fact that this incident is recorded on a stone monument shows that Thutmose IV had not originally been designated crown prince, nor had he expected to become king. It reveals also that he attributed his accession to the throne to divine interposition. Although his elder brother, the original crown prince, is not mentioned, there is no doubt among those acquainted with Egyptian inscriptions that something unusual happened to this unmentioned eldest son of Amenhotep II.

We cannot expect a satisfactory answer from Egyptian records as to what happened to the young man. But on the assumption that Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, the death of his eldest son under the tenth plague would result in the elevation of the younger son, later Thutmose IV, to heir apparent to the throne. To avoid attributing his elevation to a disaster the God of the Hebrews brought on the country, Thutmose IV could have invented and published the story of a supposed heavenly vision. Irregular regal succession was customarily explained as such a divine interference on the part of the great Egyptian gods. When Hatshepsut followed her father on the throne, the announcement was made that the god Amen had begotten her and commanded her to be the ruler of Egypt. When Thutmose III, without legal right to the throne, was pronounced king during a temple revolt, a specific decree of the god Amen was published by way of authority for his irregular succession.

Literally, in “the half of the night.” The day, though known to the Israelites, had not been announced to the king, and this uncertainty must have added to his anxiety. When Moses had left the obstinate king every courtier was no doubt frightened at the prospect of losing his first-born. However, when several days passed by without the fulfillment of the threat, many people, perhaps even the king himself, may have thought that nothing was likely to happen. There must ever have been present, though, the fear that Moses’ word might come true.