What is the context?
God again demands the release of His people for worship and warns of a severe plague on Egypt’s livestock in the field. Horses, donkeys, camels, herds and flocks are named. The judgment reaches the animals upon which the people’s work and households depend.
A specific time and distinction are announced: the plague will come the next day, and no animal belonging to Israel will die. The event occurs as declared. Pharaoh sends officials to check and learns that Israel’s livestock have indeed been spared.
The investigation confirms what Moses said, but Pharaoh still refuses to release the people. This is another step in the confrontation: he has checked the evidence of the distinction and continues to resist.
How is this passage commonly understood?
The shared reading sees the timing and preservation of Israel’s livestock as demonstrating God’s deliberate action. The description that all the Egyptian livestock died is explained in more than one way, since animals remain in the later account. Wesley understands it as all those in the field, following the scope of the warning in verse 3. Calvin takes it as a broad description of devastating losses throughout the herds, rather than the death of every animal in Egypt.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.